Check your credit report and score

When buying a car, one of the first things you should do is check your credit report and score. Many people need a loan in order to buy a car, and if this is true for you, you want to be sure that everything on your credit report is correct. Mistakes could hurt your credit score, which could cause you to be charged higher interest rates.

Credit report basics
There are three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. These bureaus gather information on your credit payment history, which forms the basis of your credit report. The information they compile includes your current address and past addresses; the amount of debt you carry, what kind of debt it is, the lenders’ names, and your debt payment history; how often credit report inquiries are made; and your history of liens and bankruptcies.

Your credit score
Each bureau takes your credit report information and uses it to score your credit. Your credit score is a number between 300 and 850, with 850 being the best credit score and 300 the worst. Lenders use your credit score as a general indicator of your creditworthiness, so if your credit score is low, you might be charged higher interest rates.

How to check your credit
You can get your credit report for free; however you must pay for your score. Every year, you can request a free report from any of the three credit bureaus. That means that you can check your credit report without paying a fee once every four months. You can get a free report and a free credit score with a 30-day trial membership in LendingTree credit monitoring. With membership, you get your free credit report and score online in seconds.

Fixing mistakes
Mistakes can happen, especially for people with similar names or Social Security Numbers. That’s why it’s important to check your credit before you start the car buying process. If there is an error on your credit report that could negatively impact your credit score, you want to have plenty of time to contact the bureaus and get the error corrected. All you need to do to correct an error is write the credit bureau, explaining which information is inaccurate. The credit agency must investigate the items in question, usually within 30 days. Then you’ll get written confirmation of the corrections.

What if you have bad credit?
If you discover that your credit report is accurate, but your credit score is low, you may want to hold off on buying that new car. Instead, take a few months to improve your credit score by paying down your debt and paying all your bills on time. While you’ll have to wait several months, the result should be a better interest rate on your car loan, which will save you money in the long run.