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Today I shopped with Chase and a local CU to refiance my auto loan from 5.99% to something hopefully lower...
At the CU which gave me the lower APR, she read off my score at 699 which put me at 3.99% but was only 1 single point away from having more than 1% lower of an APR (lower than 3%).
They pulled Experian at the CU, but it seems there is no way to check your Experian score yourself.
How long do you think I should wait bfore trying again keeping in mind I probably lowered my score by checking it today (really hope going to Chase first didn't pull me down that point I desperately needed!)
No credit card debt carried month to month. Should I go cards free for a couple months to keep my utilitization rate very low (just a few auto pay bills)?
Student loans of about 23k.
Auto Loan currently at 9,000. Should I pay an extra 1,000, would that raise my credit score?
No other debt.
Had trouble with missed payments more than 5 years ago now.
Have 4 credit cards, two recent, which probably did not help.
Paying more on your current loan will not raise your score. But when you pay your CC's can make a big difference. When your CC statements cut with a balance that balance is reported to the CRA's. Even if you PIF the balance is still reported. For the highest score you want your cards to report a $0 balance with the exception of one card and you want it to report a small balance of less than 9% of that cards CL. That pull did ding you score. How much really depends on how thick your file is. Good new is that all auto pulls with X amount of time only count as one against your score. Getting that point should be simple by changing how your cards report and also those new accounts again another month but you'd have to wait for your reports to update and hope that your INQ ding is outweighed by the other factors. My suggestion is try another lender or two. If you have other CU's available try them. Also try the dealership. They have access to lenders and products you do not.
I applied with Capital One one week later and they read my Experian score as 722 instead of 699. Funny how that works.... 2.8% APR, not bad compared to 6%!