is my auto loan contributing anything to my fico score?

[RebelSon]

i have a ex fico score of 640

i've had my auto for 13 months, always paid on time, and never late...

its my oldest positive account, is it contributing to my fico score? what will happen to my score if i default on it? (just curious lol)

[llecs]

Every TL contributes to your score (good or bad). Per helping your score, maybe. How old is it in relation to your AAoA? If it is one of your youngest (even if it is your oldest positive), then it is probably a drain. However, as TLs age and you add new ones, then in time it'll improve like a aged wine as it gets older or becomes older than your AAoA (and one day becomes your oldest TL). If it is your oldest installment, then that counts for something too.

Dpending on your credit, scoring bucket, etc., a fresh 30 day can ding you 30-50+ easily if you have a clean report. The next month a 60 would appear and that can hurt even more. Then a 90 even more than that, though I don't see the cumulative going too much beyond 100 pts lost. Then it becomes a CO, though the damage would have been done. If repo'd there likely would be a deficiency for a 13 mo. old loan and that CO would continue to tick back up per the balance w/ lates added each month. Your score really wouldn't improve from that initial hit for a year or so. If the OC sells it, then the lates stop and the damage will slowly fade, though you can easily have a loss of 70+ on a clean report at the 7 yrs. If a CA reports, then you'll have a double ding with that one, or if sued, then another for the PR. I'd say 100+ at the 7 yr mark if a CO and a CA reports. Maybe more for the PR. This is all a guess, of course. There's no way to accurately predict. I went through a redeemed repo in my dark credit days and I know the thing still haunts my score by 40-50 at the 6.5 yr mark. Counting the days until it disappears forever.

[Anonymous]

---

@RebelSon wrote:

i have a ex fico score of 640

i've had my auto for 13 months, always paid on time, and never late...

its my oldest positive account, is it contributing to my fico score? what will happen to my score if i default on it? (just curious lol)

---

Your installment accounts most certainly do contribute to your FICO score, as long as they're being reported. Although, installment loans don't carry as much FICO weight as revolving accounts do. Still, your positive payment history, the age, the mix, and the ever falling debt/credit ratio are having a positive impact.

Sadly, if you were to default, the ding would cause "maximum pain" carrying as much weight as any other derog. A 30 day late, will be a late (not lessened because it's on an installment account vs. a revolving account). You'd take a hit to your score. Additional derogs; 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, C/O, repo, judgments, etc... will each cause ever increasing pain. Major FICO anguish.

So, don't default!

ETA: IIecs beat me to it, LOL!

[MarineVietVet]

---

@RebelSon wrote:

i have a ex fico score of 640

i've had my auto for 13 months, always paid on time, and never late...

its my oldest positive account, is it contributing to my fico score? what will happen to my score if i default on it? (just curious lol)

---

Here are some guidelines as to how credit missteps can affect a score.

You write that you have an "ex fico score of 640". Could you possibly mean an Equifax FICO? I ask because no one has been able to buy their own Experian FICO score since February of 2009. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU (PSECU) in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[RebelSon]

im not dumb ... i said ex fico i got it from my union when i took out my other auto loan.... but yeah okkay thanks for the info

[MarineVietVet]

---

@RebelSon wrote:

im not dumb ... i said ex fico i got it from my union when i took out my other auto loan.... but yeah okkay thanks for the info

---

No one said or implied you were dumb. It's a very common mistake to type EX in place of EQ and vice versa. I've done it myself.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

---

@MarineVietVet wrote:

Here are some guidelines as to how credit missteps can affect a score.

---

+1

That's a great link for knowing how different behaviors will affect different scores.  Sometimes, it's easy to miss that it's a link unless you pass your cursor over it. 

It's also helpful to use the score simulator you get as part of the report when you order your FICO score from this site.  With the simulator, you'll see the estimated impact paying on time, being late, apping for new credit, etc.  will have on your specific CR.  I love to play with that thing!

[Anonymous]

Hey Rebelson,

IIRC, your auto loan had a pretty dang high APR, true?

Have you considered refinancing at a lower rate?

It's different everywhere, but most places have at least one local CU that does a boatload of the local auto loans.  It might be worth it to check and see if they can write you a better deal.  Since you've pulled your credit report and know your FICO scores, you may want to walk into the offices (with a copy of your report) and ask if a loan officer could review options with you.  If you smell an attractive offer and app, they'll still have to do a hard pull, which is pretty painless.  It may very much be worth it.  A new loan with a lower rate and the loan repayment clock reset to 0 might be very helpful.  Just a thought.