Auto Loan Info Please

[Anonymous]

I got rear-ended a few days ago and there is enough damage to technically total out my 18 year old truck. (I LIKE the old truck dangit!) It is still drivable, just repair cost > value situation. 

I am attempting to get the other driver to settle without his insurance company. Actually, the driver's dad because I got slammed by a teen driver, it's just less hassle for me that way.

So I will have about $1500 from the settlement either way, plus whatever value I can get out of the truck as a trade. So perhaps $2500 total if I'm lucky.

I am NOT a car proud person. I have actually NEVER owned a new car, the newest has been 2 years old at the time of purchase. And that was a bank repo deal. So certainly not worried about $20k+ loans etc. I'm happy in the price range of $5k-$10K. My total yearly driving (without road trip vacations) is a whopping 5000 miles. So a vehicle with 100,000 miles on it is not a big deal. 

On to the questions.

I have a very thin credit file...not helped by never having had a vehicle loan before. Cash was king...... 

So here are the details:

Scores running around 650

Income $40,000

No mortgage

No cash on hand (Student Loans...woohoo, trying to pay off early and save the interest)

1 CC at age of 1.5 years

5 at age of 2 months

NO collections, charge off's

1 30 day late pay from last year on the older credit card

Time at residence: 8 months

TIme at previous residence: 4.5 years

Time at current job: 8.5 years

I'm having trouble getting an approval outside of the "sub prime" category through the small, independent lots. Since my vehicle IS drivable and I only have an 8 mile commute, I'm not stressed.

What do auto lenders look for? AAOA? UTIL? Score?

Please advise me how to be more attractive to a decent lender. 

[Pway]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I got rear-ended a few days ago and there is enough damage to technically total out my 18 year old truck. (I LIKE the old truck dangit!) It is still drivable, just repair cost > value situation. 

I am attempting to get the other driver to settle without his insurance company. Actually, the driver's dad because I got slammed by a teen driver, it's just less hassle for me that way.

So I will have about $1500 from the settlement either way, plus whatever value I can get out of the truck as a trade. So perhaps $2500 total if I'm lucky.

I am NOT a car proud person. I have actually NEVER owned a new car, the newest has been 2 years old at the time of purchase. And that was a bank repo deal. So certainly not worried about $20k+ loans etc. I'm happy in the price range of $5k-$10K. My total yearly driving (without road trip vacations) is a whopping 5000 miles. So a vehicle with 100,000 miles on it is not a big deal. 

On to the questions.

I have a very thin credit file...not helped by never having had a vehicle loan before. Cash was king...... 

So here are the details:

Scores running around 650

Income $40,000

No mortgage

No cash on hand (Student Loans...woohoo, trying to pay off early and save the interest)

1 CC at age of 1.5 years

5 at age of 2 months

NO collections, charge off's

1 30 day late pay from last year on the older credit card

Time at residence: 8 months

TIme at previous residence: 4.5 years

Time at current job: 8.5 years

I'm having trouble getting an approval outside of the "sub prime" category through the small, independent lots. Since my vehicle IS drivable and I only have an 8 mile commute, I'm not stressed.  Have you visited your local credit union?  My friend mom just got approved with a 650 credit score with no money down.  What type of lots are you going to?  Have you checked out capital one auto loans? 

They are giving you a hard time because you have not had a auto loan in quite some time.

What do auto lenders look for? AAOA? UTIL? Score?  Yes they look at all three when determing your approval.

Please advise me how to be more attractive to a decent lender. 

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[Anonymous]

I"m not currently a member of any credit unions. And I have NEVER had an auto loan. Not just not recently, NEVER. All my vehicles have either been bought used and paid outright, or were purchased from family/friends of family where it was directly financed. "We will hand you the title when you finish paying for", and I didn't have to worry about interest.