I filed chapter 7 discharged in march. I now REALLy need a new/used car. I'm looking at something in the $150/month range. I hate car shopping and don't want the dealership passing around my info to numerous banks thus pulling my credit report MANY times. Does anyone have advice or an "action plan" they could share with me? I'm not sure I can get approved, much less if there is a good bank to use. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks!
I am by no means an expert, and I haven't been through BK. Here's the strategy I'm using. I built up my credit to buy a house and then became a SAHM, and let it plummet again while we struggled on one income. Now working to rebuild for good and I am in need of new car as well. I joined two credit unions, one through my new job, and one through my husband's. I am building my savings in both. For CU#1, I will be applying for a secured Visa that uses my savings account as the pledge and doesn't report as secured. In CU#2, I am building my savings to apply for a small share secured loan. I will be placing the loan in my ING account to draw interest while I slowly pay back the loan over a few months (with their own money, and a little bit of mine for fees). Both of these will allow me a small low-risk credit and demonstrate my ability to repay. In the meantime, I am negotiating my credit to the extent possible, attempting to get deletes and such. This is all with the plan that in approx 6 months, I will apply for a car loan with both CUs and see who offers the better deal. This gives me the power to not deal with slimeball car dealerships who want a cut of your interest rate, and it gives me the savings of an overall lower rate because I'll be using a credit union. Plus once I'm finished with the share secured loan (and possibly want to close the Visa), I've got the savings for a down payment. Even with lower rates, I still do not want a big payment, but I've got a bigger family and need a bigger car. Chances are, you've got eligibility to some credit union. I would even go with your alma mater if you have to. Now hopefully my car will last six months. I have pray every time I turn that ignition over. The savings is hurting a little bit right now, because I'm trying to get a lot of money in the accounts in as short a period as possible. Also, know that when you apply for a car loan, the inquiries will not hurt your credit if they are all done around the same time. The bureaus know you are shopping for good rates, so they don't count them all individually. HTH CC PS I would also like feedback on my "action plan" by those in the know.
I agree with the last poster about building a relationship with a CU. When I bought my first car out of BK, the very ethical and compassionate finance manager literally BEGGED me to join a CU and finance the car that way, but I was too stupid to follow some very sound and free advice. Of course, I bought the second car through a CU and then qualified for Chrysler financing on two brand new ones less than a year out of BK, at 5.9% and .9% (not 9, but .9)
