Hey guys, i'm planning to finance my coupe but i'd like to know what FICO credit score is generally considered tier 1 or "great credit" with the best interest rates etc... i've been told 650+ and 700+... i know its different for different banks but for IFS for example, what do they consider a high score?

and if anyone is familiar with MCU (municipal credit union) or any other credit union, are they generally stricter than regular banks when it comes to auto loans? meaning will i get the best rate i can get with MCU if i have lets say a 700 on my FICO score?

assuming i have a steady job, etc... any input would be greatly appreciated...

 

normally anything over 700 is good.. i personally have 715 at the momment.. i dont know if this is considered Tier 1 .. but with 700+ you should get a good intrest rate..

 

i believe from 600 + should be good enough..if u r in the 750 range..no worries..u have excellent credit..

wen i did with mine..I have postal credit union..and their rate is 5.9%..i told infiniti this and they said I can get 5.75...and my credit score wasn't tat great..it was around 600..but i finance..so it might be different..



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Above 700 is an excellent FICO score. You should be able too qualify for an a/b loan no problem. Point of interest, don't check your credit score too often (at car dealerships etc.) because each time you do you will have points deducted.

 

yea i've been working on increasing my score for the last year... paid off all credit cards, i don't apply for any new credit cards or loans... and i only check my score through the credit agency itself. Personal inquiries don't count against you. So 700 should be good enough huh...

 

yeah, anything over 700 is considered good to excellent. if you're hovering around 650 it's only okay credit. down close to 600, it's not good--not "bad" credit, but not considered good or excellent credit which will affect the interest rate and even the possibility of getting the loan.

 

Even though you've paid off your CC, another way to increase your credit score would be to cancel all of them except 1 or 2. The more available credit you have, the lower your score, I believe.

 

It's a good idea too keep the two oldest accounts you have, get rid of the rest. Obviosly keep these in good order and you my friend, are in good shape.

 

If you have a FICO of 700 or above you are considered in the tier 1 bracket. Infiniti Financial will put you on a tei1 if your credit score is 700+.



<font color=blue>04 CB COUPE / WILLOW / PREM PACK</font color=blue>

 

I heard that everytime an agency checks your score it costs you 5 points...not sure if that is true. I do know that anything above 700 is excellent as my wife works for one of the 3 credit scoring agency's my score was 745 and the wifey's was 755 when we purchased the G.
Paul.

2004 G35 Sedan with sports package .
2004 Lincoln Aviator
1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 completely modified
1999 VW Jetta

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<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Even though you've paid off your CC, another way to increase your credit score would be to cancel all of them except 1 or 2. The more available credit you have, the lower your score, I believe.

<hr></blockquote>This isn't true anymore! I did just this just before buying a new home recently and found out it is now the absolute wrong thing to do and it actually lowered my score! I couldn't believe it.

As a portion of the formula for determining your FICO, they use the ratio of "available credit" versus "credit used". After paying off your credit cards, LEAVE THEM OPEN! Closing them reduces your available credit and lowers your score. This is the opposite of what we were told in the past. The other thing is the age of the accounts. Older accounts are always better than new ones. If you've had a credit card for 10 years it helps your credit score much more than one you opened 3 months ago.

Also, using a service of some sort to check your own credit score doesn't count against you anymore. If you do an inquiry with the intent of purchasing something those inquiries DO count against your score. I believe they fall off after six months.

04, TB/W, Nav, Aero, 6MT, etc...

 

hmmm. what to think? When I was looking at getting a car loan from my bank a while back, the loan officer told me that I should pay off any CC and then cancel all but one or two of them to help my credit score. My credit score was a 736 but neither of us knew it at that time. Her explanation was that the more credit someone has available makes that person more of a risk/liability for those occasions when someone runs up all of their CC's and then declares bankruptcy. Made sense to me at the time.

 

Last year, I was bound and determined not to finance at the dealership, since I didn't want any hasle while negotiating things there.

So I prearranged financing through an internet bank, and got a pretty decent rate of 4%. The average rate nationally according to the internet was higher than that, and I understood when I ordered the car over the phone that the rate was closer to 5% otherwise (the 2003s had just got off a special 2.9% rate. I bought a 2004).

I think it was a combination of my credit rating, the fact I was turning them down on financing, and the fact they found out I was putting 10K down, but they dropped down to 3.4%. The only down side with this was it turned out to be through Chase, and for 1/2 year, I was averaging 6 credit card offers a month from them. I have more "free" address labels than I can use over the next few years.

Of course, I also have a job I've held for several years, and my only other debt at the time was my home loan.

2004 Sedan/DVD Navigation/Desert Platinum/Willow

 

It doesn't hurt to check your own credit report. Also, if you are considering buying a car or home, multiple requests within a month's period reportedly doesn't hurt your rating.

Checking slightly less frequently will hurt. As well as different requests, say applying for credit cards, etc.

Many places on the web will give decent advice on how to improve your rating, though obviously keeping out of debt, paying bills on time, etc, are the best methods. For young people, the hardest ways to get good ratings are just that you probably don't have a long credit history.

2004 Sedan/DVD Navigation/Desert Platinum/Willow

 

From what I've read, having a low percentage of used credit vs available credit is better. Owing $1000 out of a $1500 credit limit is probably worse than owing $1500 out of $5000.

But having too much available credit can hurt in other ways. Looking at more than just FICO score, if you had $50000 of available credit, some lenders may worry that you could go crazy, and get way overextended.

2004 Sedan/DVD Navigation/Desert Platinum/Willow