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Hi everyone!! I'm looking to purchase a new 2013 Honda accord for around $30,000 give or take in the next few weeks. I haven't financed avehicle since 2005. Everything on my credit reports is good except one negative medical collection that has been paid in full and is over 3 years old. Myfico scores are TU 665 and EQ 706. I've been at my current job 4 years and make $45-50,000 a year. Any advicif would be appreciated as to where I should start. Should I start at local credit unions first and then the dealer? Also someone told me to go through honda finance cause they pull strictly equifax and that's my highest score. I also can out a couple thousand down but I prefer not too. Do you think I'll have any trouble? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!! I also have several credit cards that are close to the limit but never late!!
As a general rule since auto inquiries get rolled up into a single one from a scoring perspective, I'd make a list of potential lenders and run right down the list. I also recommend rate shopping before talking to the dealer as at least you have some idea what you can get from a financing perspective... and in this current market I'd absolutely have my local (and even non-local in my case) CU's on the list.
HFS doesn't pull EQ exclusively, they pull any of the three, most likely along regional lines. I would still let them try to beat any offer that I had in hand already, it doesn't cost you anything for the same reason as above. I'm assuming you're buying from a Honda dealer in this case, so they'll get their chance for your business along with the other banks the dealer does business with.
A lot is going to depend on what your DTI calculation is, and that may hamper the size of your loan. I'm admittedly not up on $0 down financing so I don't know if you'd be able to get that from Honda or other lenders, but it's worth seeing.
That said, you mentioned you have several credit cards that are close to the limit, are you referring to current balances or your previous high balance? If they're near max now, pay them down and that'll increase your chances of getting a sweetheart loan. Unless you have something really awkward on TU compared to either EQ or EX, I would discount that score anyway, and you have a prior auto loan if it's still on your credit report, and as such your auto-enhanced score is likely higher.
There's no doubt you can get approved, it's just whether any lender will give you everything you're looking for. Your credit report is about as good as it's going to get for a while and there's nothing really ugly from what you described for auto loan underwriting.
@Prettylady1 wrote:
Thank you. Yes my current balances are high on credit cards. I need a new car next month but won't be able to get balances down much. My Transunion score is lower cause it has the one negative mark I have that I mentioned above. My equifax is clean. I have a friend that is a finance manager for chevrolet and he told me Honda pulls exclusively equifax. Thanks for your advice!!! Now to decide what credit unions to start with. I knew it counted as only 1 inquiry but I guess I was afraid my score would drop some before I got to the dealer.
The score drop will be minimal, I wouldn't sweat it... especially compared to the strength which comes from knowing what to expect during potential negotiations with the dealer.
HFS might pull EQ exclusively in your friend's area, but as a lender that's most assuredly not the case. Chevy F+I guy notwithstanding, there's plenty of anecdotal reports of both TU and EX pulls by Honda/Acura financial services. If you've lived on the East coast for a while, there's likely a reasonable chance HFS will pull EQ in your area anyway, TU is almost exclusive to the mid-West both for historical reasons and also for their apparent current relevancy in the CRA market.
I think MF has a good point, if you have high credit card balances, that's fair game for underwriting to look at and ask why that's the case and modify any DTI calculation based on that.
Based on that, in your situation of having cash in hand, I'd take a look at what your statement dates are PL, and possibly see if I could borrow or rent a car if I could make a difference in the balances. This may not only help underwriting, but it's probably a non-trivial straight boost to your FICO score too if the balances are awkward as you suggest.
What are your balances and limits on your various cards, vs. how much cash do you have available if you don't mind sharing?