Should I Refinance??

[WhiteCollar]

Hello All-

I have a 2012 Acura TSX with roughly 80k miles on it. I purchased it in 2018 when my credit was crap, I has no choice at the time. My monthly payment is $454. The interest rate is 19% and I own a little under $8k. The car is in great condition with the extended warranty for the next 2 years. I do plan to keep it and live car payment free for a while. I have the cash to pay it off now but I was thinking maybe it would be better to refi for a term of 24-36 months with a much better rate. Also, I'm closing on my home in 15 days so I'll have that new tradeline. My scores are below. Of course I would use a lender that will pull EQ or EXP.

I called PenFed and they told me they use EQ so my score there will be 705. 

Data Points:

FICO Score 9         FICO Auto Score 5,4 and 2

TU: 684                   TU: 651

EXP: 696                 EXP: 713

EQ: 705                   EQ: 699

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

If you have the money to pay it off then do so.  It probably makes sense to wait until after closing to not create any report fluctuation prior to closing.  

[Anonymous]

Another side...

I would first off say do not even attempt to ding your credit until closing is over....

.....that could end up a massive wreck!

But after, what I would recommend is to refi hopefully under 5% and

then use that excess for emergency savings. 
The new home will bring on lots of unexpected but needy purchases of cash flow.

Dont want to rack up cc's and not be able to handle the extra payments. 

(can still use cc's to collect cashback or points or whathaveyou)

Then after the dust settles, you can still hit the refi loan with some chunks. $1,2,3k or whatever.

But still save some for back up.

If you do not have any other liquid cash ready for emergencies, then make sure to have a good

3-6 months of straight up cash ready to go (can be in savings acct/cd's/etc or whatever earning interest)

[RootDet]

Do not attempt anything until the closing is done otherwise you will get delayed and have to explain every single new inquiry and transaction. 

Are you a member of any other CU's?

[WhiteCollar]

I should have been clear in my OP, I WILL NOT apply for anything until after I've left the closing table. 

@RootDet I belong to DCU and SDFCU too.

[sccredit]

Once you close pull the trigger on DCU for a refi.

[KLEXH25]

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@WhiteCollar wrote:

I should have been clear in my OP, I WILL NOT apply for anything until after I've left the closing table. 

@RootDet I belong to DCU and SDFCU too.

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Since you belong to DCU, so you have any SP approvals already in your loan suite? You can see what rates they would offer you for your car. Good luck with closing!

[WhiteCollar]

@KLEXH25  I just checked my loan suite. I have several items there but they don't say preapproved. It metions I can opt out of prescreened offers. Does that mean I'm preapproved for the offers in my loan suite?

[KLEXH25]

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@WhiteCollar wrote:

@KLEXH25  I just checked my loan suite. I have several items there but they don't say preapproved. It metions I can opt out of prescreened offers. Does that mean I'm preapproved for the offers in my loan suite?

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@WhiteCollar it would say that you're approved and the button would say "Accept Offer" and not "Apply Now." This is how I did my refinance with DCU last year. I had a SP approval so I took it. Below is what it looks like:

[KLEXH25]

I should add that in order to get SP approvals in your Loan Suite, you need to sign up for their free monthly EQ5 Fico score. Offers update quarterly based on this score (Jan, Apr, July, & Oct). You can still apply without a preapproval, but it will be a HP. 

*My offers above are based on EQ5 734.