Chances of getting an auto loan with short credit history

[ohvrolla]

Here's pretty much the breakdown financially.

Annual salary: 65k

Revolving accounts: Four total, one CC 14 months old, the other three under a year, total limit of $4850 with roughly 12% utilization

Credit score: Walmart TU for July was 724

Mortgage: Just closed on a house the 18th of this month for $58,300 with a USDA loan, $377 a month with taxes and insurance.

Looking at a back end DTI of 10% or less, but the short credit history  worries me about getting a good APR on a auto loan. Mortgage won't be on the CR yet, don't know how that affects everything. Car in question would be a Hyundai Elantra, about $18.5k including all taxes/fees and a loan of $16.5k after $2000 down. This if factoring in a rebate by using dealer's 2.9% APR. 

So how good is my chance at getting approved? Back end DTI would be 16%ish with an auto loan thrown in.

[_jb_]

You will def. get a loan, it's just a question of what the interest rate will be. If you have a short credit history/no prior auto loans, you are usually looking at a couple of percentage points higher. Check local credit unions prior to going in, and then see if the dealer will match/beat the rate. Worst case scenario, you take a higher rate loan and refinance it after a year.

[ohvrolla]

Yeah that's pretty much what I don't want to see happen. My wife and I have two older cars and one truck that are reliable, and don't HAVE to have a new car by any stretch. I have more than enough left over to buy a new car, but I'm probably inflexible to a fault as to what I'll pay which includes the APR. I would imagine waiting until my mortgage shows up on my credit report for X amount of months that a lower APR would be probable on a new car purchase. 

[HoldingOntoHope]

As your mortgage gets about 6 months history behind it then you will be in great shape for whatever vehicle purchase you want to make. The lack of installment loan history is probably going to be your biggest problem at the moment. When you do decide to make a purchase then get prequalified with your bank or CU to have that interest rate "in your pocket" and simply challenge the dealer to beat it.