Hey everyone,
I have limited credit, one credit card from BOA open at the moment. I'd like to see if I can get approved through a dealership and stay away from a buy here pay here. Can anyone comment on personal experiences regarding financing and what offers were made to you with either a bad/low credit score. I would prefer to go with a car that is up to par right out the door, rather than have to put money into an older model.

Thanks in advance!

 

Most places that will finance folks with bad credit are going to do so at an absurdly high interest rate. It's not impossible to get financed, as a lot of dealerships deal with folks that have bad/no credit. But be prepared to pay in the long run through the APR you're given.

How long have you had a line of credit with BOA? What's the limit on the card? What's your balance? These are all factors potential lenders are going to look at.

Have you talked to BOA about financing a vehicle through them? I'd guess it'd be easier to get financing through a company that you already do business with.

 

Thanks for the reply. I've only started this line this year. It's only a 500 max credit card and my balance is 250$. I was told to keep an open balance and show I can pay monthly to build a payment history. I know I'll pay more down the road, but I'm thinking I could kill 2 birds with one stone here...if I can get a car that I'll enjoy and build some credit.

 

Any chance you could have a cosigner?

 

Cosigner isn't likely at all unfortunately. The more I'm reading up on this...I'm thinking they're going to want something like 5K down just to qualify for high apr lol.

 

It would definitely be a lot easier with a cosigner, but if that's not an option you can still inquire with different dealerships and see what they can do for you. Just keep in mind that each time you let a potential lender pull your credit report, it goes on your record. It's called a "Hard Pull" meaning that they're actually requesting your credit history to determine if they can lend to you. Too many of those is a bad thing. You can pull your own credit report as much as you want using one of the sites, as they are considered "Soft Pulls."

Might be a good idea to go to a credit reporting website and see what your credit rating currently is.

Once you know that, you can ask dealerships to ballpark if they think you can get approved, etc... but be careful who you actually give permission to pull that report.

 

ok this is good information. I had no idea about that. I will get my score tonight after work.

 

Hopefully someone else can chime in as well, as I'm definitely not an expert.

 

I appreciate the input. In reality, I'm probably not a qualified buyer at this time. I make a comfortable salary, but that's not all that matters. Thanks! Heading home from work!

 

When I was searching for a car with low credit scores, Car max finance gave me the lowest % out of all the others I inquired with..

ending up selling the coupe back to car max 3 1/2 years later and they even gave me back a chunk of money.

 

Thanks for the replies. I was casually talking about cars in the break room today and one of the guys on the floor told me that he used to work at the dealership down the street and knows the gm etc etc. I'm sitting here thinking.....man I don't want to waste his time lol