Auto Loan Magic Number

[Anonymous]

I am still working on improving my FICO to get a mortgage.  I recently paid off my '07 Tahoe, which had a balance of $17k.  I know that this really can't improve my FICO but probably won't hurt it either.  It helps my D/I ratio significantly.

My other car loan is about 2 years old, started at 21k and now is at about 14,500.  Is there a magic percentage of pay-down where the FICO score is benefited?

Thanks for any assistance. 

[Anonymous]

In my opinion installment loans (auto, personal loans) don't have a significant impact on your score other than history, mix of credit..  DTI is only a factor during the approval process not scoring related.

So paying that other loan down isn't likely to have a significant impact on your score.

[Anonymous]

Yes, when your installment is paid down 35% or more (65% or less remaining balance) you receive some benefit, though this is not nearly as impactful as revolving utilization percentages.