Apply now or wait?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone!

I need a little bit of advice regarding my next car purchase. Here's my situation :

I haven't had a car in a year and a half. At first I was able to cope using the public transport system but it's really getting to me. My family and I are a 3 hours drive appart and I'd like to be able to go see them when I want, instead of when it's convenient.

Like I said, I haven't had a car in a while and my last car loan was taken in 2005 and paid in full, never late, since 2010. My scores are a little low, hovering around 675. I make about 51k a year and my current DTI is below 20%.

My problem is I've got two accounts with lates on them. I've got 2 or 3 30/60 that go back to 2011 when the company I worked for while in college went bankrupt. That account got transferred in late 2012 but I never received the statements from the new creditor so it went 120 days late until January 2013. All of those have been PIF and closed.

Other than that, I've got two CC's with a combined limit of 4500 and I just reduced my util down to 20% after being at 60% for a while.

I'm looking at a Hyundai Accent with a loan of about 18000$ and I don't have a cashdown or trade-in.

My question is, should I wait for my last lates to hit the 2 years mark?

[seruby]

I say go for it.  If you can get the Util to report below 10% before you apply, all the better.   You could also see if you can GW the PIF account and have it removed from your report.

I can't see you getting bad rates with 675.    I got approved for 30k at  2.29% through a CU with my highest score being 654, and the other 2 in the 620s.  That was even if I put nothing down.  Even still, the dealer offered 3.99%.   So you're in a better position than I am - my uti was like 1% though.   If anything, apply now, and re-fi later when you're feeling better about your score.

[Anonymous]

So, the lates being less than two years old wouldn't be seen as a red flag? 

I'm nervous because I last applied for a store card in June and they approved me for 2500 but didn't qualify to their best terms because of "items on my CR". My util was like, 90% at the time.

[Anonymous]

Oh, another thing! 

I tried to GW but neither would budge so I guess I'm stuck with those for the long haul...

[seruby]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So, the lates being less than two years old wouldn't be seen as a red flag? 

I'm nervous because I last applied for a store card in June and they approved me for 2500 but didn't qualify to their best terms because of "items on my CR". My util was like, 90% at the time.

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I wouldn't worry about them.  I had a collection on my account report earlier this year, in like August.  It's being removed but at the time I applied, it was on my report.   And your uti is down so that 90% won't matter anymore.

You could try another GW.  Maybe someone else will open it and say "Okay we'll do it."   Some people have had luck getting GWs through, but had to try multiple times.  If you tried before,  try once more.  Maybe you can get it removed before you apply.  If they still won't budge, don't sweat it.

[Anonymous]

With a 675 Equifax score you can get Digital Credit Union's top auto rates. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I think I might take my chances just as soon as my new util is posted on my CR.

I found found the email address of the COO of the creditor of my last lates. It's a small company, so I guess he's the one who hold the keys... I'm gonna give that a try!

[Anonymous]

Ok, the COO has responded, saying he did not handle my account but that he's forwarding my request to someone who will be able to look at it.

It's been 6 days and no response yet