Since I will be looking to buy a new car within the next 12-14 months I figured now is a good time to make sure I'm doing all that I can to get the best rate. A Capital One Prequal has me between 3%-5%, which is pretty decent, but when pulling my $1 report on Experian I noticed my FICO Auto Score 2 is quite a bit lower than my FICO 8 scores. I wanted to see if there is anything I can do to improve it going forward.
Background (feel free to ask for additional data points, I'll provide what I can):
Filed Ch7 7/2018, Discharged 10/2018
Ford Motor Credit included, court would not approve reaffirmation -- still paying on time, never missed a payment ever
Wells Fargo Dealer Services previously paid in full
Never late on a car ever, have had various leases/car loans since I was 18 (now 38)
Current Credit Scores (FICO8):
TU - 679
EQ - 708
EX - 709
FICO Auto Score 2 - 605
Cards - Limit/opened:
Target - 2000 - 2 mos
Ollo - 2200 - 7 mos
Valero - 500 - 6 mos (only reports on EQ)
Discover Secured - 2500 - 10 mos
Capital One Secured - $49 dep/$200 - 2 mos
Merrick DYL - 1100 (increases to 2200 next month) - 6 mos
Credit One - 1000 (closing next month when Merrick doubles) - 6 mos
Comenity Bank / NY&Co - $300 / 6 yrs, 7 mos * somehow not closed during CH7?
Auth User = $5 balance/$9500 Cap One - opened 19yrs ago
Auth User = $0 balance/$4800 Citibank - opened 2 yrs 2 mos ago
All paid on time. Util is typically 1%. The only cards that report a balance are my secured Cap One $5, the Auth Cap One $5, and occasionally Discover because it is my daily driver, so sometimes something is stuck in pending but somehow magically clears to make the statement (never more than $200).
Student Loans - Balance/Payment:
Federal - 177,399 / $489 - Balance will continue to go up because the payment does not cover interest. On track for public service loan forgiveness in a little under 9 years & have verification letters to that effect. Consolidated and payments started 1 yr, 9 mos ago.
Private - 36,400 / $700 - Started at 55k, paying aggressively. $700 is the minimum payment, I usually pay $1150/mo. Refinancied 1/2019.
All student loans are on time, have never been late ever.
Obviously my rebuild is very young. I realize that time is the thing I need more than anything else. I just wanted to see if there is anything I could be doing.
Thanks!
@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:FICO Auto Score 2 and FICO 8 scores are two different scores. I would keep an eye on your middle AUTO Score from you MyFICO (FICO 8 is typically used in banking/card accounts/approvals.) If they are offering that low that is actually a really good APR if you can catch it when they (the dealership is offering 0% financing promotion) of course go for that! Waiting until your newest accounts (2 months) hit the 1 year mark will help out as well
See if the person (dealership you work with specializes in BK's as well even though it is already done with they can possibly help point you in the right direction since it was fairly recent, but they don't really lean into Medical or Student Debt like people think.. Of course keeping your UTL low is great under 10% if possible but AGG under 30% if you can but I can't remember what all you said you had sorry. But if you let your accounts age it will def. work in your favor and make sure you don't add any lates PERIOD along the way.
Not much more you can do. All your cards are less than 6 months old basically. No more apps. You have enough now and let them work for you. Like you said yes time is best.
Awesome! That's what I was hoping to hear. Thanks!