How much score hit will I take?

[Red1Blue]

I have traded in my old car and got another new used car. I am financing it through Honda. This loan will pay off my existing installment loan with CU. Now that my old account will be closed and new account will appear, how much score hit will I take? As soon as the new loan posts to CR I am planning on paying off 50% of the new loan amount. Hopefully that might help my scores go back up again. Any idea, what kind of score hit will I take?

[Anonymous]

The only hit you could take is the average age of your accounts....

If the first loan you pay off is very old it might hurt a bit more than if it was only 1 year or so....

The first car loan I paid off was $8,962 remaining. I replaced the almost 2 year credit history with a new one at $30K. I received a 20-25 point hit. I then sold that Car loan at $23K (and 11 months old) to replace it with a $25K loan. I only received a minor hit when that happened. I am now 5 months into the new loan.

The GREAT thing with installment loans is that it doesn't really matter what your loan to balance # is...The best thing it gives you is a better credit mix.