What is a good credit score to buy a new car ?

[compguy786]

In a year/1.5 i will look into buying a new car. I want to buy a brand new car. I will be 23 when i do look into this, and right now i have 2 credit cards, one is practically paid off, and the other should be paid off within this year. I have never been late on payments etc in the 4 years i have had them both.

What is a good score to look into buying a brand new car.

Thanks !

 

[jlee]

IIRC my credit union gives the best rate possible to someone with 760 or above. I could be a little off on that number...may have been 720.

 

[JackBurton]

IIRC my credit union gives the best rate possible to someone with 760 or above. I could be a little off on that number...may have been 720.

I think it's 720 and above.

 

[compguy786]

what if its in the 700 range...is that bad ?

 

[jlee]

what if its in the 700 range...is that bad ?

No, not "bad" at all -- your rate just might be quarter or half percent higher.

 

[DesiPower]

Score alone will not mean much, depends on what else you have on your history. Unpaid CC or late payment or having a balance of more than 50% are all negatives, whereas a perfect CC history is not worth much, its treated as revolving credit history, not worth much for loans. If you have paid off a "loan" then it will be positive. Also have to take into account, our debt to income ratio and job history. Lots of factors... credit score alone doesn't mean jack...

 

[jlee]

Score alone will not mean much, depends on what else you have on your history. Unpaid CC or late payment or having a balance of more than 50% are all negatives, whereas a perfect CC history is not worth much, its treated as revolving credit history, not worth much for loans. If you have paid off a "loan" then it will be positive. Also have to take into account, our debt to income ratio and job history. Lots of factors... credit score alone doesn't mean jack...

In my experience, interest rate has been directly tied to credit score.

There is certainly more to the loan approval process, but also if you have unpaid / late accounts you probably won't have a high score to begin with.

 

[hanoverphist]

In my experience, interest rate has been directly tied to credit score.

There is certainly more to the loan approval process, but also if you have unpaid / late accounts you probably won't have a high score to begin with.

ya, same here. my FCU gave me their "A" rate based on my rating, and knocked 1/4% off for having it paid automatically out of my account. my ex didnt have that luck, her rate was higher for her new truck than mine was for a used truck. my FCU told me i couldnt get the low rate (2.99 and below) for a used vehicle purchase, but they would give me 0% for a new purchase. ive never bought a brand new car, and likely wont ever.

 

[SabaII]

If your in the 700s your fine. If your below 640 it would be real tough to get a decent rate. I sell cars and if someone has a lower score or a bankruptcy or a default something of the sorts they get sent right over to special financing usually.

 

[DesiPower]

In my experience, interest rate has been directly tied to credit score.

There is certainly more to the loan approval process, but also if you have unpaid / late accounts you probably won't have a high score to begin with.

hmm... yes and no, Interest rate may be decided based on your score only if meet the basic criteria of getting a loan. For example, if I have a 10 year old credit history with only perfect credit cards on it, less than 2 year of employment history, score of 760, I will not get the top tier rates.

On the other hand if I have 10 year credit history, 10 years of employment, resolved late payments and non payments on credit cards more ten 3 years ago, 2 or more car loans paid off with no late payments, score of 760, I can get top tier rates,

 

[Capt Caveman]

Score alone will not mean much, depends on what else you have on your history. Unpaid CC or late payment or having a balance of more than 50% are all negatives, whereas a perfect CC history is not worth much, its treated as revolving credit history, not worth much for loans. If you have paid off a "loan" then it will be positive. Also have to take into account, our debt to income ratio and job history. Lots of factors... credit score alone doesn't mean jack...

Bought a new car this summer, my interest rate(lower than advertised special financing rate) was due to my credit score. How do I know? You can request a copy of the credit report they used to determine your qualifications. All they used was my credit score.

 

[jlee]

hmm... yes and no, Interest rate may be decided based on your score only if meet the basic criteria of getting a loan. For example, if I have a 10 year old credit history with only perfect credit cards on it, less than 2 year of employment history, score of 760, I will not get the top tier rates.

On the other hand if I have 10 year credit history, 10 years of employment, resolved late payments and non payments on credit cards more ten 3 years ago, 2 or more car loans paid off with no late payments, score of 760, I can get top tier rates,

My credit union has a chart - credit score and rate. Perhaps yours is different.

 

[superccs]

They also look at your income versus monthly liabilities (mainly housing cost) ratio.

 

[EdVance]

For comparison, the average national credit score is 750. A credit score in the range of 720 I believe is good enough if you are looking to buy a new car but that will depend on what car you are planning to buy.

 

[Doppel]

For comparison, the average national credit score is 750. A credit score in the range of 720 I believe is good enough if you are looking to buy a new car but that will depend on what car you are planning to buy.

This says it's low 700's

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/states-best-credit-scores-662104

I know some local car deals give their best rates to only scores of 740. I don't think I've seen one demanding a higher score than that for the top tier rate, but definitely 760 would be the highest I've seen.

 

[jaedaliu]

As high as possible? Aside from buying something with installment payments, I don't think there's much you can do to increase your score. I guess you could open another card or 2, but I don't know if that's worth it.

Just try not to have any hard pulls for at least 6 months before you get that loan. They stay on for 2 years, but 6 months should be good to get it back to where it was before.

 

[JCH13]

When I got a new car I had a credit score of ~750 with one open credit card and no debt on it. Chase wouldn't give me a loan without a co-signer, and even then they would not give me a great rate. Chase cited 'lack of credit and loan history' as the reason.

Credit history matters a lot in my experience. YRMV.

 

[onza]

It's not all about credit score.

It's about history of credit + standing balance on credit cards.

 

[sgrinavi]

It's not all about credit score.

It's about history of credit + standing balance on credit cards.

Your credit score is also based on those things, so it kinda works out.

OP - 720 got me the best rates at BMW at the end of last year.

 

[sgrinavi]

For comparison, the average national credit score is 750. A credit score in the range of 720 I believe is good enough if you are looking to buy a new car but that will depend on what car you are planning to buy.

Not quite

As of December 2011 Experian’s National Score Index reports a 687 PLUS Score as the average in the United States. I’ve organized the data below and marked those states which are at or above average as green, and those below in red.
Alabama – 676
Alaska – 684
Arizona – 676
Arkansas – 677
California – 687
Colorado – 692
Connecticut – 705
Delaware – 680
Florida – 678
Georgia – 670
Hawaii – 700
Idaho – 694
Illinois – 693
Indiana – 686
Iowa – 708
Kansas – 697
Kentucky – 680
Louisiana – 670
Maine – 702
Maryland – 687
Massachusetts – 710
Michigan – 688
Minnesota – 718
Mississippi – 668
Missouri – 690
Montana – 709
Nebraska – 708
Nevada – 660
New Hampshire – 711
New Mexico – 676
New Jersey – 699
New York – 697
North Carolina – 679
North Dakota – 715
Ohio – 690
Oklahoma – 676
Oregon – 698
Pennsylvania – 700
Rhode Island – 700
South Carolina – 671
South Dakota – 714
Tennessee – 679
Texas – 667
Utah – 694
Vermont – 712
Virginia – 694
Washington – 700
Washington DC – 679
West Virginia – 680
Wisconsin – 707
Wyoming – 695
You probably notice that those states with the lowest average scores tend to be in the southern half of the country (both the southeast and southwest). Meanwhile, many states in the Midwest and New England have above-average.
Nevada has the lowest credit score at 660 – that’s 27 points below the U.S. average.
Minnesota has the highest at 718 – which is 31 points above the U.S. average.
The spread between the lowest and highest state is 58 points.