MBFS Lease Question & Approval Odds

[THEKM]

Hello.

Does anyone know which credit bureau MBFS pulls for GA? I'm hearing conflicting things such as Experian and TU but nothing specific. Besides that I have a few questions: 

1) Regarding income, does MBFS allow 'household income' to be utilized even though spouse is not co-signer? 

2) What is the minimum score that they allow for lease approvals (I'm aware it depends on profile just generally speaking)

My data points are: 

Fico 8

TU: 690

EX: 686

Fico 8 Auto

TU: 689

EX: 672

Fico Auto 9

TU: 656

EX: 665

Spouse Data Point: 

Fico 8: 

TU: 649

EX: 645

Fico 8 Auto

TU: 641

EX: 657

Fico Auto 9

TU: 616

EX: 615

Income is approximately $92k and if including spouse income that brings it up to around $170k. DTI will be around ~20%. Currently looking to trade in a car with negative equity of about $7k. Car's MSRP is approximately $68k MSRP. 

Current car payment is $1200 (going for 2 years now) and no derogs. Only thing is high CC utilization (95%+) but planning to bring these down to <50% or so before applying. Yes the calculated DTI includes these CC payments. 

Spouse scores is a tad bit lower due to higher CC utilization however same thing applies here; we are able to considerably bring these down. Wife is currently on the current car loan and has existing relationship with MBFS in a previous lease (no lates). We currently only have one car between both of us as we work the same jobs. 

To get this out of the way; our CC utilization is high due to usage during covid era. Admittedly we have been slacking in paying these down but we are in a position to considerably pay them down. 

Any inputs are greatly appreciated! Thank you

[FicoMike0]

Seems like you can afford the car with your incomes. Dti doesn't seem bad. I'll just comment your utilization is killing your scores and I'm guessing you're paying a lot in interest. In my value system, id be getting high interest debt down to zero before I invested in more rolling stock. The $7k negative equity indicates what kind of investment cars are.

I'll add, get your utilization under 49%, not 50%, there's a threshold there, you'll pick up some points. There's another at 29% and at 9%. 

[cashorcharge]

Agreed with @FicoMike0 

Your money factor on that lease will be high due to your scores/utilization.  Right now, MBUSA is really dealing on their EQ- line so if you're looking to lease that, you may see better lease rates

Can't say for certain which CB they pull in GA

[THEKM]

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@FicoMike0 wrote:

Seems like you can afford the car with your incomes. Dti doesn't seem bad. I'll just comment your utilization is killing your scores and I'm guessing you're paying a lot in interest. In my value system, id be getting high interest debt down to zero before I invested in more rolling stock. The $7k negative equity indicates what kind of investment cars are.

I'll add, get your utilization under 49%, not 50%, there's a threshold there, you'll pick up some points. There's another at 29% and at 9%. 

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Based on simulator, if I were to do 49% utilization on all cards across the board, it would bring me up to 750s or so. Not sure how that would affect the Auto scores. 

[THEKM]

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@cashorcharge wrote:

Agreed with @FicoMike0 

Your money factor on that lease will be high due to your scores/utilization.  Right now, MBUSA is really dealing on their EQ- line so if you're looking to lease that, you may see better lease rates

Can't say for certain which CB they pull in GA

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Honestly speaking, due to the negative equity at this point I'm not too strict on MF. Current car is a ticking time bomb and I'm jumping ahead of it. 

I got some rough numbers from sales by telling data points and payments will be somewhat around current car payment. Comparable credit. Though I imagine the numbers will change as I pay down utilization which will massively increase my scores based on simulator. We'll be wanting to pull trigger in a couple of weeks. 

[cashorcharge]

Gotcha....good luck with getting that in line and keeping the old car running in the meantime.

For people doing leases, I always suggest you visit the Edmunds Forums as the moderator has access to lease residual rates and money factors to give you an idea of what to expect.  You can plug these numbers into several online lease calculators available to help guestimate your payment

https://forums.edmunds.com/

[dfwxjer]

They'll find a way to approve you, but the terms won't be favorable. 

Being that upside down on your current car, with that amount of cc debt, and that income, I personally wouldn't even set foot inside a Mercedes dealer. That type of decision is what leads to ongoing financial issues like you currently have. 

Good luck either way.