Hammr

Hi all:

I am looking at ordering my Vert pretty soon. I am concerned about my credit score. When I was younger, I destroyed my credit rating. Over the last 4 years my wife and I have worked very hard to rebuild our credit. No late pays or any problems in the last four years, and we paid off all the bad credit holders a couple of years ago. We were able to buy a house about two years ago using normal financing. We have not applied for any line of credit in over a year. Here then is my question:

To order my vert, the dealer wants to run a credit ap. That is fine with me because I will need to borrow money to get the car. I was just wondering if I should go on the internet and get my credit score, so I know I am not wasting my time or should I let the dealer run the ap. If I do it myself, will it decrease my score when the dealer does it? Like I said I am very concerned about my score and do not want to jepordize getting the vehicle.

Any assisstance would be appreciated.

UGAKarl

If you live in a state that offers free reports then it's free to do it and you should (GA is one of those states).. go to transunion.com or experian.com. Your dealer looking at your credit will "hurt" your credit but not by much... however if you're on the line it could push you over into worse credit. I would highly recommend checking your credit every year at least.

However... tell your dealer you have pre-arranged financing and that he doesn't need to run your credit. It's not like you're paying for it right there! Plus, Ford credit stinks right now with stangs.. check out a 3rd party bank or Credit Union for the best rates.

mr-mstng

Go through one of the 3 major credit bureaus. Trans union, Equifax, or Experian. Get your report and score. DO NOT get the 3 in one report and score power. They are NOT accurate. The bureau you get your report and score through is accurate, but the other two have been waaaaay off.

Your score and credit will not be affected by YOUR inquiry, but it will be affected by having a dealer check it. So, its always best to know this before you walk into the dealer so that you don't have any surprises.

Good luck.

AZOmae

If you're trying to get financing, here's just a suggestion:

I don't know who your insurance carrier is, but I went through USAA for mine, after being denied from 4 other financial institutions. I've had USAA insurance for the last 15 years, no late payments, solid relationship. THEY were the ones that told me to apply for credit through their financial branch. They locked me in at 4.5% and it only took 3 minutes. All this after being denied from other's (including my bank, which I've held two accounts with for the last 11 years!!! WTF?).

Just a suggestion.

Stadifer

That more or less depends on how may credit agencies check your credit. It only starts to hurt if you have numerous companies looking up your credit.

One thing is for sure... If you ever start the process of buying a house NEVER let ANYONE look at your credit. That will cancel out your mortgage in no time. I've had lots of friends screw up that way.

clintoris

however.... you shouldn't have anything to worry about if you own a house and haven't had a late payment on anything since you bought the house... you're in like flinn.... BUT, as previous comments suggest, get your credit report from the 3 credit reporting agencies. In Colorado we get a free one every year as well, but it DOES NOT include the credit score.... you have to pay extra for that. So... just go to their websites and order 1 with the credit score to see where you stand... then you'll know what to expect.
And again... as previously mentioned.... they don't have to pull your credit to talk bottom line with you.

PS... I made it... I'm a GT member now

Stadifer

I personally am going to get pre-approved through my credit union. No haggling or crap with the dealership about finance and what not. Also, since I have access to X-Plan there isn't really any haggling over the price either.

This could be the least painful car buying experience for myself ever!

stock01gt

I have to agree with what everyone has said so far, althought I'm not sure about the 3-in-1 not being accurate. It was in my case when I was buying my house, but maybe I just got lucky.

I like to know my score going in, just so I can negotiate with the confidence that I know I will get the loan if we do agree on the price. If you get close enough that they can taste the deal, and you let it be known that credit is not an issue, they may bend a little further to get the sale.

Good luck!

legendlimetime

Another problem you face is if the dealer checks your credit now and says ok great everything looks fine...they will still have to check your credit again when your car arrives because it will have been more than 30 days since they last checked. Multiple inquiries are your enemy.

mr-mstng

About 6 months ago I got the 3 in 1 with 3 scores, and one of the scores was off by about 140 points! I immediately contacted the bureau and filed a complaint. They contacted me and said that the numbers from the other bureaus were 'estimates', and not the actual score. I was told that the only way to get 3 accurate scores, is to order the scores from each individual bureau.

05ScreamingGT

Here's how it works:

Checking your score doens't hurt you. ANYONE else checking it does. It usually costs you about 5 points. All queries withing 14 days only count as one query and will only count against you once. IE if you get it checked on the first of the month and then the last of the month it could hurt you by up to 10 points. If you get it checked on the first and the 10th and the 11th it will only count against you once (5 points).

Here is the link to tons of information:
http://www.myfico.com/myfico/CreditCentral.asp?fire=1

Smoov Stang Lova

Have to agree with all the previous post...although I did let my dealer run it and I to was concerned. They were able to get me financed w/o haggling, so I guess I got lucky. My credit wasnt tore up from the floor up...but it wasnt the BEST either. At any rate, if I had to do it again, I wouldve checked my score prior to going in.

Good Luck...!!

Stadifer

The lesson from this thread? If your dealer asks to run credit prior to completion of the final price and options, just say NO!

And if he decides to push the point pull out the big guns...

KenP

When I ordered my GT the dealer wanted to do a check. He said the delership required it in order to do the order (the same as if you were buying off the lot). I don't blame them for doing it. I wouldn't want to waste the time of going thru the whole process and find out that the person could not be financed. So I let them do it, and it came back ok and I could be financed by Ford credit. I had already checked my history and I knew what my score was so I really wasn't worried. I have decided to go thru my credit union to finance the car. My car has been built this past week and I am now waiting for delivery sometime around Nov 12-19. Until then I have a nice deposit in my account and a pre-approved loan to cover the rest sitting on my desk.


One other thing......
If the dealer checks your rating then ask him the score...compare it to what you got from your own check. Sometimes the dealer will say you have a lower score, but can get you a loan at a higher rate.

Stadifer

Reason 1,123,443 to pre-approve through your bank or credit union.

Hammr

Thank you all very much. I will check my score myself before talking to the salesman again. I think this is the best option and will give me a piece of mind when I do go to order.

azoufan

I did this with my wife's Jeep GC and I'll never buy another car without doing this again.

I went to peoplefirst.com, now capitaloneautofinance.com, and got pre-approved (took less than 1 hour from filling out form to confirmation call). They next day aired my check, went to the dealer and said "I want that car, what's the price". Dealers use a 4 square tactic during sales, 1. Trade-in 2. Price of vehicle 3. Options / Warranty 4. Financing

By not trading in and having your own financing, you have removed 2 of the 4 ways you can get screwed (no offense to car salesmen on here). Negotiate the price of the car only, here's my check.

Now what happened with me was after the dealing was done, the finance guy comes out and offers to beat my financing if I'll let him (they make commission too). Sure enough, he did by an entire percentage point (3.9% vs. 2.9%). When we first went in they quoted us just over 9% (Credit score at the time was 753).

Got to www.carbuyingtips.com, spend some time reading through the entire site, it will save you money, yes even on a Mustang. Grand total savings on the Jeep GC from initial asking price to deal? $8,520, look it up, it's posted there under the SavOMeter under Jeep, 3rd one down from the top.

Good luck!

Sean

Donna

A little off topic here but on the subject of financing, I got preapproved through AAA for 4.54% which I thought was a great rate. I would have used that but the finance manager at the dealership got me 4.44% from a local bank. One thing I learned from reading all the info is to never go to a dealership without your own backup financing.

I was counting on Ford Credit having a good rate but it didn't happen. Try a credit union if you can, or AAA and have backup in place when you get ready to purchase. Good Luck!

Paris MkVI

Absolutely right Donna. Have a FI package in your pocket when you walk in.

When you test drive, Hammr, they'll usually want to photocopy your license. GO WITH THEM to the machine, let them copy it, and write "NO CREDIT CHECK" on the copy and sign it. Get it back from them when you are done.

Most dealers are not a problem with this, but some unscrupulous ones will run checks while you are out driving, costing you an inquiry hit and points.

ml504

Is 784 a good score?