I'm including a lot of information here, a lot of possibilities. I do not know your credit score and you're credit history, I do not know how much you make, what you own and the current state of your lines of credit, your standing with your bank, etc. I will start of with how you correct your credit then work up, or down to how to get a car loan. Mind all of this may be a waste of our time, again I do not know your history and your spending habits. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* How do you make up for bad credit? It takes a lot of time and wise purchasing. If you have credit cards and they are maxed out pay more than just the minimum on them and stop using them until you get down to 100 to 200 dollars of credit extended on them. continue paying more than just the minimum making certain to use them on limited small purchases to maintain a balance around 100-200 dollars. As the years - yes YEARS - go by and you maintain a steady balance that you are paying more than minimum for your credit rating will slowly increase. Keep no more than 2 credit cards - beyond the one your bank gave that acts like an ATM/Credit Card. those two extra cards you maintain a low balance on. IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT: Carry a higher balance on your bank's ATM/Credit card. If your credit is 1000 carry 500 to 600 dollars on it. Occasionally allow it to decrease to 100 to 200 dollars then purchase something semi-major to raise the balance back up. Something semi-major would cost around 400 to 600 dollars. It should be infrequently enough to where your bank will call you concerned about this huge purchase suddenly being made. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* The Car loan: One Possibility: That would be the bank that you do business with (have checking account with) will float you a loan. Assuming you have a direct deposit pay check into your checking account you might be able to float a 1-5 thousand dollar loan through your bank with the stipulation that they will dip into you checking or savings account to pay for the loan automatically. Auto-deposit means that they have some insurance that they will get their due. Of course this much power means that they will have first take on your paycheck. However taking out a minor loan of this magnitude through your bank with fail safes such as these and by having that loan promptly paid for via direct with-drawl from your checking account can raise your credit rating up slightly. I do not know who you bank with, however if you talk to the loan officer and explain to them that you are seeking 1. A brand new used car and 2. Seeking to fix your credit rating they may be willing to work with you and or direct you to programs that can help you. 10 years ago I had bad credit - simply because I did not have credit cards, and a bank account. I had to work very long and very hard and slowly build up a history with banks and card companies. The Bank officer was very helpful in directing me at how to do this. I also when to HFC (Household Financial Corporation) and discussed with them taking out a small loan of $5,000.00 on my van (a 1967 van in horrible condition used for work) although the van was not worth anything near the money I took a loan for the loan officer knew I was attempting to build a credit history. I do not know if they will be able to help you as they helped me - there is a difference between having no credit history (ergo low credit rating) and having a bad credit history ergo a bad credit rating. A second alternative is to take out a loan from bank or HFC with a co-signer - somebody who has collateral, has a credit history that is good or excellent and who agrees to cover for you should you fail to make payments. This will help to establish some credit rating and some good credit history. Some, not all, loaners will take into consideration what you are purchasing (in this case a used vehicle) and take into consideration how far or how willing you are to make amends of your past credit history for a minor (small, long term loan). Some may even lean the loan against the new used vehicle itself. Meaning failure to pay means you not only lose the loan but you lose the vehicle too. In this case they will cut a check for the dollar amount to the car seller if the deal falls through and you can not or do not purchase the car the check must be returned to them. However it should be considered a "last chance" - if you have already used that up you are S.O.L. - if not then you must make prompt payments and protect that investment with your soul. Most likely you will have to go with a lesser value used vehicle then you would want - we are talking about something selling for around 1-2 thousand dollars. Compromise is all part of the deal. The lower the loan the better your chances of getting it. Of course buying a cheap used car for 1-2 thousand on a loan and paying off that loan in monthly payments of say 150.00 means you will pay it off in about a year. After a year of having a loan that is paid promptly your credit rating will increase allowing you to make another loan via the same company for slightly more. $1000.00 loan paid at $150 per month is paid off in 7 months. $2000.00 is paid of in 14 months. A higher payment per month, say 200.00 a month will pay off that 1000 in 5 months, that 2000 in 10 months - It will actually take longer by a few months in any case due to the INTEREST payments you will need to make as well. I was just showing how fast you could pay off the principle. IF the loan people try to talk you into consolidating your credit cards and other loans then consider it very very carefully. Consider how much you bring home a month - how much you are paying on interest payments to all of those debts and how much you will be paying interest on one consolidated loan. Most likely it will be less, however the terms of the loan may mean that you will be strapped later down the road if say you max out those credit cards again. The long term interest payments should be a consideration. Mind the more years you are shelling out payments on interest the more money you are losing. This is why going way back up to the top I suggest 100 to 200 dollars of credit debt on cards - the interest payments alone are stealing from you. Although all loans and credit cards have a minimum amount due - one should ALWAYS seek to pay more - ideally one should limit credit card purchases to what they can cover for the month. Limiting the continuing balance on each card to 100-200 dollars paying off all the rest by the end of the month in which purchases were made. A continuing low balance over time will raise your credit score - using and paying off the rest will raise your credit score faster.

Wow!! Thanks. Thats a whole lot more information than my brain can absorb. You have saved me for good. I will do exactly what you advised me. I used to have good credit until I moved in with my baby's daddy. I started to put everything under my credit in my name because he had bad credit. When I broke up with him, I was literally screwed. Couldnt keep up with the payments and just gave up. Now my credit is about 450. Not good. Thanks though!!

You can do both get a card loan and fix your credit. www.YariFixmyCredit.com Good luck and let me know if you have any questions