topic Re: First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice in Auto Loans

First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 20:30:55 GMT

Long time lurker here (first on the rebuild boards and now auto loans)! I think I'm finally almost ready to take the steps to get the car I've been wanting for ten years. LOL I've wanted an Accord Coupe for the longest and I think I'm finally ready to treat myself. It will be my first time getting a car loan and I've done way too much research I think (my friend says I'm slightly obsessed). I just don't want to make a mistake with such a large purchase. That being said, I've been in contact via email with a few dealerships in the Houston area to ask a few questions, specifically which bureau Honda Financial pulls and whether or not they use the auto-enhanced scores. I was told Equifax by both. I was very excited to hear that as my Equifax report is the cleanest out of the three. My TU and EX have a pesky paid collection on them that isn't due to fall off until 2018. I plan on sending GW letters and crossing my fingers. The collection has yet to show up on my EQ and I hope it never does. It didn't even show up after I paid it! *fingers crossed*

Long story short, I just wanted to get some advice on whether or not I should do pre-approval through Honda or go through a CU that is EQ friendly. From what I've seen on the boards, DCU is EQ friendly at the moment. My scores are as follows:

FICO Score 8 - 718
FICO Auto Score 8 - 683
FICO Auto Score 5 - 791 (I'd LOVE them to use this one lol)
DTI - around 10%
CC Utilization - very high but I plan on making a large payment soon but it doesn't seem to be a real problem for EQ according to my scores.

I got my scores here on myFICO and current as of yesterday if that makes any difference.

Any suggestions would be welcome! TIA!

Re: First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 15:26:22 GMT

Having been recently car shopping in Houston (although I passed up the Hondas for my "dream" Mazda ) - Honda has some pretty sweet financeing available right now. If you're able to do a 36-month or shorter note, it's 0.9%, while longer notes up to 72 months are 1.9%.

With your scores, you'd qualify. And you're probably not going to beat that rate with any credit union.

Re: First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice

Cellice — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 15:36:41 GMT

Honda Financial is very strict. You should be fine with those auto enhanced scores. You will only run into issues if your negatives are associated with your auto loan history.

Re: First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 17:51:05 GMT

Nope, the negative that's on my TU and EX is a medical debt. I'm surprised my auto enhanced scores are as high as they are. I've never had an auto loan. Ill just look at my EQ being squeaky clean as a sign I'll be rolling in what will feel like a Rolls Royce to me lol

Re: First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice

Cellice — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 18:16:29 GMT

Your rate will be high if its your first loan. You shouldnt have any issues getting approved. Good luck and enjoy your new Accord.

Re: First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 11:34:06 GMT

My advice to you is have a pre approval from dcu in hand, I think you would qualify for their lowest rate which is about 1.74% with relationship requirements. This might also be great if dealer offers financing or cash back type deals, I would wait for a sale if you can wait till end of the model year to get a better deal, read the stickies here and start researching and emailing dealers like crazy, use tools like truecar as a benchmark, but know you can get lower than that if you are willing to work for it. On a side note I been driving a honda accord coupe for the last 16 years and I love my car, very happy with the purchase I made 16 years ago(even though I wish I had the wisdom I do now). I am looking to replace my honda in 2-3 years whenever my tesla model 3 gets shipped to me.

Re: First Time Car Buyer Seeking Advice

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:51:15 GMT

Congrats on the Tesla! I'd be like a little kid waiting on that delivery. I've been researching a wee bit obsessively. It helps that I've got a really good friend that works at Edmunds! I figured it'd be a good idea to have some pre-approvals in hand before going so I'm glad you mentioned it. I learned I can also apply through my jobs credit union but they use Experian so I'll need to wait on that a bit. Either way, I'm excited. These boards are AWESOME!