I would definitely look at all 3 if you haven't already. Several years ago when we bought my wife's car I was surprised when the credit union said our score was just ok and so we would have to pay a slightly higher rate. I checked all 3 and 2 of our scores were great while that one was just ok. There was an incorrect "blemish" on one that we were able to get fixed. Not really a big deal, but it would have increased the loan % a couple of tenths.

I hear the score and can drop with too many credit cards, but it can also be lower if you only have 1 card, no loans and everything paid on time. Apparently no activity is almost as bad as too much.

    KCee I hear the score and can drop with too many credit cards,

    It does. Drops every time you apply, whether accepted or not.
    We never had any cc's. Never had any loans. Always paid cash as we went along. 1 day, about 18 mo. ago, I got an 'invite' to apply, through Amazon, and for shits/giggles, I did. Approved, with a really good line of credit. Of course this led to more offers and I started taking them up on them. Most had no interest for the 1st 12-15 months. A lot of them had cash back deals. Some even had bonus deals of 'spend x in xx days/months, get as much as $400 free cash'(they do pay!!). I kept getting approved and got a few just in a couple months. Use them as we should, and got a ton of free bonus cash back. Credit score was nearing 800! Then I stopped and kept close watch through Credit Karma at the fluctuations in score. It's crazy. No matter what you do/when you do it, it's going to change almost weekly, but even after getting even more cards the past few months, it's really never gone down all that much. I let them go, making just min. payments for a couple months, then paid them all off at once, just to see what happened to the score. It never moved. Now that I'm using a couple of them again, scores are slightly raising. FICO score is high. Vantage is fine. Experian and the others, up/down weekly. No sense to be made of any of it.

      The more active loans, credit cards, etc. that you continue to make all payments on time. The higher your score will be. It's just the opposite from what you would consider to make sense. If you never had credit cards or loans with a record of paying them, they don't know if you are credit worthy or not.

        meagain

        meagain The more active loans, credit cards, etc. that you continue to make all payments on time. The higher your score will be

        This is patently false. If you credit utilization on those cards is too high relative to their limits, your score will go down. Way down.

              SlevinKelevra You keep the total of all accounts under 10% and everything is good to go.

              But, to get the highest ratings, you do need to have installment loans, car payments, or something like a mortgage, on record. Either current, or paid off.

                  Par4QC paid off.

                  Paid off doesn't help that much. Active loans, payments, utility bills, help the most.

                      meagain Yeah, my reports keep telling me I need to go in debt, to go higher. I don't like debt, so I can only go around 757 on their scale. Good enough, because I won't need it higher anyway.....no loans/debt coming my way.

                      The 'fine' print on those car loans for 0%, will tell you you need 800+ for eligibility. You wife would know, most likely.

                          Par4QC The 'fine' print on those car loans for 0%, will tell you you need 800+ for eligibility

                          They are probably flexible, or maybe area dependent. My scores always come in on the high 700's when I ask about car loans (the only time I ever see a credit report), but I always qualify for the zero interest when I've asked for it.

                              My sister in law has excellent credit. 800+. Her score nosedived by like 20+ points bc she paid off and closed her student loans, which was her oldest line of credit. I hate everything about the credit score industry. It's a racket.

                              johnnydoom zero interest

                              No such a thing. Discounts can be had, or cash back if you don't take it. It's added into the price. Get your own financing. Dealerships are pissed if people pay cash or get their own financing. They miss out on their big kickbacks.

                                  meagain This is true. When you go for 0% financing, the dealership doesn't give you the rebates and incentives. You even though you aren't paying interest on the loan, you may actually end up paying more for the car. A lot of times it is better to get the incentives and rebates, then just pay the car loan at a faster rate if possible.

                                      Dufferman You don't ask for it until the price is negotiated. Yes, they use it as an incentive to get you to pay a higher price for the vehicle, but in the end it seems they will give it to you even after you spend days negotiating the price down - at least they do for me.

                                          johnnydoom even after you spend days negotiating the price down

                                          lol, that's 1 thing I would never do. When I stand up and tell them I'm done here, I turn and walk away. They have MY price. And they meet it or someone else will. Did it on the last car and truck both. Back and forth for an hour, with me never going up 1 dollar. I drove the truck home that day, and they called me to come in to get the car 2 days later. MY prices. But, both were cash though.

                                              Par4QC But, both were cash though.

                                              Even if I had the cash, at today's prices I don't know if I could pull the trigger on laying down all that cash for the crappy vehicles that are out there today. Rather keep it and pay a payment if at a low rate.

                                                  meagain I also never buy new; learned that lesson years ago. Almost did when we got the car we now have, very glad we didn't.

                                                      Par4QC I also never buy new

                                                      I don’t either when buying for myself. Can’t get the wife to buy into that though and if I buy her a used one that has problems I’ll end up paying a bigger price than the difference between used and new.