You often hear about credit reports, Equifax reports, credit ratings, or credit bureaus, to name just a few concepts that scare us just by mentioning them. In fact, they can be pejorative in the eyes of many, but they will also become tools that you can use to obtain financing for your next vehicle.
At Style Auto in Laval near Blainville, Sainte-Thérèse, Saint-Eustache and just minutes from Montreal, we have been specializing in in-house financing for 28 years now, and we know our business inside and out. We explain here the best practices in financial management for the purchase of your vehicle, and we invite you to read it as it is full of useful information for your next credit application.
Above All, Stay Informed
First of all, it is important to know the terms before consulting your credit file or applying for a car loan. We all agree that the credit report is an extremely important document managed by credit bureaus (attached to Equifax and TransUnion) and that it contains personal information about your credit history, types of credit, and your civil and legal situation. Who provides this information to the credit bureaus? It is your creditors, and you should be aware that they have the ability to give you a rating (not an overall credit rating, but a score) that reflects your characteristics as a payer in general. The information in your credit report is used to calculate your overall credit score, which will range from 300 to 900 points.
Furthermore, while there are many articles dealing with this subject and the best ways to improve or maintain your credit score, our goal here is to present you with elements that are generally less well known to the general public and yet deserve special attention. For example, when you apply for credit, you should know that the number of refusals you accumulate is an element that generally weighs heavily in the calculation of your credit score.
Even more important, even if it seems a bit out of line with the previous point, don't be in a hurry to accept credit enhancement offers from your financial institutions or other creditors, even if they are credible like your bank. Job stability, compensation, the number of lines of credit in your name and their seniority, among other things, are also scrutinized by the credit bureaus.
In addition, and this will certainly come as a nice surprise to many of you, being a good payer is a good thing, but not the best thing you can do. In fact, being able to bring your credit accounts to zero every month without fail is not an optimal approach if your balance has exceeded half of your credit limit during the period in question. As a general rule, your credit card balances should not exceed (or at least not over long periods of time, let alone on a regular basis) 35% of your limit. This is what all financial institutions recommend, and it is also true for the rules established by the credit bureaus.
Style Auto, Your Smart Pre-Owned Dealer
In-house financing at Style Auto of Laval near Saint-Eustache, Blainville, Sainte-Thérèse and just minutes from Montreal, is in line with the above, and allows you to obtain advantageous and flexible financing solutions. Come and discover more about our ways of doing business. Visit Style Auto, your used car dealer in Laval for 28 years.
