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Buying a Car? First you need your Free Credit Report

By John Rasor

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 01Aug2009
Word count: 405
Viewed: 154 time(s)

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Ordering your free credit report is probably the last thing on your mind when you're yearning for a new car, but unless you're going to pay cash for that new car, it is something you should do before you start to shop.

You know that at least 25% of all credit reports contain errors. Making sure that your credit scores aren't being pulled down by some stranger's negative information is reason enough to take the few minutes to order a free credit report.

If you wait until you've found your dream car to find out that your scores are low, one of two things will happen:

1. You'll lose out on the car because even if the lender agrees to finance it, you won't be willing to pay the interest rate offered. 2. You'll go ahead and buy at a higher interest rate - and waste thousands of dollars in interest payments.

Correcting mistakes can take a couple of months, so you should get your free credit report just as soon as you start dreaming about that new car.

Along with a stranger's negative information, your credit report could contain information that should have been removed long ago. Only a bankruptcy should still be showing on your credit report after 7 years, but mistakes do happen. So if you've had some financial troubles in the past, they could still be affecting your credit scores.

You could also find that one keystroke in error has reported your true debt as higher than it really is, or your available credit as lower. If you do any typing or data entry yourself, you know how easy it is to make an error.

But there's one more reason why when you begin thinking "I need a new car" you should also be thinking "I need a free credit report with scores."

It's because not all car dealers are honest. You probably already knew that, but thought it applied to misrepresenting a car. It also applies to misrepresenting your financial picture, and thus the loan you'll be offered.

If you don't know your own credit scores, a car dealer can tell you anything. And if he's in line to profit by you paying a higher interest rate based on your "poor credit scores" he's apt to tell you what he wants you to believe.

Protect yourself from that kind of shady dealing by knowing your credit scores before you talk to a car dealer.

http://www.creditscorecowboy.com is the #1 source on the planet for a free credit report, identity theft software and a blog with a wealth of information writtten by lending professionals that know about credit and what determines ones creditworthiness.

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