Need some advice please!

[andre181]

I am to the point where I have all the credit I need, and now I am very serious about just gardening and score-raising but I need a little bit of advice.

My current cards are below, and the scores and AAoA are accurate. My current util is 0% at $220. I PIF every month when possible.

My inq's are: 7 on EX, 5 on EQ, and 9 or 10 on TU. Inqs are the one thing that I REALLY need to work on IMO.

I have an auto loan from WF, opened 3/2010, original amount $13499, current balance $11936, 13% APR. This is a refi. The original loan was from American Honda Finance, for $18,500 opened 3/2008. But for some reason the TL from Honda disappeared when I refi'ed on all 3 CR's. I was pretty bummed, but Honda said they couldn't do anything...

I also have about $25,700 in student loans (all federal stafford) in in-school status. I will graduate this May, and will consolidate these once my six month grace period is up. Once these go into repayment, I expect my scores to drop since they will be figured into my score calculation. Does anybody know what kind of score drop I can expect and is there anything I can do to minimize any drop?

I have about $7000 saved up, and thinking that I should pay toward my SL's but I'm not sure. Should I pay them to the OC and then consolidate what's left, or should I consolidate and then make a large payment on the consolidation? Again I am looking for score maximization, not really interest savings. Or should I consider paying down my auto loan, or just keeping it in savings?

I am also considering trading in my current car for a new one within the next 6-12 months. I will just break even trading in my car (or maybe be $500-1000 upside down), should I use that $7000 as a down payment on the new car? New car purchase price would be no more than $22,000. But the new car is a TOTAL want. My current car is still in like new condition with absolutely NOTHING wrong, so at this point I haven't made a decision about getting a new car. Its just a dream at this point.

I have no lates and no baddies on my CR's.

Can anybody see anything that I could be doing better on? My only short term credit goals are to consolidate SL's ASAP after graduation and I would LOVE an AMEX revolver, but that can wait. I have had my Zync since 7/2010 so I am just going to wait until some of those EX Inqs fall off.

Also, I am thinking about dropping the Capital One Visa ($1250 CL) because its just stopped growing. It is my 3rd oldest TL though, opened 8/2007. It has no AF, so its not costing me anything, but its just frustrating that it won't grow. APR is 22.99%.

Thanks for any advice in advance!

[Anonymous]

Don't trade in your car, more so if it's in good shape and nothing wrong with it. You do not need those new bells and whistles. I currently drive a 72 Triumph Spitfire, there is no luxury in that car. Pure basics and I love it. I also do not have a car payment. If something goes wrong I will just fix it (Still cheaper then a car payment, also this car is probably done decreasing in value).

For the $7,000. I would not put toward anything, you should build a safety net. Make sure it will pay everything for 6-12 months.

Edit: Do not close a card with no AF.