Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 32,868
Registered: ‎08-04-2007
Re: Auto Credit and Scoring

redsonia wrote:

I've been working on my credit for several years now, and finally I'm  I thought I was at the point that I could buy a new car. So I make a trip to the dealership with a score of 655 thinking with this score and not bad marks from my previous car laons.  The salesman brings a a score that he pulled from FICO of 597, which happen to be 58 points lower than my FICO showing of 655 on this site. They pulled my score of 597 on FICO score. How can that be>  I was disappointed and embarrassed.  Needless to say I could not by my new car.  How can this happen?

If you purchased a myFICO report from here, and it was 655, then know that your FICO was 655.

If you lender said they pulled a FICO, and it was 597, then take their word that it was a FICO.


There are a couple of scenarios to the point difference:


1) Most likely, the lender pulled an auto-enhanced FICO. For many this can differ with the FICO version on here. However, you did say that you had other car loans. Was it a perfectly spotless history? The auto-enhanced FICO tends to be a bit more critical.


2) Maybe your lender pulled a newer version of the auto-enhanced FICO or maybe it wasn't an auto-enhanced FICO at all. Maybe it was a newer or older version of the Classic score found on here.


3) Did you pull from here the same day you applied? Scores can change daily, though something significant would have had to have happened to drop by 50+, like CC balance increases, new account reporting, dropped account, etc.


4) Was it the same CRA? If you have a 655 on one CRA, it doesn't mean the other two would be the same, even if the report info were exactly the same. For example, if you pulled here, you either pulled EQ or TU. Maybe the lender pulled EX, or one of the CRAs that you didn't pull from here. Not all 3 reports will be exactly alike.