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Repossession, bankruptcy, collections, no credit history at all. If your credit is the reason you have been putting this off, read this page before you fill in anything. It explains what we can actually do, what we cannot, what to bring, and what happens after you apply. Hablamos español.
Nobody honest can, and any dealership that tells you otherwise before looking at your situation is telling you what you want to hear. What we can tell you is that we send applications to more than thirty banks and lenders, and a number of them specialize in exactly the situations that get declined elsewhere.
That is the whole difference, and it is worth understanding before you go anywhere. A finance office with one lender has one answer. If that lender says no, the conversation is over. With more than thirty, a file that stops in one place frequently has somewhere else to go.
The second thing worth knowing: we would rather tell you the truth on the phone than have you drive here for nothing. Call (219) 246-4505, describe your situation honestly, and we will give you a straight read on what is realistic before you spend an afternoon on it.
These are the situations people apologize for on the phone. None of them need an apology, and all of them are ordinary here.
Not one bank with one set of rules. More than thirty, several of which specialize in credit challenges rather than treating them as an exception to be declined.
Solicitud y condiciones del préstamo explicadas en español antes de firmar. Application and loan terms in Spanish, start to finish.
A repossession on your file is not automatically the end of it. What matters more is how long ago, whether the balance was settled, and what your income looks like now.
A discharged bankruptcy is workable, and often more workable than people expect, because the debt that damaged the file is gone. Bring your discharge papers. How long ago it discharged matters more than the fact of it.
A thin file or no file at all is a different problem from bad credit, and it is often easier to solve. First-time buyers, recent graduates, people who have always paid cash.
Medical collections in particular carry less weight with many lenders than people expect. Bring what you have and let the application find out.
A vehicle you co-signed for, or debt assigned in a decree that never actually came off your credit. Common, and lenders see it constantly.
Harder to document, not harder to approve. Bank statements and tax returns do the work a pay stub would.
Owing more than the vehicle is worth is extremely common and does not stop a deal. We also take trades in any condition, including high mileage, mechanical problems and open loans. Value your trade →
Time on the job matters to lenders, but less than most people assume, and a solid offer letter can carry a lot of weight.
Four steps, and it is worth knowing where you are in them.
Name, address, income, employment, housing. Online or at the desk. Be accurate rather than optimistic, because lenders verify and an inflated income figure only wastes your day.
Start the application →Your application goes to lenders whose criteria fit your situation, not to all of them at random. That is the part that takes experience rather than software.
About our finance team →An approval arrives with conditions: a maximum amount, a rate, a term, sometimes a required down payment. Different lenders return different structures for the same file.
Payment calculator →Most people pick the car first and find out what they qualify for afterwards. Doing it the other way round is less disappointing and considerably faster.
Browse inventory →Turning up with these makes the difference between an answer today and an answer next week. If you are missing something, come anyway and we will work out what is needed.
Your most recent pay stubs, usually a month's worth. Self-employed: two years of tax returns, or three months of bank statements.
A utility bill or lease in your name from the last sixty days. Lenders verify where you live, not just what you wrote down.
A valid license, and proof of insurance or the name of your agent. You cannot drive it away without coverage.
Several lenders want five to eight personal references with addresses and phone numbers. Worth writing them down before you arrive.
Whatever you have. More helps, but there is no fixed figure, and what a lender requires depends on the file rather than a policy we set.
If applicable, your discharge papers. Lenders want to see the bankruptcy closed rather than take your word for the date.
If you have one. Bring the title if you hold it, or the lender name and account number if there is still money owing.
Tell us what is actually on your credit before we pull it. It changes which lenders we approach, and nothing you say will surprise us.
This is worth understanding before you sign anything, because it affects where you stand two years from now, not just this week.
We arrange financing through banks and lenders, and those loans report. Every payment you make on time is recorded with the credit bureaus, and a car loan paid as agreed is one of the more effective ways to rebuild a damaged file. It is an installment loan with a long payment history attached, which is exactly the kind of account scoring models reward. The vehicle solves this year's problem. The loan history solves the next one.
The vehicle itself matters too. We are a franchise dealership: new GMC and Buick, and a used lot where the great majority of vehicles are certified through CarBravo, General Motors' certified program, which unlike most manufacturer programs can certify makes other than its own. A certified vehicle is inspected and carries warranty coverage rather than being sold as-is. That matters considerably more when your budget has no room for a surprise repair, because a breakdown you cannot afford is how a rebuilt credit file gets damaged all over again.
The questions people ask quietly, or do not ask at all.
Worth saying, because some of this is common in the credit-challenged corner of this business.
We do not know until the lenders answer. "Guaranteed approval" is marketing, not a credit decision, and you should treat it as a warning rather than a welcome.
A headline payment that requires perfect credit and a large deposit is not an offer, it is bait. Ask what the advertised figure actually assumes.
If more than one lender approves you, you should see all of them and understand what each costs over the term.
A lender approving an amount is not the same as it being sensible. If the comfortable answer is a certified used vehicle rather than a new one, we will say so.
We are at 1551 W. US Highway 30 in Valparaiso, on the road that crosses the width of the Region. Customers travel here for financing from Portage, Chesterton, Hobart, Merrillville, Crown Point, Schererville, Lowell, Cedar Lake, Michigan City and LaPorte, and from across the line in Illinois.
Currie Motors Buick GMC 1551 W. US Highway 30, Valparaiso, IN 46385 Sales, Service and Parts: (219) 246-4505 Hours: Mon–Fri 9 AM–9 PM, Sat 9 AM–7 PM, Sun closed Ask for: the finance department, and say it is a credit question. They will not need a sales pitch to help you.
Ten minutes to apply, or one phone call for an honest read before you do. Either way you will know more than you do now.