car loan question please help!

[rmc0522]

My credit sucks right now and my FICO is 436 (OUCH!) but I just set everything on automatic bill pay and I'm (finally) serious about improving my credit.

My question is this: My car has more than 160,000 miles on it right now and realistically I am going to have to buy a new one in the next few months. I just paid my car off in August with no payments later than 15 days in the whole 4 years of the loan. My dad co-signed for me to get the car in Aug. '03. Even though my credit is horrible, is it possible I can still get approved for a loan? My dad's willing to co-sign, but being as my score is about as bad as it gets, what are the chances of being approved even with a co-signer?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Please take my advise and do not go the dealership with that credit score. The dealership will give you the highest interest , 20%. You will lose money by buying a car with that credit score.

What type of car do you have? 160k is still good for a car. If your car is still running and not causing you problems, save that money. Work on getting your credit score higher.

Hope this helps.

[fishbjc]

I can't say from personal experience, but my sister needed a co-signer with an almost 500 score and her interest is ridiculous.

[fishbjc]

Have you thought about purchasing a used car and letting your dad sign for the full loan?  When your credit improves, you can purchase another car with your own credit.  160,000 miles isn't all that much.  I have 138k on a honda and it runs like a top.

[Anonymous]

You need to fix the reason you have a sub 500 FICO.

[Schoolbuskid]

I would say you need to get your score up more, because like they say you will be paying high interest and more than what the car is worth. I know that Drive Financial usually works well with people with low credit scores but again they will hit you with a high interest! Continue to read different threads on here and do what needs to be done and you will see your score go up! Good Luck!

[CreditDrama85]

i am in a similar situation and require a new car because i leased the one i have now....i am slowly making progress so ill just have to see what happens

it sounds like you know how to make payments on time. u were not over 30 days late on your auto loan within a 4 yr period....so what is on your credit report that is making your score so low?

there has to be something major u might be overlooking

[rmc0522]

 I know 165k isn't that bad, but I am a 25-year-olkd woman who works  45 minutes away from home and doesn't get off work until midnight. My car is fine now, but realistically I'm going to be needing to look at other options in the next few months because I sitmply can't afford to drive my car until its unreliable.

As for my low credit score, believe it or not, a year and a half ago I had good credit. Here's my sob story. I'm a college graduate, been outta school 3.5 years, went into a field that simply doesn't pay well ( I have a bachelor's and have friends that never took a college class taht make considerably more than me) I've lived on my own since I graduated and just haven't been able to make ends meet. I took out a personal loan for about $2,000 in Feb. '06. It got seriously delinquent, but I just made arrangements last month for a payment plan.

I'm new to this, but my student loans are showing up 120 days late, but they are current now. Also, I had been approved for a  forebearance for 4 months, so it seems to me that it wouldn't show up negatively if they were allowing me to not pay for 4 moths? I'm thinking I need to write a letter, right? If that really is an error (it's 2 separate loans totaling $27,000 and both are being shown delinquent) about how much will my score go up?

Besides the personal loan and my student loans, I only owe about $1,500, mostly old credit cards that I went delinquent on. If I bust my tail, I can realistically get it paid off in the next 4-5 months.

So, maybe I'm just being optimistic, but all this is fixable, right? I know that getting stuff paid off is the first step, but then do I start writing letters to try to get stuff deleted?

[gNaRKiLL]

Well I do believe that when a school loan is in forbearance it shows up late until you start paying again, and then its current, you could probably call and confirm.  I would drive your car until it starts costing you more and more money every month to keep it. Take the money for the payment each month and pay down your cc's. 

Edit: Also alot of stuff is fixable, but it definitely varies from case to case. I dont think school loans are very forgiving when it comes to removing lates. Credit card lates can be forgiven but sometimes its really not easy, you have to have shown that you can make the payments on time for generally 2 years before they are willing to get rid of lates. Now if your trying to do a pay for delete that could be a different story.

I guess what im trying to say is dont look at it as if you can let your bills go and then work the system to get it off your record because it doesnt always work and it makes it even more difficult for the rest of us.

Message Edited by gNaRKiLL on 12-17-2007 03:02 PM

[fishbjc]

You're probably not going to get an auto loan with that score, but you already know that.  I can definitely see why you will need reliable transportation.  Can your father purchase the car in his name?  I've seen some leases on small kia's for around $129 per month.

Don't take a chance with your safety.  As far as your credit goes...it's definitely fixable.   Why don't you call around to a couple of dealers and talk to their credit manager, see where you need to be.