Inquiries

[rileydude]

So, I am looking at purchasing a new vehicle within the next 4 months. My Fico8 auto are around 710 right now across the board..fico9 auto around 720,hopefully get them up to 740 by April. I joined NFCU in July and with the CLOC and a Cash rewards card at 3 HPs,including a HP for a CLI. I am not planning on applying for anything else and just wanted to build a relationship with NFCU,been banking with America's Credit Union for 18 yrs. So I guess I wonder if those Inquiries will hurt me a lot in April when I apply, also what rate do you guys think will i get..Income is around $90k ,DTI about 16 and Util this month was 36%. I have two paid off car loans on my file and looking at financing 53k with 12k down.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Impact of inquiries does not taper off. An inquiry either affects your score or it does not. An inquiry is no longer considered in Fico scoring once it reaches 12 months age although it shows on your file for 24 months. All the inquiries you mention will still be under 12 months in April so you won't get any improvement from them aging. Nonetheless, you may see a score bump before April due to new accounts passing 6 months age. You would see a nice boost if you allowed your age of yopungest account (AoYA) to reach 12 months.

To maximize your score leading up to the loan keep total reported balances on all your credit cards under 9% of your total CL. Ideally report a balance on one card but a small balance on two cards won't hurt much, if at all. However, avoid having all cards report $0 balance as that can drop swcore 15 to 20 points due to: "no recent activity on revolving accounts"

[RonM21]

Op, do you have anymore inquiries besides the NFCU ones? Obviously, I wouldn't apply for anything else if you can help it. There is not much you can do about the inquiries now. As the advice from Thomas noted, overall just try to get the rest of your profile in order in the meantime.

[rileydude]

I appreciate all your input, I have three Inquiries from NFCU and one from Discover, and that's it from the last 24 months. I figure that I should have all my cards but one reporting zero balance by the time I go car shopping. I have one more question, my current car loan has a balance of $2300 and it be paid off in May..I was wondering if I should just trade the car in with one payment left on the loan or pay it off early. I assume that paying off the loan will hit my score, although I have one more installment loan that will also be paid in full by August of this year. What you guys think is the best course of action, especially with me contemplating paying off the car?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about your inquiries, they will make no difference (especially with as few as you have) in getting approved for an auto loan. Given your scores/DTI/past loan history, you will be fine. I have seen people with strong credit history and 50+ inquires have no problem in underwriting, in my experience inquires only have an effect on getting approved/terms when credit is not good and a sub-prime lender is underwriting the deal.

What is the time line for purchasing a vehicle? If you plan on doing it soon, I would pay off your current open auto if you have the funds, considering you have another open installment already for scoring purposes.

[rileydude]

I am planning on April in purchasing the vehicle, I do have the funds to pay off my current loan, could not wrap my head around that my score will drop when i am actually on track to be at 740 auto enhanced scores by that time if i pay it off early. The only thing that sucks and I am sure I speak for everyone is that auto rates have been progressively increased the last couple.months and will continue to do so, so I might be in it in February if I dont see the benefit of a higher score.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, unfortunately Auto rates have been steadily icnreasing. Have you pulled your other Auto-enhanced scores? I haven't seen many captive lender's switching from 08 to 09 scores yet. Score's in your range should still net you desireable term's especially with Captive/Manufacturer lender's.

[rileydude]

As of 01 dec. My auto enhance are as follow
Fico 8 enhanced
EQ 710 TU 701 EX 712
Fico 9
EQ 719 TU 721 EX 729
Of course I would love them to pull Fico 9..but I dont think Audi/VW does..and neither Toyota. I am hoping to get the 8 up 20+ point by April which seems doable. I think looking back now that I might have should have joined Penfed instead of Navy Credit..but what's done is done..my exposure with them is 30k since joined in Sept. I am looking at 60 months financing terms with less than 5% interest at this point.