Reader question:
I checked my credit report. I fixed the mistakes. I paid off old accounts and closed extra ones. I took care of what I had. Now can I buy a new car?
Jamal
Don’t rush!
I know, I know. You’ve been waiting so long, trying to be responsible, and you’re just dying to throw all care to the wind and get that new car. But think about it. You’ve waited this long already. Why not wait a little more? You don’t want to let all the waiting and preparing that you have done get in your way of getting the best deal on buying a new car, do you? Have just a little more patience. The journey has almost come to an end.
So you say that you have fixed your credit. Okay. I believe you. But the whole credit business isn’t completely caught up with the internet age. We want things fast, we want results. Nobody wants to wait anymore. That’s why we text message, so that we don’t have to listen to the phone ring before the other person finally picks up. Credit bureaus don’t have that attitude. They take their time. They have a lot to do.
Because of this, once you have everything on your report taken care of, the first thing you have to do is wait. For what? For the changes to take effect. If you wait a month or two for these changes to go through, it can make all the difference. After thirty or sixty days, check your FICO credit score again and see what the difference is. You might not have gotten it up too much–maybe just fifty points. But fifty points is a big deal in FICO credit scores. With fifty points you could take seven percent off your interest rate. Fifty points could save you a few thousand dollars in interest on a new car.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.