Before you plan on purchasing a vehicle there are a few things I suggest you do. Checking your credit and working on finding out how to increase your score. You should be more familiar with your credit report than anyone. Understanding your credit report and how it can impact your life- positively or negatively. A great place to get your credit report for free is Creditkarma.
There are plenty of places to get it for free but this has been my go to for years. Some folks say it’s not accurate for scores but guess what is accurate- the info on the report. One thing I notice over and over when people come to purchase a vehicle is low scores for these reasons-
- credit card limit is $500 and the balance is $499. (if you paid the balance down to 30% of the limit $150. your score would increase
- tons of inquiries- stop applying for stuff- you know you have bad credit no one is going to give you anything until you fix it
- paying off collections because you think it will increase your score- NOPE
OK so the quick fix to boost your score is paying down those balances on open credit cards to under 30%. It makes more sense to come in with a lower down payment and a higher score. You will qualify for a lower interest rate with your better score.
If you have a friend/ relative that can add you as an authorized user on a credit card this can improve your score. You need to make sure the have excellent pay history on the card and have a balance under the 30% mark. You can also search out companies online that sell authorized user trade lines. I used this company a few years ago and it worked like a charm. My score increased about 64 points.
These are just a few tips to help you increase your score quickly. If you are in the market for a new vehicle and want to get the car shopping process started now, just click here.
