Originally Posted by
T-Man007
Good night, I could not imagine those kinds of rates. Our car is at 4.5%. If it was me, I would pay as much as you can extra each month to pay down the principle. It really shouldn't take more than 12 months of making your payments on time to boost your score. If you are paying down the principle each month and pay on time, youshould be able to get a new loan in a little over 12 months. But, just to warn you, because this is a new loan you score will drop before it goes up. It has to do with the rating system. They (the credit bureaus) put a lot of weight on the lentgh of the lines of trade (or your loans). For example, last year I refinanced my house and bought a condo for an investment property. Well, about 3 months later my score dropped about 20 points because both the loans were so short. After about 12 months of establishing a payment history, I wont get dinged for the short time period any more. Which leads me to another point. If you have multiple credit cards and you want to switch them to a 0% apr intor card you should do all of them at the same time. This way, they all become 'new' lines of trade at the same time. If you do one, then wait and do another, then wait and do another, you may fail to qualify for the last one because the 'new' loans could ding your score.
I've been in your shoes. My credit was soooooo bad at one point I could not even get a checking account. I had to put my paycheck in a savings account and then go get cash and do money orders to pay my bills. That was probably the most embarassing thing in my life. I made sure to never screw up my credit since. It took several years to finally get it where it is now. So, just be smart, pay early, pay extra and get your score up.