Help!! With an auto loan

[Anonymous]

I am 23 yrs old (24 in March) and am in the process of purchasing my first vehicle. My FICO score is 567 and I am able to put $1500 down. My problem is that I have been looking at newer used vehicles around $15 K and less and have tried to get financed through 3 different institutions with no luck. All that is on my credit report is medical bills that have gone to collections and student loans which are showing up positive on my report since I'm still in college. I'm currently paying on those bills in collections to try to get them paid off at some point. I also do not have any lines of credit open (i.e. credit cards) so I don't have the advantage of showing a payment history. I live at home with my parents so I literally have no bills other than at insurance and gas. I do work full time and I have a 3 yr old but since I receive no child support from her father, they are taking care of almost all of the expenses. I have been with my employer for almost 2 years and really need reliable transportation since my Civic's transmission went out 2 wks ago. But I just can't seem to get financed!! I have even become ok with paying up to 14% APR (with refinancing after a yr) because of my credit when I originally wanted to do 8% or less. I can spend about 80% of my paycheck (paid bi-weekly) on my car payments and I feel if I can just explain this to a lender either face to face or over the phone, that I might finally get approved. Does anyone know of a lender that will approve me for a loan? I have applied and been denied from AAA, Capital One, & Navy Federal. My credit union said they couldn't even look at my app even though my score is only 3 points lower than their minimum. I really need a vehicle (I have been seriously searching for 2 wks already), but can't get approved. Also, no one wants to co-sign for me and says it's time to be an adult. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[SamsungHDTV]

Given your situation, its going to be tough. My suggestion is to work on your credit. Go open up a secured credit card, maybe even two. I suggest Cap one secured. That should help your credit. 

As far as getting approved, I don't know, maybe carmax? But they will rob you blind on interest rate..18% or more. Maybe a used car dealership with in house financing, but they will rob you too. 

Work on building credit, if you can hold off buying then hold off. 

[StartingOver10]

^^Agree with the above. Also, $15k  is too much car for you to buy right now. You need to walk before you can run. Spending up to 80% of your income on a car payment, even if allowed to by the lender, is a bad, bad idea for you. At that payment rate, you can only end up in disaster. No one can sustain montly payment of 80% of their income for 5 to 6 years.

You have two very serious issues 1) you haven't established good credit and 2) you don't have the income to support such a large purchase. And most importantly, you have a child, which should come first. A large vehicle payment will hinder your ability to get on your feet financially.

I am not giving you a hard time. Part of being an adult is looking at the facts and determining the best course of action for you. Since you don't have enough income to support a purchase of $15k, AFTER you have opened up the secured card and shown payment responsibility. Then look for a much less expensive vehicle, well under $10k. When you increase your income and get on your feet financially, then consider getting a vehicle in the $15k range.

[black_citi]

I have to agree with everyone here. If you walked into a dealer desperately looking for another car, they will probably destroy you financially. How do I know? It happened to my cousin. He got an 11 year old truck with a 33% interest rate for 30 months. You never want to act desperate. Every situation is different so you may not go through what he went through.

The best advice I can give is depending on the condition of that Civic you may want to have that transmission repaired. If that's the only problem with the car that is. You're still young so you have plenty of time to build your credit.

[Creditaddict]

CarMax if you have one near by.

Roadloans otherwise you can get an instant offer with 3 options to see just how bad the financing would be online.

I would look at doing the pre-qual at capitalone.com for a credit card and see if you can pick up at least a secured card and wait a month or so.

How much medical collections are we talking... if you could pay them, you could get them deleted then they woudln't be an issue at all.