What is an Auto Loan Credit Score?
An auto loan credit score is the number that potential lenders would look at to help determine your credit worthiness, the higher the better in this case. It would also determine your interest rate on the loan for the vehicle you are seeking.
Your score is based on the contents of your credit report, which is why the two go hand-in-hand. A mathematical equation is applied to various aspects of your credit report, and a 3 digit number is then formulated to “score” your overall credit rating.
Is it the same a regular credit score?
Generally, yes, it’s the exact same thing. Potential lenders will usually pull your credit report along with your FICO score. The end result of your score can differ slightly depending on which bureau your lender obtained your credit report from. (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion), but all 3 should be roughly the same, so lenders will normally just pull your credit report and score from one of the credit reporting angencies, and move forward based on that information.
From my experience, auto lenders normally pull my Equifax credit report with my FICO score to determine the risk of lending to me. My FICO score is generally above 780 (which is an excellent credit score) so they are able to offer me their best interest rate on the loan.
If your score is in the 725 range, this will usually put you in the same “excellent” category as a score of 780. In most cases, a score of 700-725 would be considered “good”. However, if your score is below 700, you may not be approved for the best interest rates your lender has to offer, and you should probably work on increasing your credit score before obtaining a loan.
Pull your own Credit Report & Score
It’s always a very good idea to view your credit report and score before applying for an auto loan, or any other kind of loan for that matter. That way you can check for errors on your report, know first hand what your credit score is, and eliminate any surprises when you’re actually in the process of applying for the loan.
Did you know that you can access your own credit report and score without damaging your credit, and it won’t lower your credit score no matter how many times you do it? strong>Did you know that you can also get your credit report and credit score for free? Here’s how.
What if my wife has a better credit score than me, can
I use the better score?
Blewis: In short, yes! If you are looking to buy a car and your wife has great credit, but you do not, then you can still fall back on her credit score to qualify you for the best interest rates. Even if you’re applying jointly for an auto loan, with you as a co-applicant, her credit could still greatly improve your chances for being approved for the best terms on the loan. As long as the payments are made on time, it would also be great for your credit to be a co-applicant.
I just obtained an auto loan from one of the big national banks, and the paperwork said my transunion score was 666, whcih surprised me becuase I had not looked at my Transunion for about a year, but my Experian was 60+ point abouve that. So a few days later I pulled my transunion myself and it was 762. No way it changed that much in less than a week with no other major things occuring. But my friend who sold cars at a delership for years, says the banks use a diferent score from transunion than what I get. Is this true, or did the bank commit loan fraud by saying I had a lower score and giving a higher interest rate?
I went to a Chevy Dealership today to test drive a hummer H3 I wasn’t going to buy it but he talked me into it I had checked my FICA in the morning, score 650 ,so he ran it on their system and it said it was 547 why is there a difference that’s over 100 points
AJ, my guess is you checked your credit score based on a report from a different credit bureau than your dealership did. For instance, if you checked your credit score based on your Trans Union credit report, and your dealer checked your score based on your Equifax report, your score can vary between the two (not usually by 100 points, however). There are times when some creditors will not report your payment/loan history to all 3 credit bureaus, which usually the reason for the difference. I had an auto loan from a C.U. years ago, which only reported to Trans Union and not Experian or Equifax, this resulted in an increased credit score if it was based on my Trans Union credit report.
You will have to pull all 3 of your credit reports to find out for sure.
Admin,
it was from Equifax ;still it is kinda crazy I also checked it today 650 same so that tells me something is wrong with our system I have checked all 3 and they don’t very that much a little with Trans Union ,Experian Higher say what ?
I just came across this site and wanted to add and ask a question similar to AJ. I paid to have my credit score pulled from Experian and got a 750 (excellent right?). I then applied for a auto loan from a credit union and was turned down! It was not debt to income (I make plenty). She, the loan officer, said my credit score from Experian was 667! How could I be seeing a 750 and she has a 667…from the same agency!
Any insight would be greatly appreciated…
rotobadger: a few items could cause this discrepancy.
1) auto credit scores do differ from other credit scores (such as real estate loans).
2) depending on the type of credit accounts you have, pulling the report at a different time of the month will cause changes
3) perhaps in the interim from when you pulled to when she pulled, something new reported to your Experian score.
If you have a copy of the report I would be happy to review it with you and show you how to raise your score, or why it is where it is.
Good luck!
I went to get an auto loan and they showed my Experian credit score at 641, but I knew it was higher. I got on the browser on my phone and got an Experian report and score and it showed 705. The lender still denied me because the score they got back from Experian was 641. How can I get a score from the Experian site of 704 at the exact time the auto dealer pulls my report and Experian gave them a 641? I tried calling Experian but since it is July 4th, they are closed.
PCC, the reason for the discrepancy in your Experian credit score is most likely due to the credit scoring model used when checking your score. There are several different scoring models, with the most popular one being FICO. If you want to see a score closest to what your potential lenders will see, I would recommend checking your FICO score from myfico.com
I would also recommend asking what scoring model your lender is looking at to make sure. It’s most likely your FICO though.
I was told my score for auto was 580 do anyone know where I can get an auto loan with no money down with my score
This just happened to me. I pulled all three scores before applying for an auto loan. Experts say know your score before you apply. Then the lender said my score was 100 points lower than what all three agencies report. The lender said it was because the agencies inflate your score so you will apply for loans and that they are not accurate to your credit worthiness.
If that is true than how in the world can anyone really know their score. Im walking around thinking my credit is good and the lender says know its just below fair. Please explain this to me
Laura, I personally don’t believe what your lender told you is true. I don’t think the credit bureaus purposely inflate your credit scores so you will apply for loans. But there are some facts that can explain why your credit score was so much different than you thought it was.
First of all, was it your FICO score that you checked? Or another credit score? That could be one possible reason, different scoring models use different algorithms and different ranges. FICO has a range of 300-850. Vantage score on the other hand has a range of 501-990. So your scores can vary depending on which scoring model was used to determine the score.
The second thing that comes to mind is your score can also vary at each credit bureau, since not all creditors report to all 3 credit bureaus. Some only report to one or two, which can make a difference on your credit score.
Another likely reason for the difference is lenders usually obtain a score specifically targeted at what sort of credit/loan you are applying for. For instance the lender you mentioned might have been checking a score designed to show your risk as a borrower specifically for repaying an auto loan, as compared to a general score, which is what consumers will probably see when they check their own credit score. Because of this, there is no “real” or “true” credit score, since it’s not just one number over all credit scoring models and credit bureaus.
These are probably the 3 most likely reason for the discrepancy, and it could also be a combination of all 3.
Here’s what I like to do before I apply for an auto loan when I’m unsure if my credit score is high enough: Check your FICO score based on your Equifax credit report, from my experience it’s the closest to the score auto lenders use.
The scores that the big three show you are not actual FICO scores. The only way that you can get those are from a lender or myfico.com.
Also there is a Auto Plus FICO score that car dealerships use. This is more heavily weighted on your past auto loans. This is only something that you can get from the Auto lener. Usually they are ALOT lower than the score on the Big three web sites. And a little bit lower than your actual credit score.
I recently obtained a car loan from Wells Fargo and they said my credit score was 628 and pulled it up from Equifax. I checked it today (about 10 days later) and my score was 698 with Equifax, which was the lowest of the 3. I see that they may use a different model, but that doesn’t make since that they vary that much. It almost seems illegal. When I told them a week ago, they said if I pull my credit score and it’s different on Equifax, then to let them know and they may adjust my rate. What do you think?
Mark, was there a change to one of your credit accounts that hadn’t yet been reported to Equifax, which could raise your credit score? If so, I can understand why they may be kind enough to adjust your interest rate accordingly. Otherwise if there’s no pending changes such as lower credit card balances, negative item being removed etc., then my guess if you’re pretty much stuck with the rate they already gave you. They are going to use their scoring model to determine your rates and it may (and probably does) differ from the score you are seeing even though they are both based on the same Equifax credit data.
Unfortunately there’s no “real” credit score for everyone and every situation. Most lenders do check your score using the FICO model, so if you want the most accurate one go with FICO. But it’s also true that lenders will use different variations of the FICO score geared toward determining your specific risk for an auto loan, mortgage etc.