Pre Approval Offers

[nmbrsgrl]

This may be a really stupid question. Please bear with me. I financed a car last weekend. I am planning to add at least 2 credit cards to my wallet. I checked the pre-approval site for Discover and an offer came up! If I don't apply now, it will come back up if I wait until next week? right? If I apply now will it hurt my not completely finalized car loan in any way? Thanks!

I am really chomping at the bit getting my life back together! I've worked really hard and getting offers really feels great!

[PlasticOrPlastic]

Discover seems to have changed their pre approval page.  You can pretty much put in any name 4 digit ssn and it gives a card offer.  My DG did it and it showed her the IT card, 0% for 15 months...app'd and denied.  Dont put to much faith in the pre approvals...

[ptilda]

I use the pre-approval pages as a gague to tell me where I stand, but I put in on several (don't apply) to see if they pop with anything. If so, then it's a good indication that I'd be accepted for something. But I won't trust just one. And Pre-approval is no guarantee.

[Creditaddict]

If you purchased car last weekend, why do you say it's not finalized?

[l8erg8er]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

If you purchased car last weekend, why do you say it's not finalized?

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In some states (Oklahoma for sure) you can drive away with a car before financing is finalized...the dealership has 14-21 days to figure everything out and they don't have to tell you it is not finalized, many will tell you though. My mom traded in her truck, drove off the lot in a car and 13 days later they called her because "some paperwork needed to be signed" and asked for her key to go doublecheck the VIN, someone else came back with all the belongings in her car and they sent her on her way. And they already sold her truck so they mailed her a check 90 days later with the trade in value ($9000 vs around $13.500 private party) minus the "mileage charge" on the car they took back. 

Sorry for the ramble, there's nothing worse than seeing your mother in tears after being publicly humiliated and made to feel like a 2nd class citizen. All this happened with all of her scores hovering around 620..

[SunriseEarth]

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@l8erg8er wrote:

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@Creditaddict wrote:

If you purchased car last weekend, why do you say it's not finalized?

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In some states (Oklahoma for sure) you can drive away with a car before financing is finalized...the dealership has 14-21 days to figure everything out and they don't have to tell you it is not finalized, many will tell you though. My mom traded in her truck, drove off the lot in a car and 13 days later they called her because "some paperwork needed to be signed" and asked for her key to go doublecheck the VIN, someone else came back with all the belongings in her car and they sent her on her way. And they already sold her truck so they mailed her a check 90 days later with the trade in value ($9000 vs around $13.500 private party) minus the "mileage charge" on the car they took back. 

Sorry for the ramble, there's nothing worse than seeing your mother in tears after being publicly humiliated and made to feel like a 2nd class citizen. All this happened with all of her scores hovering around 620..

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To-do List

1. Buy car in Oklahoma

[SunriseEarth]

Pre-approvals don't necessarily guarantee approvals and you can definitely get an approval without a pre-approval.  Wait and get the credit when you're ready.

[Creditaddict]

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@SunriseEarth wrote:

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@l8erg8er wrote:

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@Creditaddict wrote:

If you purchased car last weekend, why do you say it's not finalized?

---

In some states (Oklahoma for sure) you can drive away with a car before financing is finalized...the dealership has 14-21 days to figure everything out and they don't have to tell you it is not finalized, many will tell you though. My mom traded in her truck, drove off the lot in a car and 13 days later they called her because "some paperwork needed to be signed" and asked for her key to go doublecheck the VIN, someone else came back with all the belongings in her car and they sent her on her way. And they already sold her truck so they mailed her a check 90 days later with the trade in value ($9000 vs around $13.500 private party) minus the "mileage charge" on the car they took back. 

Sorry for the ramble, there's nothing worse than seeing your mother in tears after being publicly humiliated and made to feel like a 2nd class citizen. All this happened with all of her scores hovering around 620..

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To-do List

1. Buy car in Oklahoma

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pretty sure driving away before financing is finalized is not really that uncommon HOWEVER I bet what isn't legal is for them to sell the trade in before the financing on the new car is finalized and I would get a lawyer for dear mom that is insane but not really that surprising, especially since it sounds like they got away with it!

[dize]

Im in California and had a similar situation. I got financing for my car through Capital One. about a week or 2 in Capital one decided they 't want to honor the loan because Im a 1099 employee. The dealership forced the loan through with another lender though, so I was fine. Im surpirsed the oklahoma dealership didn't try to do the same thing.

[VinnyVee]

A lot of pre-approval sites seem to have generic results, IE Discover. I got the same one. However, Capital One gave me the pre-approval for Platinum Mastercard and Quicksilver One. Plus via the shopping cart trick I was pre-approved for a Buckle store card. Both Capital One and Buckle got me to bite, and I was approved for both instantly. Barclay seems rather accurate in my experience, as well.