getting credit right....

[Shadow1]

my credit has been screwed up for the past couple years. ive owned nothing but crap 18-20yr old cars. cars that when i go outside im EXPECTING something to be wrong with it. im expecting it not to start or for it to start over heating while im driving down the road. im not doing that anymore.

before i had at LEAST $5-6k worth of debt. its gone now. i looked at my credit report and most of it is gone now. i think someone else up here challenged the stuff on their credit. my sister did the same thing. her credit score went from 580 to 650. i said "holy fack...". so i did the same. but a current account i have messed it up. well 4 actually. just paid off one from an account with Bank of America. from a $350 overdraft down to a $33 settlement. thats done. just paid it off.

now all thats left is 2 loans and my credit card. the credit card is getting paid off this month. get that done with. plus ill still have some money on it to use if need be. the main ones are the 2 bank loans. both were personal loans. only amount to $2k. and they even offered a settlement. just gotta find that paper work now.

everyone around me is getting these new cars and shnit. im still stuck back in the 90's. ive got my eye on what i want now. and i plan to have it by the end of October. i did want a '05 Acura TSX. but coming up with a $2k down payment would take too long and i need a car NOW(or within the next couple months). an '01 Lexus IS300. its been the #2 car on list of cars that i want. the TSX was #1. figured id go for the IS300 because it cost less and has all that im looking for in a car. ive looked up reviews and the only real complaints ive seen is that the manual versions are rare. haha. i dont really care for that. i want to be able to cruise and not worry about shifting gears for once.

[HenRoc]

I go thru the same bout..almost daily. Stupidly sold a Hyundai that was free and all I did was a timing belt to it..it was an 05 and newer than my coupe..but I decided to go the stupid route and instead of keeping both the Hyundai and the Honda at the same time..I sold the Hyundai.

But such as life, you make mistakes but you also learn from it.

I'm very indecisive with the idea of selling my coupe and moving on (ask a few members they'll tell you the same). But in my opinion if you make sure that the car is up to par you shouldn't have any problems.

Personally I would get a newer car (I was looking at 3rd gen TL) but I also have to start paying off my student loans before I worry about another loan that could shrink me deeper in debt.

At least your almost done paying off yours. I have to start paying mine off this fall.

[Ralphie]

I don't know your whole story, but it sound's like you let things get out of control.

Sometimes shit happens i know but you have to always know before jumping that you have a back up plan to avoid fubaring your credit.

So my only advice to you would be to make sure you can take on payments+insurance+maintenance if something goes wrong with your job/money situation.

p.s. yes i threw in maintenance, old cars are not the only ones with issues....so keep that in mind.

[HondaB18]

my credit has been screwed up for the past couple years. ive owned nothing but crap 18-20yr old cars. cars that when i go outside im EXPECTING something to be wrong with it. im expecting it not to start or for it to start over heating while im driving down the road. im not doing that anymore.

before i had at LEAST $5-6k worth of debt. its gone now. i looked at my credit report and most of it is gone now. i think someone else up here challenged the stuff on their credit. my sister did the same thing. her credit score went from 580 to 650. i said "holy fack...". so i did the same. but a current account i have messed it up. well 4 actually. just paid off one from an account with Bank of America. from a $350 overdraft down to a $33 settlement. thats done. just paid it off.

now all thats left is 2 loans and my credit card. the credit card is getting paid off this month. get that done with. plus ill still have some money on it to use if need be. the main ones are the 2 bank loans. both were personal loans. only amount to $2k. and they even offered a settlement. just gotta find that paper work now.

everyone around me is getting these new cars and shnit. im still stuck back in the 90's. ive got my eye on what i want now. and i plan to have it by the end of October. i did want a '05 Acura TSX. but coming up with a $2k down payment would take too long and i need a car NOW(or within the next couple months). an '01 Lexus IS300. its been the #2 car on list of cars that i want. the TSX was #1. figured id go for the IS300 because it cost less and has all that im looking for in a car. ive looked up reviews and the only real complaints ive seen is that the manual versions are rare. haha. i dont really care for that. i want to be able to cruise and not worry about shifting gears for once.

if you can't drop 2k now, what makes you think you can service/maintain an is300 or even a tsx? i don't know if you need a reality check or not but you want a tsx or is300 just to "ball on a budget", otherwise a newer civic or accord would suit you fine

[ChIoVnIdCa]

I'm very conservative with my spending... Of course I could go out and buy a new Acura or w/e but its a terrible way to spend money...

10k is a good number to me. You can get a real reliable car for 10k. I bought a BMW but that's just me being stupid. Ill stay in my 10k cars and keep paying down the house...


I am very tempted to buy a nicer car... But if I did I would trade in my car and hopefully get the 10k trade in on it and use 15k I saved for a car and buy a 25k car...



Credit. You can get your report and dispute every single bad ?mark? on it... I did and everything dropped off it... They have a certain amount of time to respond and if they don't in time it is dropped... Its free and no reason not to do it.

[ChIoVnIdCa]

if you can't drop 2k now, what makes you think you can service/maintain an is300 or even a tsx? i don't know if you need a reality check or not but you want a tsx or is300 just to "ball on a budget", otherwise a newer civic or accord would suit you fine

The tsx should cost no more than a Accord to service / maintain.

[Shadow1]

ive been looking around, asking owners, and finding out factory problems with these two cars of choice. i have a raise ill be getting so so payments and maintenance wont be a problem. so ill be able to make the payments, repair cost and insurance. trust me. ive looked into it.

all i was stating was that ill be straightening out my credit from this day forward. i disputed all the crap that was on my credit. they have i think 60 days to respond. if they dont, it gets dropped. and thats what i did. all i have left is my credit card and my 2 loans. which ill be paying off within the next month or two. i got settlement offers from them. so ill be paying those off.

main focus now is just getting the things on credit taken care of. i plan to have my credit score up in the 600s by summer next year.

[luckyflip]

ive been looking around, asking owners, and finding out factory problems with these two cars of choice. i have a raise ill be getting so so payments and maintenance wont be a problem. so ill be able to make the payments, repair cost and insurance. trust me. ive looked into it.

all i was stating was that ill be straightening out my credit from this day forward. i disputed all the crap that was on my credit. they have i think 60 days to respond. if they dont, it gets dropped. and thats what i did. all i have left is my credit card and my 2 loans. which ill be paying off within the next month or two. i got settlement offers from them. so ill be paying those off.

main focus now is just getting the things on credit taken care of. i plan to have my credit score up in the 600s by summer next year.

Good plan.mine is in the 600s.not sure if that's average or not.

[Shadow1]

Good plan.mine is in the 600s.not sure if that's average or not.

between 600-720 is good. 720 and above is "Great" or "perfect". ugh....ill have to buy another CB or CD soon. need transportation. cant stand driving a truck with no A/C and sucks gas like water going over of a waterfall.

[h22sparkle]

Hmm maybe you should keep the car you have then save up your money or whatever you have left and pay things off with cash. I was slightly in debt im talking 40k in debt I went into business for myself and im good now.

I had 2-3 loans and I maid it with simple steps if youc ant afford it dont buy it at all. Look for bargains if you can help it people are getting newer cars around you perhaps they have the jobs that pay well to obtain them.

If you arent making a certain amount of money to obtain things along with the right connections you just may be in the wrong place. There are better ways of obtaining money substantially any other place you are just wasting your time. You have to let people know your worth are you highly trained? do you have credentials, whats your standing point? are you being paid extra to do your job along with someone elses job? if you are doing your job and someone elses then your in the wrong spot.

Another thing I forgot to mention if you ever get told well uhhh there wont be a pay raise this year and we will have to cut your salary then you are in the wrong spot.

[HondaB18]

The tsx should cost no more than a Accord to service / maintain.

hourly rate for Acura is more and there are things tsx has that Honda does not like navi for that model year

[Shadow1]

hourly rate for Acura is more and there are things tsx has that Honda does not like navi for that model year

well i wont be getting navi and ill have myself to work on the car if need be. ill learn quick when it comes to working cars. especially with a car that's basicly an Accord. just with more bells and whistles. and plus ill have a kind of mechanical insurance to cover anything i cant do

[gloryaccordy]

Fuck this shit man.

Fuck keeping up with the Joneses, and fuck willingly signing yourself into slavery for a fucking car.

Pardon my language.

But if scraping together $2K is difficult, you def shouldn't blow that on a car.

If your CB is holding up + not costing you a car payment every month to keep running... keep that shit. Stack your money. You should have like $10K saved for emergencies or a rainy day. Fix your credit cheaply... get a credit card and use it to buy small shit like food, then pay it off every month. Then when your score is good, get something real light you won't want to mod like a 7th gen Civic.

The car game is expensive as hell, and if you put it ahead of your financial stability you will never be financially stable enough to comfortably buy the nice car you can afford. TSXs aren't going anywhere man. I blew so much money on my cars and every time I look at my savings acct I regret it. But my credit is good now and I have a little money, along with the know how to choose exactly the car + parts I want. I have nothing but time. So get right first. Thats my advice for whatever it is worth.

[HondaB18]

well i wont be getting navi and ill have myself to work on the car if need be. ill learn quick when it comes to working cars. especially with a car that's basicly an Accord. just with more bells and whistles. and plus ill have a kind of mechanical insurance to cover anything i cant do

way i see it from the outside is that you have difficulty getting 2k, your credit is spotty, you still got 2 loans, and you are counting your chickens before they hatch

if you can work on an acura you can more than surely work on a simpler car like a civic/accord which comes at a lower cost

it is ultimately your decision in the end, whatever you choose good luck with it

[wed3k]

car payments suck, stick with older cars and look for the good deal. i love pre-96 cars. i mean seriously...fail smog because the CEL is on for an automatic transmission issue?

you can modify a lot more and can still be diagnosed easily if you have the knowledge, tools and connections.

my credit is 746