Maybe they are looking at other things also besides the credit score? I know I got asked about the CC with a high balance (but I was able to explain that I was an AU on that one), and they asked about my address and employment history (since I moved a few times). When i got approved my score was 680 something since I had a lot of CCs that were reporting balances. It was my first auto loan too. I remember talking to a CSR and they told me initially that they have a first time car buyer program where they pay 80% and require a 20% DP/trade but that did not happen when I actually applied. They approved me for 18k but I only wanted 15k since I had enough saved to cover the rest of the purchase.
I got an instant pre approval last friday for $22,500 @ 1.74 (changed to 1.24 with a call to their consumer loan dept). Scores are ~700-720. Income $30k. This was my first car loan (non-secured). And I just became a member @ DCU within the last two weeks. Picked up the car Monday 
I also got an instant pre-approval last night for $25,000 (amount requested) @ 1.74% for 65 months. I will call to try to get it down to 1.24%
This was my first time applying to DCU. My EQ score is 711. However I just paid a previous auto loan with my local CU last year.
Now it's time to choose a car to buy
Update 4/16 10:00a.m.: I spoke with a DCU rep who confirmed the rate at 1.24% if I set-up a checking account with direct deposit. I also asked if $25K was my limit or if there was flexibility in case I needed it, the loan underwriter changed the approval to $30K without hesitation.
One funny thing to note, last night the pre-approval screen for the Visa Platinum CC said I was approved for $7.5K. The rep today told me I was approved for $5K if I wanted to accept the card. I told her that I'd received a $7.5K offer online and she said "OK, 7.5K it is"
@zioncres wrote:@I don't know if this helps but I was approved a little over a month ago. EQ was 692 at the time. No balance on any of my CCs. 123K/year income with 2.6k/month mortgage. I originally asked for $40K and was approved. I called later on to bump it up to $45K instead and they did it on the phone. I just became a member. I called today to verify that the loan is still good and they confirmed that I'm still approved for $45K @ 1.24%. The only drawback is that the loan expires on the 26th. I was going to take my sweet time looking for the car, thinking that they will just keep giving me more time if I call but given this current situation, it may be best for me to pick up the car this weekend.
Here's an extremely newbie question. I've never actually financed a car before. Do I just tell the dealer I have the loan with DCU and they'll process everything from there or do I need to walk in with some kind of documentation from DCU? All I have is the approved loan app from online with the loan number.
Yes, you tell them that you have available financing from your CU but do this before you sign any papers authorizing a credit pull and not during the price negotiations.