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Over 7 inquires a year is considered "excessive". I know some salesmen that run you to 7 different banks or more on just a single application.
"shopping" your credit is never a good idea.
It depends on the debt, and you are right. Some things will drop off and the older they are the less they weigh into any lending decision tho'.
This falls into the category of knowing how your credit is rated/scored. The more credit you apply for, the worse your score is, i.e. they count a lot of credit applications against you.Credit Unions are a good start but I would spend at least 60-90 days trying to get things removed from your bureaus before applying for loans. If you go out and apply everywhere and shotgun your credit you're ed. Take it slow at first because you already know you have credit issues.
Over 7 inquires a year is considered "excessive". I know some salesmen that run you to 7 different banks or more on just a single application.
"shopping" your credit is never a good idea.
I agree however. If you have more collections than good accounts, regardless of score impact, it still behooves the guy to eliminate the collections. It'll just present better. Especially at a credit union that looks more at the big picture vs. just a FICO score.
So B2B, what is your final answer to Sly? After reading all this credit stuff, I still think he should find an adequate car for a portion of his $3500, pay cash, stash some for auto maintenance, and concentrate on fixing up his credit before going the loan/financing route. What do you say?
I don't know exactly what his credit situation is. I'd have to see exactly whats going on and then advise him.
Get a used 2001+ hyundai elantra for $3K or $3.5K cash and be done with it. I've had 4 hyundais and all have been extremely low maintenance and reliable. I still have an '02 elantra GT (the hatchback with leather, etc) that my wife and I bought new. It still drives smooth, has leather/sunroof/etc and with 100K on it now and the only thing besides general maintenance that had to be done was replace the thermostat (covered under warranty, but would have cost $10) and I replaced the radiator due to a small crack (plastic radiators only last up to 70K if you're lucky but it only cost me $170). They are reliable and even better, cheap to fix. You can pick up used engines for $200 - $300 for them and have one handy in case you need to pull anything off of it.
I'd sell you mine (which I predict will probably go to 150K, if not more) but I've already promised it to my sister-in-law when she turns 16 in a year and a half.
Ok, this is a valid point as far as the "auto-enhanced scores" and I guess I should have mentioned it because some banks do use auto-enhanced scores. I have not run into one credit union that uses either auto or credit card enhanced scores. I have literally called the Credit Union to find out what the FICO requirement for a loan is (i.e. all other things being equal, what FICO score = what rate), then I ask them which credit report they pull. I pull that report at home, and bring it with me to the bank, just in case there is some issue. Every single time, the FICO that they receive is exactly on the dot, what I just pulled. Maybe there are credit unions out there that are not the same, but in dealing with United SA, SSFCU, and Firstmark this is exactly how it has gone.
As far as going all over town and applying for car loans this is fine as long as you do it in a set amount of time. You are allowed 14 days to shop for a car loan, and 30 days to shop for a mortgage. What this means if you go to a car dealership today and they pull your credit you can apply for all the car loans you want in the next 14 days and it will only count as 1 "pull" as far as your score is concerned. The other pulls will show up so that you can see who pulled your credit, but your score will only be affected by the first. So that car dealer that says they are going to pull your credit, then sends your info to 7 banks is not hurting your credit any more than you going to YOUR bank and them pulling your credit once. The same thing goes for mortgages, only you have 30 days instead of 14.
Just a warning though, THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO CREDIT CARDS. If you are shopping for a card, be darned sure that you want that card before you apply.
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As far as the FICO corporation is concerned, it is true that you have 14 days to shop for the auto loan. If the pull is coded as an installment loan, rather than an auto loan when pulled, that can adversely affect the credit score. This is one reason why it is important to keep tabs on your report because errors are not uncommon. I think it is criminal that the credit bureaus are not regulated more than they are. I mean a very common "error" is that when you have a collections account for a credit card, it should fall off 7 years after the date of last activity. That means, the last time you paid on it or charged on it (whichever is later). Collections companies will keep an account alive by reporting a new date of last activity every time the account is sold. This is illegal and can usually be corrected by sending a letter to the bureau reporting it (though, I would go a step further and send a letter to the collections company as well warning them to stop this nonsense). You may also do the same if you went out shopping for a car, had 30 pulls, and it dinged your credit score 30 times. I have heard of something similar happening, but 1.5 years ago when I went shopping for a car, I had a total of 25 pulls on my report, all counting as 1 "hard" pull. Your credit is pulled all the time without your knowledge. If you have a credit card, they will pull your credit anywhere from once a month to once a year to check and see if you are still credit worthy. These count as "soft" pulls and don't affect your score, though they still show on the credit report.
Its amazing that the single most important financial tool this country uses is so poorly run and monitored.
I think at the end of the day Sly probably just isn't interested in getting something financed no matter what.
BacktoBasics: WORD!
PM5K: I agree, Sly hasn't posted to this thread in a while. That is ok, though, maybe someone learned something.
Ok sorry I have not posted, I read tho. Yesterday I was working late and on top of that my throat is sore and I got a cough that hurts like crazy so I went to bed early.
Felt the same today but I was off so I woke up took my daughter school and then went to pick up my new glasses, well as they were adjusting them they broke WTF I waited over week and feel like crap and that happen. Almost turn me off to car hunting.
So from there I hit up lots and some just piss me off. Sales guys would act like I was not there so I would wait till they "felt" the needed to walk towards me. They would come with in hand shaking distance I would turn and walk out.
I went to this small lot by my work place the old man(owner) was nice, he recognize me from my work it's like 4 blocks over. So I got a 2000 Blazer from there.
total price was 6508.00 with my 3000.00 down, I pay 370.00 for 9 months which for me is not bad because I did not want a 2 year payment plan.
It was in house finance which I know will not help my credit because it will never show up, but the other places I went to would check it and then come back saying if I can get a co-signer I could get a car.
I don't want a co-signer I don't feel right having someone do that for me. I mean I will pay but you never know what can happen down the line. I bet people who got laid off this year were thinking just a year and a half ago that they had great job security.
Anyways I still feel like but here are 2 pics of my first ride and my daughter loves it. First thing she ask "Does the Ac work and the heater for the cold morning"
I know I could have done, should have done.....but I really needed a ride now. The car we share seem to break down allot and I hate struggling to find a ride to work because the bus does not go near there from my house it would require 2 buses.
Overall I'm happy and in 9 months with everything going correctly I will not have a payment no more. Thanks for all the replies and PM's. I want to pay this off first and then start the repairing my credit process. With out a ride to work there is no cash to start the repair process.
Once again thanks for all the help/pm/replies, this is a great board and now with a ride of my own I can make it to a few GtG for games come playoff time.
Ouch, hopefully you're a very good driver, those things are notorious for rolling over (not by themselves obviously)...
I think the newer four door version is supposed to be better though.
Last edited by PM5K; 02-04-2009 at 07:44 PM.
do what i'm about to do... go to your bank and get a CD in a substantial amount like $2500, then get a loan from the same bank for the same amount and repay periodically. doing so and on time will build your credit.
So what are the specs on it, what year, how many miles, etc?
Too bad you didn't have the 5K to buy my Jeep:
That is great Sly, congratulations! I wish you and your daughter well with that. Just one thing to tell you. You may begin working on your credit without any money (except having an envelope and a stamp). Go get your free credit reports from the links earlier in this thread and check for accuracy, and start writing letters. That way, by the time you have paid off your truck, you may have decent credit.
I agree, it's something you'll want to put off, but the problem is that fixing your credit can take time so get started on it asap....
hopefully the fuel pump doesn't go out once a year like it did in my blazer after a while. i had to get rid of it because of the 17 mpg hwy tho.
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