What Factors Determine Your Credit Score?

What is a Credit Score?

As soon as you sign up for a credit card, put your name on a loan, or rent an apartment, your credit score begins to calculate. This 3-digit score is an amalgamation of every time you have been lent money or credit. The score takes into account the amount you were loaned, the amount paid back, the number of accounts you have in good standing, and timeliness among other factors and usually falls in the range of 300 to 850. When lenders want to draw on this score to see how creditworthy you are, they must pull from one of the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian or TransUnion which rely on scoring models including FICO and VantageScore.

Different bureaus may report different credit scores because not all lenders report to the same places or update at the same time. This could potentially mean that you have three slightly different scores at any point in time. These scores could also differ because of different scoring models used between lenders, or the dings you could receive from "hard pulls" (which could happen if you apply for a line of credit).

How Do We Use your Credit Score?

Just as any other lender (bank, phone company, etc.) would use your score to see if you were worthy of a loan, we use your score to work with our network of lenders to find the auto lease and loan plans available to you.

In certain cases--particularly for those who are worried about their credit standing--we can even help to rebuild your credit score. We do this by coming up with payment plans you can afford and a term length that you can meet. If you stick to this payment plan and can make contributions in full and in a timely manner, we can use this as proof to our lenders that you are making improvements.

To give us a better idea of your financial situation before you come into the dealership, we encourage our customers--particularly those customers with lower credit--to fill out the online credit application. Once you give us information about your residence status, employment status, and a few other items, we will be in touch to set up a meeting.

Meet the Finance Team

In addition to the online credit application, we also encourage drivers to use the trade valuation tool to get credit from their current vehicle towards their next with us. Simply enter information about the make, age and condition of your current vehicle and we will give you an accurate market value that can then be used towards your next vehicle from our inventory.

We also recommend checking out the various financing specials we run to find incentives that could apply to you. When you are ready, we will set you up with one of our experienced finance experts to walk you through the lease and loan options (based on your credit) that fit within your budget.