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You buy the car
The score is not prime, so the rate is higher than you wanted. Around 540 or 560, that often means the mid-teens, not a rare extreme. You take the car because you need it. The program starts after you drive away.
BACK TO PRIME
From a higher rate, toward prime.
Five steps, from the day you drive away to the day a lower rate is a real conversation.
Where the rate actually sits.
Three places on the same path. Pick one. We do not use a shocking rate to make the point.
For the customer
Guidance sized to the month, and a coach that does not pretend a collection disappears because you paid it.
For the store
A reason to call back when the file has actually moved, so a better rate is a real offer.
What we will not claim
No promised score. No promised date. No promise that accurate history gets deleted.
The same month, three budgets
The plan changes when the money changes.
About $300
The car payment is already in the budget. What is left protects the card closest to its limit. A collection waits.
About $800
Car payment first. A real payment on the hottest card. One collection only if a settlement in writing fits what is left.
About $1,500
The same order, with room to bring more than one card down. Still no fantasy list of every item on the file.
The order, and why it is strict.
- 1. The car. Miss it and the account that was supposed to help you starts hurting you. In Canada a payment thirty days late is the one that gets reported.
- 2. The hottest card. Per-card utilization is scored, not just the average. The card nearest its limit gets the extra money.
- 3. One collection, maybe. Paying it often marks it paid. It does not delete an accurate item. Most negative information can remain for years, commonly up to six.
- 4. Both bureaus. Fixing a balance on Equifax does nothing for a collection that only TransUnion has, and the reverse.
Does the rate on this car drop by itself?
No. This loan keeps its rate. The file is what makes the next approval cheaper: a refinance, or the next vehicle.
Is 14 or 15 percent a failure?
Around 540 to 560, a rate in the mid-teens is a common approval, not a rare disaster. Prime is lower. That gap is the program.
Will you promise a score?
No. On-time history and lower balances are what a lender can see. We will not put a date on 700.
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