My FICO Scores

by Cindi Diquattro
(Los Angeles, CA)

Question: My credit scores reflected are the following:

Experian-581
Equifax-599
TransUnion-587

I have steady employment, do you think I would qualify for a conventional car loan or need a specialized one under "bad credit"?


Answer: Hi Cindy,

Based solely on your credit scores alone, I'd say you would fall into what I'd consider to be a nonprime credit tier. That's an area between prime and subprime.

I've seen people with decent overall credit, but lower scores like this that I've been able to get approved with local credit unions at decent rates (for these scores anyway).

The opposite is also true and I have seen customers credit files and felt that these scores were way too high. With these customers we did end up going with the specialized "bad credit" lenders.

This is a very tough one to call without actually seeing the credit report with all the past and present account history.

As mentioned on the main FICO score page of my site, these scores fall into a C Tier credit range and that is by far the most difficult tier to explain.

My personal suggestion would be to work with dealers that are good with these situations, but you could try to go it alone if you'd like.

Keep in mind that it may take quite a bit more time and be much more frustrating to go it alone.

Simply fill out this quick bad credit auto loan application to find lenders in your area that can help.

If you want to try and go it alone you can take a look at Cap One or Wells Fargo, they may be able to help.

Take care,
Justin