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Thread: Newbie want to get a car in california

  1. #1
    Veteran Member Damia's Avatar
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    Post Newbie want to get a car in california

    I'm tired of trying my hardest to save up and just buy a car off the lot without making payments. I've been paying of bills and creditors for a bit and i decided that transportation is needed now. Here are my questions:

    1. how do i find out my credit score for free online that doesn't involve tedious sign up gimmicks?
    2. i have a golden 1 bank account, should i do a car loan through them? I also heard that sacramento credit union (for those in the northen ca area) is okay, what about them?
    3. what do i need to bring to the dealership when i finally go?
    4. What fees will i have to pay if i decide to buy a car? (tax, down payment, etc)


    i know there's probably another thread but they don't ask all of these questions.

    Thanks for reading
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  2. #2
    BrunetteGoddess
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    Duno about Cali, but here's some sites to get you started:

    Car Buying




    Buying Used:




    Car Pricing



    Best Auto Loans




    Easy Credit Scores


    Fast Credit Score Improvement Tips


    Good luck hon. The more you read, the better the deal and in the long run the better the car you'll get.

  3. #3
    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    The easiest way to find your credit score without signing up for a bunch of silly stuff is www.annualcreditreport.com. You will get your complete credit report from all three credit reporting agencies for free. To get the credit score as well the cost is $6. It is the cheapest you will find. It is a completely secured site as well. I use it myself every year. They also have sections where you can dispute late payments or errors on the report too.

    I am a big advocate for credit unions. Credit unions are non-profit financial institutions. They are more up front about the loans and alot lower on fees. I would call around to all the places you feel comfortable getting a loan with. Ask them about their interest rates. The rate they quote you will be the starting rate for A+ credit. The lower the starting rate the lower your interest rate could be. Ask them about fees. Prepayment penality fee is a fee that is added if you pay off the loan before the end of the term. Not all financial institutions have this fee. Do not go with a financial institution that does. Late fees also apply to car loans. No one plans on being late but it can happen. Is there an application fee? Most dont charge this but I have seen a few that do. Then ask them if there are any other fees. Many times the lender with the lowest interest rate has the most fees. Really weigh out how comfortable you are with their fee structure in compared to the interest rate. Sometimes the fees eat up the gain in the interest rate.

    Get pre-approved for the loan before you go to the dealership. Dealerships will always try to get you finance with them. Dealerships have arrangements with many financial institions now a days. They will shop around to see who will finance the most for the car. They will do all they can to get the most money from the transaction. Getting pre-approved helps because you will know ahead of time how much you can spend on the car and a lender working with you will only finance the blue book value of a car. Once you find a car call your pre-approved lender to get a blue book value of the car you are looking at. Tell the dealership your lender wont finance more than the blue book value. It gives you great leverage when haggling over price. Do not tell the dealership about your down payment. The only party that needs to know that is your lender.

    Don't take anything with you when you go to dealer except the number of your pre-approved lender. You will have to show proof of employment to the lender before your pre-approved. Tax returns will work.

    You will pay tax on the car. That can be rolled into the loan. There are insurance products they will talk to you about for the car loan. Gap insurance is a must on a car. If you total your car the insurance company is only going to pay the blue book value at the time of the accident. If your loan is for more than that ( which is usually the case) you will be left to pay the rest of the loan off. Gap insurance will pay the rest of the loan off for you. So get that. There are other types of insurance products they will talk to you about. Before saying no get the information about them. Ask how they are billed to the loan as well.

    Lastly do not buy a brand new car. Brand new cars loose at $5,000 of their value the second you drive them off the lot. Get one with a few miles that is at least a year old. Also if you want to look up the blue book value of a car on your own go to www.nada.com. It is free.

    This is just my thoughts. I know it is alot of information but I hope it helps. If you have any more questions let us know! You are always welcome to message me too. I love answering financial questions. I know I am a freak lol.

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    Veteran Member Damia's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    thank!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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    Veteran Member Damia's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    I have one problem. the credit card i do have is a visa prepaid i got through money mart. www.moneymartcard.com

    The credit history i have is that of Dell financial (Dell computers), Macy's, and t-mobile. I still need to pay the first two off and the third just been paid. What do i do? I can't fill out the credit card information on the free credit report.
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    God/dess sxybrat07's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    What do you need the credit card for, just to pay for the credit reports? If that's the case, then the moneymart one should work, however, it's not really a credit card, more like a prepaid gift card you can use anywhere. (heh, used to work for moneymart)
    I believe you Dottie and you have my support

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    Does the card have a visa or mastercard logo? If so you should still be able to use the card. If not do you have a debit card with a mastercard or visa logo? If not you can always get visa or mastercard gift cards at a bank for a small fee.

    Is the credit card information your refering for the fee for the credit score?

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    Veteran Member Damia's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    I have a debit card with a visa logo and the prepaid one has it too. But what i'm saying is that i recently acquired these two cards and therefore don't use them as much.
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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    So you are not talking about using them to pay the fee. You are wondering about your credit score?

    Debit cards and prepaid credit cards do not impact your credit score. www.myfico.com will give you a listing of what does impact your credit score.

  10. #10
    Veteran Member Damia's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    i'm wondering about how they are going to do this check on me.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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    Veteran Member Scout's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    If you work really hard for 1-2 months, you could pay for a car in cash. A late 90s Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic is about $5000.

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    FICO Scores are calculated from a lot of different credit data in your credit report. This data can be grouped into five categories as outlined below.

    For particular groups - for example, people who have not been using credit long - the importance of these categories may be somewhat different.

    Payment History
    Account payment information on specific types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, mortgage, etc.)
    Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgements, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)
    Severity of delinquency (how long past due)
    Amount past due on delinquent accounts or collection items
    Time since (recency of) past due items (delinquency), adverse public records (if any), or collection items (if any)
    Number of past due items on file
    Number of accounts paid as agreed

    Amounts Owed
    Amount owing on accounts
    Amount owing on specific types of accounts
    Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
    Number of accounts with balances
    Proportion of credit lines used (proportion of balances to total credit limits on certain types of revolving accounts)
    Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing (proportion of balance to original loan amount on certain types of installment loans)

    Length of Credit History
    Time since accounts opened
    Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
    Time since account activity
    New Credit
    Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account
    Number of recent credit inquiries
    Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account
    Time since credit inquiry(s)
    Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems

    Types of Credit Used
    Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.)
    Please note that:

    A score takes into consideration all these categories of information, not just one or two.
    No one piece of information or factor alone will determine your score.
    The importance of any factor depends on the overall information in your credit report.
    For some people, a given factor may be more important than for someone else with a different credit history. In addition, as the information in your credit report changes, so does the importance of any factor in determining your score. Thus, it's impossible to say exactly how important any single factor is in determining your score - even the levels of importance shown here are for the general population, and will be different for different credit profiles. What's important is the mix of information, which varies from person to person, and for any one person over time.

    Your FICO score only looks at information in your credit report.
    However, lenders look at many things when making a credit decision including your income, how long you have worked at your present job and the kind of credit you are requesting.
    Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report.
    Late payments will lower your score, but establishing or re-establishing a good track record of making payments on time will raise your score.

    http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducatio...YourScore.aspx


    Go ahead pull your credit report. See how much you have or dont have on there. A little credit history is better than bad credit history. You may need a co-signer or you may be able to get a small loan with a large down payment. When you call lenders to ask your question let them know you have a small amount of credit established. Ask what options they could provide you with given your down payment. Getting a loan for this car would help your credit report.

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    Speaking of buying cars and credit rating in the same thread, my new issue of Consumer Reports just arrived with an article entitled 'Caution ! The Secret Score Behind Your Auto Insurance'. The gist of the article describes how auto insurance companies are now factoring individual credit scores into quoted insurance rates in the vast majority of states. They cited some examples

    GEICO average customer $1142 vs golden credit score $947 vs rotten credit score $1468

    State Farm average customer $1251 vs golden credit score $1109 vs rotten credit score $2600

    Allstate average customer $1098 vs golden credit score $790 vs rotten credit score $1490

    Thus, except for a handful of states where the practice has been banned, one's credit score not only affects the cost of financing a car purchase, but also affects the insurance rate you will be charged !

  14. #14
    242_fair
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    Seriously, don't finance a car. Just buy whatever you can afford to pay for right now.

    It is a bad habit to start living beyond your means.

    $5000 should get you into something reliable.

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Newbie want to get a car in california

    In Michigan they have been looking at your credit report for car insurance for a long time.

    Financing a car isn't necessarily living beyond your means. If it is a small monthly payment and works into one's budget why not? Also having an installment loan will help her build credit on her credit report. If you only use cash for all your purchases you are really shooting yourself in the foot. Instead of getting credit cards to build credit, a car loan is a great place to start.

    Living beyond one's means is when you purchase something more expensive than reasonable just because it makes ya look good. It really all comes down to the budget.

    I purchased a 2002 Dodge Stratus with 18,000 miles for $9,500. My monthly payment is $225 a month. It isnt fancy but I will be able to count on it for a long time.

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