I am about to buy a 2003 Honda Civic from my uncle for approximately ,000. I had intentions of putting down 5,000 or 6,500 dollars (depending on what I sell my current car for) and take out a small auto loan for the remaing 3,500 or 5,000 for about 36 months.
The rates I am finding are not as good as I would have hoped, through no fault of my own. I am 24 and haven’t done anything that would have given me bad credit. I pay back all my bills and whatnot.
Am I better off just buying the car outright (I can afford it) or taking out a loan for the sake of taking out a loan. I’ve heard a few times that a small loan really helps your credit.
So put down 5,000, take out the 5,000 loan amount, put 5,000 in a savings account and let the loan cycle? What does that mean.
Related posts:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Auto finance is what I do for a living and auto loans take 6-months of payments made as agreed to be rated.
Your credit will be helped the best after 12-payments made as agreed. This is the first thing lenders look for when they are looking at a application for credit.
I would agree with PJ except for the amount of payments you should make. I would make at least 12, and make sure whatever lender you use that they report to all three credit bureaus or you are wasting your time.
Put the money to pay off the loan in a savings account, get the loan let it cycle about 6 months then pay the balance off. This gives you a payment history although you will pay a bit of interest it will be a good trade line.
Also initially your score will take a 5-7 point hit for the credit report when getting the loan, rebounds rapidly!