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It's not going to be easy to get a loan in your name with a credit score like that. And getting the loan cosigned isn't going to help your credit rating. I wouldn't buy a $30+K car with the kind of rates that come with a 550 FICO score. If you've gotten yourself back on track financially and settled the debts that got you in trouble in the first place, I think you owe it to yourself and your family to save your money and buy your next car for cash. Few cars are worth paying 15-20% APR rates to own.

My advice is to get a second job and deposit that paycheck in the bank for the car purchase. It might take a few years to save up the money but in the meantime you'll be able to manage your other financial commitments and put your credit straight without huge car and insurance payments dragging you down.

Of course, I know very little about you and the circumstances surrounding your finances. But a good credit score is worth getting and protecting. If you're looking to have someone cosign because your credit sucks, you're not making sound financial decisions. Good luck.

what he said ^

One caveat - if you've got a low credit score, taking out an auto loan and paying it off is very good for your credit. So, if you have the money in the bank, I still wouldn't buy the car outright for cash. I'd take a loan, pay on it a few months, then pay it off with the cash in the bank. Sure, it'll cost you some in interest, but as you now realize - you can't simply BUY better credit.

550??? WOW!

Just bought my 05 Sedan and financed mine through Infiniti...but I have an 818 score

Me too, gotta love 2.9% financing for 60 months.

I'm sure the guy feels bad enough without people whipping out their golden FICO scores and chest-beating them.

That aside, the advice in this thread is great. Dave's bit about taking out a loan and paying it off in a few months to raise your score is excellent advice.

You don't have to answer this on the forum but WHY is your score 550? If it's because you either don't have any credit or because of a divorce or something that screwed you all up then I hope you can find some help. If your score is 550 because you are late on your bills or you have too much debt or because you have filed bankruptcy then ask yourself if this car is really a good idea. Not saying you shouldn't get the car but is it REALLY a good idea or not. Are the reasons you got in that situtation still there or not. Anyway, you get my point. Another good way to get some credit built up is to go buy something that you either have the money for or that doesn't cost much on one of those 90 days same as cash deals. We did this before we bought our first home back in '97. In our case we bought new mattresses on 90 days same as cash and then paid it off in 2 months. That alone was enough for us to get a loan for our house since the only credit we had was REALLY good credit. Good luck either way.

It's possible to raise your credit score significantly in a few months. How much it can be raised depends on why it is where it is.

There are a few simple things that can be done:

1) Get copies of your credit reports from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion and dispute any inaccurate information.

2) Get plastic, use it at least once a month even if you only buy gas with it and pay at least 20% over the minimum payment or pay it off every month. Get a secured card if you need to. . .

3) Buy credit: Go to a bank or a credit union and get yourself a CD for $1000, then get a short term loan secured by the CD from the same place and deposit it into a savings account and pay the loan from the savings account. Pay it off a month or two early and repeat when it's paid off... If you can get the money I'd say do this from 3-4 banks at a time and your score will skyrocket as you successfully pay off the loans. Not to mention you establish a good rep with the bank and they'll most like be willing to lend you more each time you borrow.