Getting good credit for a certified Toyota car loan

We know everyone’s strapped for cash these days, and all that scrambling to pay the bills on time may have dinged your credit pretty badly. So we’re putting out a several-part series on improving your odds of getting a car loan on that new certified Toyota you’ve been eyeing. We’ll cover how to get a car loan with bad credit, how to improve your credit so you can negotiate a better loan, and why getting a car loan may actually be the best thing you can do for your credit score.

Last time, we talked about why car loans improve your credit score and how to get a car loan with bad credit. Today, we’re going to talk about getting a car loan with good credit: the good credit you’re going to build with these handy tips.

If you know you’re going to be buying a car six months down the road, then you have some time to improve your credit score before making that purchase. A better credit score means you’ll get a much better financing deal, and it can also affect the overall price you’ll wind up paying for your certified Toyota when all’s said and done. Here are a few things that you can do to improve your credit score the old-fashioned way.

Make Your Payments On Time

For the next six months, get anal about making your payments before schedule. Pay a little more than your minimum balance and pay it a few days before the due date. Six months is actually plenty of time to show improved payment history, and that will help your score go up.

Double-Check Your Credit Report

Did you know that over 70% of Americans have errors in their credit report that have damaged their credit rating? It’s true. You can either go through every item on your credit report yourself, or you can hire a service to do this for you.
This can improve your score by a significant number, so it’s worth the investment. Think how much you’ll be saving on that car loan for your new certified Toyota!

Warning:

Don’t fall for scam companies who say they can make every item on your credit report disappear – legitimate items aren’t going anywhere, and those kinds of companies won’t try to figure out the ones that can actually be disputed. What you need is basically an accountant for your credit report – they’ll go through each item, double-check its accuracy, and ask your creditors to remove erroneous items from your report.

As always, your local St. Louis Toyota dealer has your back. Tune in next time for more credit-improvement tips.