What a difference a HIGH FICO makes....

[Anonymous]

I'm looking forward to the 700 club, do u know any clues to getting the delinquent remarks off my report. I am current and have been for about two years in the accounts SL's but my reports still hold the negative info.

[Anonymous]

Barbarino, I thought you were going to say "I got a zero % car loan because I paid with CASH Straight up!"

Come on, I thought you joined the "Debt free revolution" What's this nonsense about you taking out a 0% car loan?

[Anonymous]

Barbarino,

You may know a lot about credit but you clearly don't know as much as you think about the auto industry.  I work in it and know it very well (no boo's please we all have to make a living).  0% is offered by some manufactures but you cannot get that kind of rate just with a good credit score.  The way it really works actually has more to do than just score.  The automobile financing companies tier everyone out.  Your score is the biggest part of the equation, however past automobile history in particular changes things as well as percentage financed relative to invoice.  That being said different companies accept different tiers to qualify.  My company uses tiers o (the elite), 1 and 2 and all people in those tiers qualify for the same rate.  Honda for example usually only qualifies their top tier!  Most domestic manufactures tier easier and buy deeper with their special rates.  Manufacturer's don't own the vehicle you see on the lot, so they care less than you think if these cars are sold.  The only reason they care is when a dealership sells a car, they need a new one to replace hence why they offer support (incentives). 

Simply put if the manufacturer isn't offering 0% to keep the assembly line moving then you will NOT get 0 % even if you have an 850 credit score.  If you received 0% with a 640 credit score you probably did it with GMAC (they buy deepest of all) or everything lined up very well for you the way you tiered out.

[Anonymous]

Hey Marlboro,

Tell me more about these tiers if you please!

[Anonymous]

What would you like to know?  I work for a dealership not the finance company but I will help however I can.

[Anonymous]

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marlboro_man wrote:

What would you like to know?  I work for a dealership not the finance company but I will help however I can.

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Ok I am a sucker for knowledge.  Click on my name and send me a PM with all you care to share.  May be looking for a new car soon.  Mine is 7 years old.

[MidnightVoice]

This is a Toyota Scion example:

http://dickpoescion.com/DealerPrice.asp?DepartmentID=4

[Anonymous]

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MidnightVoice wrote:

This is a Toyota Scion example:

http://dickpoescion.com/DealerPrice.asp?DepartmentID=4

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Thanks MV and that just happens t be the car I want!!!  I assume this is the auto enhanced score which should be higher than my regular FICO...lol!!

[MidnightVoice]

DW has a Scion and loves it.  The prices and rates are set, published and pretty non-negotiable.  Take it or leave it.

I think it is auto-enhanced.  When they pulled my EQ score the one they had was about 10-15 points higher than my real FICO  (several paid off auto loans hanging around from the dim and distant past)

Message Edited by MidnightVoice on 01-24-2008 04:11 PM

[Anonymous]

I will respond publicly so other's may benefit more from the little knowledge that I have.  I will preface it by saying that these tier's that I speak about are geared towards manufacturer financing rather than individual banks who may or may not follow a similar system.  I will use the term FC to represent financing companies in this post.

The tiers are based on credit score first, however as some in these forums have hinted to there seems to be a mysterious "automobile fico" that changes things.  When an app. is submitted to a financing company of course the first thing they do is look at your fico and if it is great and you aren't financing more than MSRP than it is an instant approval.  Most people of course don't fall into this category.  Things such as negative equity, below 720 (around there) credit score, lack of money down (taxes cause you to go above MSRP), cause a human to be involved on the FC end of the transaction.  They take you fico score, debt ratio (more importantly how affordable the payment is and what percent of your income it is), the amount financed (below invoice is always a good place to be), and they tier you out.  My company has 6 tiers 0-5.  The higher the number the worse you are.  Tier 5 would never be financed not even with 50% down, tier 4 has a chance with 50% down but will have severe rate, tier 3 will need money down and a higher rate, tier 2 usually can do little or no money down with slightly higher rate and so on...   Now when they offer special financing my company does it for tiers 0,1, and 2.  Others have different stipulations.  Past car payment history is the thing that determines what tier you fall into when you are teetering between 2 different one.  Business manager's can often get a customer bumped a tier if they had a good past car payment history a good very recent other payment history. 

Basically tier determines rate in most of the cases.  I am know expert but I am willing to share my understanding so take that for what it's worth.