@jrands wrote:Hello,
Been reading about the great CU auto loan terms everyone has been posting and thinking about applying for membership with Baxter Credit Union. The one question I have is, BCU does require a credit check in the membership application process. I just got off the phone with a BCU rep who told me that while the applying for membership will require a full pull, that it won't affect my credit score. Therefore, when/if I apply for an auto loan in the future, this CU inquiry should not affect the decision making process for the auto loan. This sounds great, however, I just want to see if anyone can confirm this to be true. Thank you in advance.
In general it's not true: opening a CU account will be a hard pull virtually guarunteed. Yours may be literally one in a hundred, or even a thousand, which does a soft pull (no effect to your FICO score) but the odds are not in your favor and there's a better chance the CSR is wrong in this instance. That said, a single inquiry is usually pretty painless, and you're stuck taking one anyway if you wish to be a member of said CU to have a shot at one of their auto loans. I wouldn't worry about it personally, if you want the CU account, take the inquiry regardless.
@Revelate wrote:
@jrands wrote:Hello,
Been reading about the great CU auto loan terms everyone has been posting and thinking about applying for membership with Baxter Credit Union. The one question I have is, BCU does require a credit check in the membership application process. I just got off the phone with a BCU rep who told me that while the applying for membership will require a full pull, that it won't affect my credit score. Therefore, when/if I apply for an auto loan in the future, this CU inquiry should not affect the decision making process for the auto loan. This sounds great, however, I just want to see if anyone can confirm this to be true. Thank you in advance.
In general it's not true: opening a CU account will be a hard pull virtually guarunteed. Yours may be literally one in a hundred, or even a thousand, which does a soft pull (no effect to your FICO score) but the odds are not in your favor and there's a better chance the CSR is wrong in this instance. That said, a single inquiry is usually pretty painless, and you're stuck taking one anyway if you wish to be a member of said CU to have a shot at one of their auto loans. I wouldn't worry about it personally, if you want the CU account, take the inquiry regardless.
Thanks for the reply, especially considering how incoherent my post was. I looked more into it and it seems that BCU does a soft pull as it described the credit check as a means to merely identify the applicant. So hopefully what is stated on the site and what the BCU said to me are true. Just to reiterate, I did ask the rep a few times in a few different ways that the credit check for the membership application would not affect my credit score of which the rep confirmed to be true. The rep also made it a point that a credit check for a line of credit/loan would cause a slight dip in my credit score, but that the pull for the membership would not. So maybe BCU might be that 1 in a 1000 where a hard pull is not done. I guess it will just be a wait and see if I apply 
@jrands wrote:
Thanks for the reply, especially considering how incoherent my post was. I looked more into it and it seems that BCU does a soft pull as it described the credit check as a means to merely identify the applicant. So hopefully what is stated on the site and what the BCU said to me are true. Just to reiterate, I did ask the rep a few times in a few different ways that the credit check for the membership application would not affect my credit score of which the rep confirmed to be true. The rep also made it a point that a credit check for a line of credit/loan would cause a slight dip in my credit score, but that the pull for the membership would not. So maybe BCU might be that 1 in a 1000 where a hard pull is not done. I guess it will just be a wait and see if I apply
Neat. Is this CU the one in Cali or in Illinois? If the Cali one, I'm guessing they soft EX?
@Revelate wrote:
@jrands wrote:
Thanks for the reply, especially considering how incoherent my post was. I looked more into it and it seems that BCU does a soft pull as it described the credit check as a means to merely identify the applicant. So hopefully what is stated on the site and what the BCU said to me are true. Just to reiterate, I did ask the rep a few times in a few different ways that the credit check for the membership application would not affect my credit score of which the rep confirmed to be true. The rep also made it a point that a credit check for a line of credit/loan would cause a slight dip in my credit score, but that the pull for the membership would not. So maybe BCU might be that 1 in a 1000 where a hard pull is not done. I guess it will just be a wait and see if I apply
Neat. Is this CU the one in Cali or in Illinois? If the Cali one, I'm guessing they soft EX?
I am in Cali, but the BCU headquarters is based out of Illinois. I decided to go ahead and apply and I am now a member! Was going to go to the local branch, but the BCU rep I spoke with actually said the approval process is a bit faster applying online than in person. This is because any information would have to be forwarded to the main headquarters in Illinois anyway.
The process was simple enough. I qualified as a family member of someone who works for the company that's part of BCU. The other ways to qualify is, 1) work for company that's part of CU, 2) be a relative of someone who works for said company, or 3) be someone who lives in one of the qualified cities. Just fill out the necessary boxes which include the social of course. Check the box stating that a credit check will be done to confirm identity. Once submitted, a person has to either fax or email a copy of their driver's license, social security card, and either a check stub or utility bill with name and address shown. Got approval email within 24 hours. Really easy process. Have access to all the services CU has to offer immediately. Just $5 deposited into a savings account is all that's needed aside from the other requirements.
Yay, I got pre-approved for up to $25,000! Here are the details. A BCU representative called me today just to see how things were doing and to follow-up on giving more details about an auto-loan since I had listed it as one the reasons I was opening up a BCU account. During our conversation, the rep mentioned that BCU could run a pre-approval for me. I was hesitant at first, but the rep stated that it would not be a hard pull, but rather a soft pull. BCU would run the pre-approval based on the soft pull they did when I applied for membership and therefore would be basing my pre-approval off of the credit report they obtained from the soft pull. Of course, this sounded too good to be true (ha) so I just clarified and confirmed with them that running a pre-approval would not require a hard pull and would be a soft pull and that the pre-approval would be based on the information they already obtained from the soft pull they did in verifying my identify during the membership process. The rep confirmed this. Satisfied, I permitted BCU to go ahead with the pre-approval process. The only other additional information I provided was my annual income of which I just verbally told them over the phone and of course the amount I was looking to finance. A couple hours passed by and the rep called me back to say that my pre-approval was a go. Below are the details:
Amount: up $25,000
Auto Pay APR for 49 to 72 month loan term: 4.75%
Auto Pay APR for 48 months or less loan term: 4.25%
Pre-approval good up to 90 days
I can also get an additional 0.5% off if I elect to setup direct deposit with the CU. The lowest rates BCU is currently advertising are 1.99% for 0-48 months and 2.49% for 61 to 72 months. These rates can only be achieved with Auto Pay and direct deposit set up. Considering my current financial situation and score (686 TU Fico, 90% utilization of $25K total credit available), I'm pretty happy that I'm only about 2.25 points off the lowest advertised rate for a 60 month term. I really thought that I would either not qualify at all or would be in the teens. My hope would be that I might be able to pull off an APR of 7% by some miracle. I know that it's only a pre-approval and that things would need to be finalized if/when I finalize on a car with the finance person, but I am on cloud 9 right about now.
Additionally, the rep I spoke with couldn't have been more understanding and helpful. She answered all my questions very thoroughly and I did not feel rushed at all. I felt like an ass by having her constantly repeat things, but she had absolutely no problems at all with it and was overall very friendly. The rep stated that as I get closer and get more details on the type car I am interested in and the price, that she would have a better idea of the terms, rates, and whatnot. Again, so geeked up right now. This pre-approval really gives me some leverage moving forward...
EDIT: I forgot to add that no down payment needed.