Highest cutoff ever: 786 is the new 741

[MattH]

I posted a recent NY Times article under Credit In The News here: 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditnews&message.id=2988

But I think a key sentence from the article needs a thread of its own here:

Meanwhile, the minimum credit score required for the very best rate [on auto loans] was 786 at the end of September according to CNW, up from 741 a year ago

I have never seen a cutoff above 760 published anywhere for any category of loans.

[haulingthescoreup]

Wow, that can't possibly be right!

Or if it is, they're going to have to get more sensible if they want to sell cars. Acceptable FICO scores for prime financing have to follow supply and demand, just like everything else.

[GFer]

No---that cannot be right! That's just crazy!

[smallfry]

I did not read the article but I wonder if they are referring to a FICO score. As I have stated in previous threads Toyota is offering Tier 1 4.9% 60 months no money down with an Experian FICO score of 650. 

[MattH]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Wow, that can't possibly be right!

Or if it is, they're going to have to get more sensible if they want to sell cars. Acceptable FICO scores for prime financing have to follow supply and demand, just like everything else.

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Well, I did read another article predicting nearly one in five US car dealers would go out of business by the end of 2009.  All those people who ask why bail out Wall Street are gonna learn the hard way that when Wall Street blows it Main Street also suffers.

[MattH]

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@smallfry wrote:
I did not read the article but I wonder if they are referring to a FICO score. As I have stated in previous threads Toyota is offering Tier 1 4.9% 60 months no money down with an Experian FICO score of 650. 

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The NY Times article clearly says they mean FICO scores, it specifically mentions that other scores created by the CRAs (what we call FAKOs here) are not the real thing and gives the myfico.com URL for the real FICO scores.  It also says the cutoff is what one industry survey cites and that various lenders have different policies.

[smallfry]

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@MattH wrote:

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@smallfry wrote:
I did not read the article but I wonder if they are referring to a FICO score. As I have stated in previous threads Toyota is offering Tier 1 4.9% 60 months no money down with an Experian FICO score of 650. 

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The NY Times article clearly says they mean FICO scores, it specifically mentions that other scores created by the CRAs (what we call FAKOs here) are not the real thing and gives the myfico.com URL for the real FICO scores.  It also says the cutoff is what one industry survey cites and that various lenders have different policies.

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Well given Toyota's cutoff is nearly 140 points lower than the number that article states I wonder where they are getting their numbers from. How many people have FICO's of nearly 800? That would surely kill all car sales. 

[Anonymous]

I bought a car in September...In trying to sell me the car I wanted proof that 5.9% was the best interest rate I could get.

They showed me every Financing Company they use and every one of them was 741 and above for #1 financing options.  

There were finance companies from HMFC to Credit Unions...I ended up with one of their CU's because they offered better interest rate.

[Anonymous]

Might they mean a industry enhanced auto FICO score? Might tend to run a little bit higher.

[Anonymous]

How can I get a true FREE FICO report without giving out my credit card???

Thanks,

Whit