I am in the 700 club (after a lot of hard work). My hubby has 1 score to go. We ordered a new truck for him. It will be in tomorrow. He wants it in his name. So, I give them our TU scores of 705 & 710. They call me back. Your hubby has a TU score of 677. Now its gonna be a higher interest rate. BUT NO, I run my credit, I ran it today, I know his score is 705. I contact TU to see what the discrepency (sp?) is about. The dealer uses a car scoring model. Not a fico model. Because of a few lates last year, the car scoring model weighs heavier on those than the fico model does. I SAY BULLSHIT!
I will be in the market for a new car soon and have been reading the small print at the bottom of the full page auto ads in the newspaper, and they all say 'Beacon Score'. This is Equifax's version of your Fico score. Beacon = EQ FACO It may be just be a thing in in the South where EQ is located, but if they are using 'beacon score' then it is your DH's EQ score that will matter, not his TU.
We are in the chicagoland area. Around here, everyone uses TransUnion only. They care about nothing else. I was told also, that if you are joint on an auto account, they will take you both, but the lowest score is used. Thats pretty fair huh? Why bother then?
Yes, they have different scoring models for different purposes. Have you tried going to the credit union to see what their rates are? You can often get a better deal there.
Some people think that they have algorithms to artificially lower the score so you don't qualify for the best financing. When I bought my new car, it was a model that didn't qualify for the 1.9% or whatever it was that they were offering then. The credit union was about 2% lower than the dealer offered, and it's simple interest. Many car loans are calculated using the "rule of 78," which penalizes you for early payoff. Credit union loans are usually simple interest, no penalty for early payoff.
I think someone here in Florida sued for false advertising over using 'their own version' of a credit score to make sure no one could get the 0%. Like a modern version of the bait and switch. Now they have to list 'who's score' they are using. All the ads here say 'beacon'. I did see one ad (Cadillac Dealer) that pulls a tri-merge and uses the middle score. Since car dealers are looking for the quick sale and the quick close, they don't even take the time to review reports with high scores. You can dispute everything negative on your EQ about 10 days before you are going to shop, and have some pretty high scores. Shop at night or on the weekend when the lenders are closed. My FILTB (father-in-law-to-be) is a retired banker and would see this stuff all the time on Monday morning. The paper comes over from the car lot, all signed and sealed. He actually would review the credit report, figure the people are really about a 610 with out the disputes and send it back. Un-approved. Depending on each deal (Sign everything they will let you), sometimes the dealer would be stuck with the note himself. The car lot finance mananger will hate you forever. It's OK. Most of these guys are scumbags.
