PAYING OFF BOTH CAR LOANS...GOOD OR BAD?

[Anonymous]

I had a car loan with Capital One that I recently paid off.  I still have an open loan with Ford and I only owe about $4K on it. I was wondering if I went ahead and paid off the Ford loan as well, would it decrease my credit score? I still have student loans that are reporting and in good standing.  I also have credit cards which are all paid off except for one that has a nominal balance ($12). I'm trying to purchase another car and I want to make sure that paying off the Ford loan won't hurt me score wise or should I  keep it open until I'm approved for another vehicle.  

[Loquat]

There's always a chance that your score can drop. My score dropped when I recently paid off a vehicle but I will also say that obtaining auto loans these days aren't all that hard and even getting the top tier financing isn't a high bar either.

Personally I wouldn't carry a balance and pay interest on a loan to satisfy any score model. As long as the rest of your report is in order, you'll probably be fine as it relates to obtaining a new loan.

[Anonymous]

I paid off 2 vehicles in March early and then sold a leased vehicle to Carvana 1 year before the lease was up and my score dipped 8 points but has since nearly recovered. I am buyhing a car in June so I intentionally paid these off in March to allow for a dip & bounce before applying for new financing.