I talked to the Dealer today and made an apointment to order my fit and leave a deposit in about 2 wks.
The lady was so nice. What I want to know is should I have them run my credit and apply for financing when I order the car, or should do that when the car comes in? The sales lady said I could do it either or. My concern is I wont have the full amount that I want to put down on the car. My credit is not the greatest and I dont want the dissapointment of possibly not getting approved. I do know that the larger the dwnpymt, the better my chances for approval. I do think it is a good Idea to order the car now and finish savin while I wait the 2 mos. Let me know what ya'll think.
P.S. I want the MR Sport A/T

 

I'd personally rather know now then wait for the car then find out I can't take it home. At least then you can explore alternative options (waiting and putting down a larger down payment, having a co-signer, etc.) while you're waiting for your Fit, yanno?

That's what I'm going to do anyway. My credit is outstanding, but I'm only 21 and I own nothing of value in a lender's eyes, so we'll see.

 

So you think I should have them run it when I go to order it? Then What? I dont own much either, but I make decent money and I been on the job 4 1/2 yrs I think that should account for something, anyway I really like your advice. Thanks.

 

I'd just tell the dealer you want to explore your financing options before you put a deposit down on the car so that you know what you will need to budget. After all, a higher APR will affect your monthly payment, and if you can only be approved for X amount, you'll know what kind of down payment you'll need, etc.

I'd recommend checking your credit score on equifax.com before you do anything. From what I've read, 680 or so puts you in prime range for auto loans (meaning you'll get a better APR). Keep in mind that every credit bureau is a little different in calculating your score, but I can tell you that when I worked for Cingular 99% of the time Equifax was what came back first (we just used whichever of the three that would kick a score back first).

Plus, if you check your score through Equifax (I think it's like $15 for a one time online report and score) they have a FICO Simulator, which will show you how doing X, Y, or Z can affect your score over time. The only thing hurting me at the moment is the fact that my credit cards, while being lower in limits, are close to their maximum. Using the simulator, I was able to see how my score would look in a couple of months when they are completely paid off (I was job hunting and had to use credit to get by for a little while, but it won't take long to knock the debt down to nothing.) If you feel like you can bring your score up enough between now and then, perhaps you'll want to just wait and explore your financing options upon delivery instead. It also gives a lot of information about things that always hurt your score, always help your score, and things that may or may not do anything to your score at all - so you'll know what you can do to help it, and what to avoid to further hurt it. Since FICO scores can vary though, you might want to cross reference it with another bureau (experian or transunion).

As a final option if you can't get approved either now, or when your car comes in, a co-signer will still help *your* credit. You just need to make absolute sure that the dealer puts the loan in both parties names, not just your co-signer (I've seen that happen quite a bit). If they do that, then positive payment history on the loan will be recorded on your credit history, and when you upgrade to an '11 Fit, you'll be in great shape to get prime financing.

Hope that helps some!

 

I agree. Have them run it, and let you know about the financing options. Financing isn't rocket science, and they should be able to take care of you. You might need a little extra time to decide if the terms they offer you are worth it to you. Financing someone is risky, and the lenders risk is expressed as interest. The more risky they think loaning you money is, the higher the interest rate is going to be. That gets translated to you in higher payments for longer terms. Find out what they can offer, then go to your bank to see if they can give you a better rate. Check out any financing methods/options you can find. Maybe look for a co-signer who really trusts you, only if you absolutely need it (money squabbles can end even the best friendships). It doesn't matter that you own nothing of any real value, because the collateral for a car loan is the car itself. Just don't give the repo man a reason to come after you.

Good luck.

 

Huh. I never even thought about that. That makes me significantly less concerned about obtaining financing. Thanks!

And I agree about shopping around with your bank, and possibly other banks. Having several inquiries of the same type generally won't hurt your credit score, as it'll be pretty frickin' obvious you're shopping for a car loan since all of the inquiries will be of the same type. Hell, if that hurt your credit, then anyone buying a house would have their credit go into the gutter faster than they could sign on the dotted line.

 

You can get approval from another place for now, just to feel better about things. I had a check from Capital One that I got after applying online. When I applied with Honda, I got a better deal, but I felt better knowing that I was approved before we went to look at the car. Just a thought!

 

but I hope you do understand that everytime you run your credit it does DECREASE and lower your credit scores. FYI just in case you didn't know.

 

A lot of good points. If the dealer does not have a VIN# for the car yet then they can not start paper work and you can not apply for financing. So if they don't have that, then you have some time.

If you want to investigte your credit report check out http://www.annualcreditreport.com/. You will have to pay if you want your credit score. If you investigate it [your credit report] from the above site it will not show on your report. But, like Linda pointed out, once you have a bank or other lender start to make inquires it does affect your credit score, but not a lot. Though if you have a lot inquiries in a short time that will cause you problems.

I'm not a financial expert, I just bought a house so I still remember all this stuff.

 

I will pull a credit report next week to see whats on it. I of course don't mind paying for it. I think its worth it. It is good to know that I have to wait until they generate a VIN before the paperwork can begin. Do ya'll think I should still order the car , or should I wait and get my financing together first? The Dealer said it would take 6-8 weeks for the car to come in once the order is placed.

 

my purchase with the car was not easy...i have bad credit, but am now rebuilding it with the car. I almost did not get the loan for the car...they asked me if i had a co-signer i said no and told them well have a good day and i thought my FIT dreams were gone, but they got me the loan with Honda Financing...i did put $5000.00 down payment and i have been at the same for 3 years...i knew my credit b4 i walked in cause sa friend of mine is a mortgage broker so he ran my score...i talked to a guy that came in my bar and told him the situation he used to work for a credit bureau and told me that after 9-10 months of good payment history to refinance the car at a lower rate (which i will do) i also have a friend that i will pay him to take things off my credit...credit can always be fixed so dont worry to much...i messed mine up when i was in college...haunts you after, but it can be fixed.

 

This is only partially true Linda.

If you have your credit run several times by different credit card companies, or different types of lenders entirely, then yes, it can and more than likely will hurt your credit score. However, a few inquiries of the same *type* (ie: car loans) generally won't hurt too much if at all because you're shopping around for the same type of loan (as opposed to shopping for a lot of different credit lines).

Not to mention running your credit once or twice every several months doesn't really affect your score at all. I opened a NY&C store card because it gave me 40% off of the pile of clothing I was buying, and I checked my credit score a couple of weeks later. It went up, not down, because I hadn't applied for a new line of credit in nearly a year before that.

 

Paulo, what is your rate and mntly pymnt if you dont mind my asking. I need to find out as much as I can before I go to the dealer. I plan to have at least 3 grand to put down. I came up wit that # because 2 or so yrs ago I tried to buy a new car and every dealer I talked to told me If I had 3 grand they could get me into a new car. I am steady tuckin away my chips. I dont want to be ordering a Fit for someone else.