By William Frazier
July 5, 2016
If you have a really, and I mean really good, credit score you can get some of the best rates and financing options at the dealership. These are normally the 0% interest rates you see offered by them on advertisements and TV commercials. In these cases, the financing comes from the manufacturer (Toyota, BMW, GM, etc.). These special financing offers can normally only be applied to newer cars and sometimes certain models.
If you don’t have an impeccable credit score then you need to shop around for auto loans before you get to the dealership. This way you can find the best interest rate and auto loan for your situation before the dealer has your credit report pulled by 50 different banks and comes back to let you know who “they say” had the best auto loan approval for you. You will normally find the best interest rates and get easier approval at credit unions and small banks but sometimes larger banks do offer special rates and might have a better deal.
In most cases all large banks will report your loan to all 3 credit bureaus whereas smaller banks and credit unions might not report to all 3 of the credit bureaus. Why is this important? You’re going to be making payments on this loan for 5-7 years so you want to make sure all that good credit payment history is reported to all 3 bureaus so all 3 of your scores will see the benefit. After all, the next time you apply for a loan you never know which credit bureau the lender will check and if the loan was only reporting to the 2 credit bureaus that lender doesn’t check them all that good history will be for nothing.
You can check your credit score here with identity IQ for $1 if you want to see where you stand before you hit the dealerships.
William Frazier
NACC Certified Credit Counsilor
Clean Slate Credit
334-430-5296
All rights reserved, 2016.
