So I've found a nice used car and gotten a purchase agreement for it, a pretty good deal too. The dealer has agreed to hang on to the vehicle for a while until I secure a loan (probably a week at best). I need a loan of about $8700.
I've so far applied at two places: US Bank and Wells Fargo.
Despite the fact that my FICO is 713 and my credit is spotless, both places have turned me down. The reason they give: I haven't had an auto
loan before.
So despite that the fact that I have been making around $400/mo payments on my numerous student loans for probably 2 years now and the fact that I have paid in full my credit cards every single month for 4 years and have never, ever gone past due on anything.... it seems they don't think I could handle repaying a $8700 secured debt.
The only remedy I can think of is to get a co-signer... but there is literally no one who would co-sign for me that has decent credit. None that I can think of, anyways.
I really need/want this car, and I'm running out of time. Any thoughts? Anyone know of a lender that would be more friendly to my needs?
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For example, with my wife's car, we had her and my credit scores in hand (771 and 750 respectively) and told our dealer that our bank offered us 6% and we wanted to see what the dealer could do. He had to "talk to his boss" and got us a 5.5% loan.
I'm not an expert on car dealers by any means, but it worked for us.
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Or even talk to the bank manager! I mean you work there.
Satans..... hints.....
Most credit unions are vastly superior to banks. Their rates are usually much better and they actually like to have you come in. It's a completely different atmosphere than a bank.
What city are you in?
I switched to a credit union (Boeing Employees Credit Union, available to all residents of Washington state, despite the name) and they gave me a loan right away.
Credit unions suck less than banks, use them if you can.
I did about a month ago get my TransUnion credit report (though I didn't get my FICO because for whatever reason that costs money) and saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. Never have had a single missed/late payment in my life and my credit reflects that.
It truly seems to be that I can not get an auto loan for the simple fact that I have never had an auto loan before.
I will try some more places and give credit unions a go, but I believe I'm going to have to face very real probability that I wont get this figured out in time to buy the car in question. At least perhaps I can get pre-approved somewhere and go car shopping.
Or on the other hand I could just hope the clunker I have now keeps running and save up to purchase with cash.
I had trouble getting an auto loan with credit history similar to yours.
I recently was able to secure an auto loan, but that was with like nine years of perfect credit (well, probably only back seven right?) and like $90K of combined income between the two of us. And our rate still wasn't quite what I thought it should be (but we only had like $500 down).
If you're not carrying a high balance with your bank, you don't have your current loans with them, and you've never had an auto loan with them, I can see where they might be reticent to give you a secured loan.
Is this where you're getting the 713 fico score from? I ask because I believe Transunion uses a different scale that would put your actual fico somewhere in the 600s. When I bought my car last year, my fico was something like 780 but Transunion said 820-something.
Most places give a loan based on the average or middle score. When I bought a car a year and a half ago, I just went to the dealer and told them I had X amount for a down payment, I didn't want to pay more than Y amount per month, and test drove the car I wanted to purchase. Twenty-four hours later, I went back and signed the paperwork and had a new car.
If this is a small dealership, you probably won't have much luck through the dealer there, but if all else fails, hit up the finance department at one or more of the big new-car dealerships. They may look at you funny for not buying one of their cars, but they should be able to find you a loan. They usually have multiple sources for loans they can check at once.
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But yes, credit unions tend to be fairly decent on their loan rates, savings rates, etc. I've never had a problem with Navy Federal Credit Union, but I've heard some people complain about small local type credit unions.
I ended up getting a co-signer, and it worked out great. Now I was able to get a home loan on my own credit.
Exactly. Not all financial institutions are the same on this particular issue. Some banks are more willing to give a particular type of loan than other banks. My local credit union loves to give car loans. Just call around.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
The banker I worked with let me see my FICO right after he pulled it, that's where I got the 713 score.
I have however officially given up and let the car go. I'm going to save up a couple thousand more dollars, hunt around for a co-signer, and try again in a couple months. Suppose I should try to get pre-approved before I go car shopping again.
Thanks again for the advice, everybody
Your employer may not want to tell you that's the reason, though.