First Time Buyer with Ford Motor Credit?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking to finance a car here shortly and went through my CU first. My credit history is limited. One Discover card that's been open about a year and a half. My CU said they could finance me with a cosigner (unfortunately no one in my family is able to because they are all going to be financing purchases soon as well), a 9.75% interest rate, and a max of $12,000. I don't plan to take this deal because of the high interest rate, need for a cosigner, and the fact that they won't finance anything I buy outside of Washington State and I live in Montana for school.

My last Discover statement reported a 669 TU CS with 90% utilization. I did just receive a credit limit increase and made a large payment dropping my utilization down to 18%. This isn't reported yet, but I assume my CS will go up some (credit karma says people with that kind of utilization average a score of 715). Other than the high utilization and young account, I have no real derogatory remarks. I've always made my payments on time and always at least the minimum, if not more.

My biggest concern is that I have two small student loans (I think around 3k total, I don't start paying until after I graduate in May or December of 2019) and I start a new job in a couple of weeks. My new job will bring my monthly income from $1,500/month to $1,700. The issue comes in that I've been at my current job about 5 months and I've had lenders say that I haven't been there long enough.

As far as DTI my only debt is my Discover card I owe about $200 on, my rent is about $260/month, and I'm not sure about my loans since I don't currently make payments on them.

Unfortunately I need a car sooner than later and I can't imagine I will be able to purchase one in the next couple weeks because I'm waiting on a title transfer for my current car and I also would like to use my tax return in addition to trading in (or selling private private party) my car to put about $1,000 or $1,200 down. I'm looking at a used or certified Ford Focus or Fusion no more than $12,000.

Will I have any luck trying to get approved through FMC? Any other suggestions for a decent company that may take a risk on me?

Thanks in advance!

[elim]

Let your lower utilization statement report and join PenFed.  Awesome lender.  They will beat the crap out of that APR. How is your EQ Fico 08? They NextGen but if your EQ08 is pretty good then NextGen may be as well.

[Anonymous]

Credit Karma reports my Equifax at 614. Credit Karma always seems lower than what it actually is. My TU according to them is 621, which is nearly 50 points lower than my Discover statement. Once Discover reports again I'll pull a full credit report, but since I'm only entitled to one free pull a year, I'll wait a few days.

[Anonymous]

Looked up PenFed and I waxms wondering if since it's a CU will it work anywhere with any dealer?

[elim]

Anywhere

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Pentagon-Federal-Credit-Union-Data-Share/td...

[elim]

PenFed - 3rd largest CU.

[Anonymous]

Is there a way to find my EQ08 for free? I've really only used Credit Karma and my Discover statement to check my scores before (so Equifax and TransUnion).

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Is there a way to find my EQ08 for free? I've really only used Credit Karma and my Discover statement to check my scores before (so Equifax and TransUnion).

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As you may remember, Credit Karma is not a FICO score - it is a Vantage 3.0 score. Lenders aren't using Vantage scores at this time to qualify for any type of loan so ignore the Credit Karma score. It has no mathematical relationship to FICO scoring algorithms.  Your Discover card is a FICO score so you are safe there. 

IMO, once you know the new utilization has reported and you are getting ready to apply for a loan (auto or house), then pull your 3B report here. It is better to pay the $50 (or whatever you pay with a coupon code) to get your scores one time before you apply. That way you know going in the reality of your scores and can either wait or apply appropriately.  Ask the LO at the lender (Penfed in this case) which score they use so you can check before you decide to have a hard inquiry. It saves you time, money and hassle to know in advance what the lender's criteria is and apply when you know you meet at least the minimum guidelines. Otherwise you are just throwing away hard pulls.

[Anonymous]

Once your utilization drops, check the Capital One pre-qualification to see what/if they offer.  There's no hit to your credit since it's a SP.

[Anonymous]

I did check C1 and they denied me. Not sure why, they said I'd get a letter in 7 to 10 days. I will retry when my utilization drops, though.