Applying for a credit card after auto loan

[Anonymous]

I acquired financing last week from a dealer to purchase a car and would like to get a credit card to continue to build my credit. I currently have a 698 FICO score with pretty limited history - I only have one open account which is a card I am an Authorized User on that I no longer use or pay for. It has a $9,000/10,000 balance that has been paid on time every month since 2012. I made the vehicle purchase last Wednesday and since they are waiting for a couple documents for my trade in, the loan has not shown up on my report and my score has not been affected yet.

Can I apply for a credit card (Discover Cash Back) now? Do I need to wait to make a few payments on my car loan before applying? I'd rather do it sooner than later, but if it'll be a significant difference I can push it back a little while.

Thanks

[gdale6]

Welcome to the board

Have no idea why the auto spam filter marked this as spam, its been restored for you.

[Anonymous]

Thanks!

[Remedios]

If you're going to apply, do it before auto loan shows on your CR. Loan will temporarily drop your score, so I would not wait. 

If you do get approved, you may want to think if you really want to stay AU on a maxed card, unless you know it  will get paid down soon. 

[Kforce]

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@Remedios wrote:

If you're going to apply, do it before auto loan shows on your CR. Loan will temporarily drop your score, so I would not wait. 

+ 1, I would apply now

If you do get approved, you may want to think if you really want to stay AU on a maxed card, unless you know it  will get paid down soon. 

+ 1,  I would give up being an AU on a maxed out card, after getting one of my own.

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If you do not get the Discover IT,  go for a secured card that graduates.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I acquired financing last week from a dealer to purchase a car and would like to get a credit card to continue to build my credit. I currently have a 698 FICO score with pretty limited history - I only have one open account which is a card I am an Authorized User on that I no longer use or pay for. It has a $9,000/10,000 balance that has been paid on time every month since 2012. I made the vehicle purchase last Wednesday and since they are waiting for a couple documents for my trade in, the loan has not shown up on my report and my score has not been affected yet.

Can I apply for a credit card (Discover Cash Back) now? Do I need to wait to make a few payments on my car loan before applying? I'd rather do it sooner than later, but if it'll be a significant difference I can push it back a little while.

Thanks

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Check the Discover, Amex, Capital One, Chase and CITI prequalify sites  first and see what comes up. You may be surprised. 🙂

[Anonymous]

I appreciate everyone's advice. If I sign up for a card today, should I wait 6 months and then remove the AU maxed out card? Will 6 months of car loan and credit card payments put me in a better position without having the 7 years of on time payments but a very high credit usage?

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I appreciate everyone's advice. If I sign up for a card today, should I wait 6 months and then remove the AU maxed out card? Will 6 months of car loan and credit card payments put me in a better position without having the 7 years of on time payments but a very high credit usage?

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When your loan reports and if you get the card, remove yourself. 

Such a high utilization is hurting you more than score gain from an older account. Maxed out card will be costing you a lot of points. 

Did you check Discover pre-approval yet? 

[Anonymous]

Discover pre-qualified me for only their secured card, so I went with the capital one quicksilver one and was approved. What will happen to my score with no open accounts more than 6 months and only an auto loan and credit card that I have yet to make payments on?

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Discover pre-qualified me for only their secured card, so I went with the capital one quicksilver one and was approved. What will happen to my score with no open accounts more than 6 months and only an auto loan and credit card that I have yet to make payments on?

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It's almost impossible to tell because you have several variables going on there

Car loan will drop it at first, you will regain those points in time as the loan gets paid down.

First account in your name should yield scoring gain but if you're still AU, you may see very little if any gain. 

You'll lose some, gain some, but in the long run, make your payments on time, dont max out cards and score will go up. 

If I had to guess, the reason discover only had secured card for you is the utilization on that card. It makes it appear as if person is in financial distress  and lenders are not willing to extend additional credit.