Posted on 05/05/2008 5:32:15 AM PDT by shove_it
...Spring Hill, Fla.-based Chrysler dealership, Marvin Hedrick has had his fair share of skeptical (and unhappy) clients, especially when he has to turn someone down for an auto loan or break the bad news that they'll have to pay a much higher interest rate than they expected.
It's an issue Hedrick deals with all too often: Car buyers walk into his office with an inflated sense of their creditworthiness and he has to burst their bubble. Recently, a client came in armed with a copy of a credit report that said her score was 640. When Hedrick pulled the report, however, her score was 600. That 40-point reduction in her score meant the difference between qualifying as a prime borrower and paying 7.85% interest and being considered subprime and getting a loan at 11.64%.
"I have to explain to them that [what they have] is not a true score," Hedrick says. "They don't believe me because I work in the car business. But it happens all the time."
These days, hardly anyone questions the power of the almighty credit score. Lenders use it to determine who qualifies for a loan and what interest rate they get, insurers calculate premiums based on it, and even employers make hiring decisions with it in mind. As a result, consumers are flocking to the credit bureaus to buy their scores. Sales of scores, reports and credit-monitoring services to consumers by credit bureaus generated $488 million in revenues in 2006 and are expected to reach $864 million by 2010, according to market research firm TowerGroup.
Problem is, the scores that consumers buy from the credit bureaus or heavily-promoted sites like FreeCreditReport.com or TrueCredit.com — owned by Experian and TransUnion, respectively — are not the same scores that are sold to lenders, landlords, insurers or employers...
(Excerpt) Read more at smartmoney.com ...
He’ll bring out his other weapons like extended warranty and the like. Or his manager will refuse the deal.
No kidding.
Look at this from a business standpoint. The salesman is selling you the car based on the lowest %. When you get to the F&I guy, he’s trying to find the highest rate you will accept. I’ve seen interest rates change after the sale. Two weeks after the sale, you get word of a 5% increase.
If you buy a car, drive out THAT DAY with the car and don’t finance with the dealer unless you have a solid gold rating (and get 0%)
The fact that one challenges (and may reject medical bills) should be a plus, because it shows that they are closely monitoring their bills and have the integrity to reject bad billing. Another massive fraud is known to be independent lab billings. I don't know if they are simply trying to evade the contracted insurance rates, evading the cost of insurance filings or just fishing for suckers who will pay anything billed.
That’s exactly what I did. LS 400, check. Highlander, check. House, check. No interest, but because of that, my credit rating is not particularly good.
True. This is called “back-end money”. The dealership I worked at did not negotiate an interest rate with a customer. Rather, we took a general finance application and did a broadcast fax to about five lenders. The responses varied, generally, depending upon the FICO score and the amount of the loan, then we showed the customer the responses with the lowest rate, and let them choose. The lenders paid us a point on the loan, so no matter who the lender was, we got paid. Generally dealers nowadays prefer to sell you a loan instead of doing a cash transaction, which may have been attractive in the past. About 20% of our buyers were check-writers, another 20% got their own financing, and 60% wanted us to find a lender for them. The last 60% made us the most money, between profit on the car and back-end money on the loan. Then, if we sold them an extended warranty, that was gravy too. That’s how the used-car business works these days.
I did that in 2005. Bought a Chrysler Pacifica at 36 months/0% interest. Paid off in 24 months.
Some of the best fun I’ve had is sitting across from the salesman armed with every bit of information I can get on wholesale value, dealer holdback percentages, my credit score, etc. Being a female, I look like a good mark. It’s a kick when they realize I’m not stupid.
Then they would have to file a Currency Transaction Report on you with Big Brother.
Or vice versa...
Then, of course, you would be accused of being a terrorist or drug dealer and they would confiscate your money and/or car, no trial required. Still, it would be fun to watch the expression on the salesman’s face when you showed him the cash.
Apparently you've never had a Medical Bill (Doctor, Hospital, Lab Test, etc) you've disputed.
By the time you can get to a person who can make a decision and get a corrected Bill, some anonymous gum chewing ditz in accounting had sent the original one to a collection agency. And I do mean 'anonymous ditz'.
Just try to find out who made the decision to get a collection agency involved. All of a sudden they're all Clinton relatives and don't know anything or can't recall.
(been there, done that)
We bought a car with $24,000 in cash, all because my bank wanted to charge me $1.50 for a cashiers check and I refused to pay it. The lady at the cash desk counted it out like she does this kind of deal all the time, not a question asked.
I don’t care if freecreditreport.com’s reports are bogus or not, their commercials are great
Yes, what you want is your FICO score and you get it from myfico.com.
If you do a google search you can find discount coupons.
Also, you should prepare your credit for a major purchase:
Do not open new accounts.
Do not apply for new credit elsewhere.
Pay down your revolving credit, credit cards, to zero at least a month in advance.
This can raise your score 40 points or more.
Yes, but it' hooey you have to play if you want to use credit to buy a car or house. It also affects your credit card limit and rates and your insurance rates, and in some cases your employability.
As for a medical lab charging 700.. PAY IT, then dispute it. Otherwise you've wrecked your credit. You must avoid ALL negative events. A one dollar collection or one late payment hurts you for a long time. It's not worth it.
Crazy, isn't it.
The doctor is the one who performs the procedure and set the billing rate. Once I got a irregular bill and the doctors office would not discuss anything so I requested a meeting with the doctor. The office clerk just laugh and said the doctor does not meet with patients over billings. I told her to make appoint with the doctor and she told he charges for that. I said "Good" that will be my answer when we go to court. Never heard back from them.
Thank you; I have used myfico.com previously and I thought it was worthwhile at the regular price, so it's nice to know that it can be had at a discount.
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