So DH and I need/want a new car. We have an 1991 Honda CRX in great condition but I have some issues with it. There isn't a back seat (we want babies soon), it's low to the ground which scares the crap out of me living in texas with big ass trucks, and well perhaps most important I can't drive it because it's a stick.
So the issue is we want a relatively newish car but DH has iffy credit. He has 3 positive things on it but 2 negative (a doctors bill and a disputed claim from an old apartment complex) totalling under 1,500 bucks. Has anyone had any issues like this and bought a car. We have plenty of money to afford the car payment, but with DH being gone to AIT in Jan I need a car to get around, trying to go grocery shopping without a car can be difficult.
Any suggestions or ideas?

what is your credit score?

you can get a car- any car- it what it will cost you that is a concern.

if you have a large down payment- like 4 or more grand that will help- it will make the amount financed lower-

but with a low credit score you may have to suck up the high interest rate and get a different car.

my first car I bought myself was 8 grand- I financed it for 5 yrs so my payments would be low- and my interest rate was 9.5%.
but I payed it off early and it helped my credit score ( along with other things) the next time I went to by a car I got 0% interest and this time 3.2%...

so I payed the price early on and have benifited from it.

good luck!

what is your credit score?

you can get a car- any car- it what it will cost you that is a concern.

if you have a large down payment- like 4 or more grand that will help- it will make the amount financed lower-

but with a low credit score you may have to suck up the high interest rate and get a different car.

my first car I bought myself was 8 grand- I financed it for 5 yrs so my payments would be low- and my interest rate was 9.5%.
but I payed it off early and it helped my credit score ( along with other things) the next time I went to by a car I got 0% interest and this time 3.2%...

so I payed the price early on and have benifited from it.

good luck!


I don't know his score, and everytime we have tried to get it we haven't been able too. I don't mind paying more in interest if we can get the car. I'm not looking for an expensive one either, a Ford Focus or a Honda Fit is what we were looking at. Plus when we sell the CRX we will have about 2 grand to put down. It's just the last time we tried to buy a car they wouldn't finance us.

Go to your bank & finance through them (assuming you've been with them for atleast a year) - explain what the negative things are on your credit. They'll assess your debt to income ratio and will hopefully not look too hard at the negative things. You can be a co-signer if you have income- -which will help out alot!

When & if you get the check from your bank, take it to a reputable car dealer, so you know you won't be getting a lemon or get screwed over some how.

I would never finance through the dealership unless it was a brand new car.

Dh and I cant get financed anywhere for the life of us because his credit has some negatives on it (but his score is still relativly ok) and mine is GREAT expect they say that its still concidered "new" (which confuses me be I have have credit for nearly 2 years now....but who knows....) Good Luck!!

Why don't you try getting the car on your name then? I would sugest you to never finance the car through the dealership cause they int rate are outrageous!!! I remember when I bought my car on my own with no credit I was mmm 21 and the int I got was like 11% and that's crazy high! but I didn't know better. I would try to 1st get your credit score and call different places and ask them what interest they can offer you with your credit score and if you can get aproved before you get the car even better that way you go shopping with a check on hand. Good luck!

Why don't you try getting the car on your name then? I would sugest you to never finance the car through the dealership cause they int rate are outrageous!!! I remember when I bought my car on my own with no credit I was mmm 21 and the int I got was like 11% and that's crazy high! but I didn't know better. I would try to 1st get your credit score and call different places and ask them what interest they can offer you with your credit score and if you can get aproved before you get the car even better that way you go shopping with a check on hand. Good luck!

My credit sucks beyond belief, I'm paying things down but a couple years back I went through a situation where I had to use my emergency credit cards and then I wasn't able to pay them off and so my credit is wayyyyy in the dumps

My credit sucks beyond belief, I'm paying things down but a couple years back I went through a situation where I had to use my emergency credit cards and then I wasn't able to pay them off and so my credit is wayyyyy in the dumps

Sorry I actually thought Inmansgirl's reply was yours and she said there she has great credit. Still try to apply the rest lol

i have aweful credit...but i was still able to get a car..granted i'll be paying on it for a long time but it works...i was able to get a car through a friend of a friend and actually i've found that works best...because if even though you may not know them personally they know you are friends w/ so and so...therefore it helps and they always try to go that extra mile for you to make it work....do you know anyone who might know someone in the car industry....also i've heard not sure how true it is...is that the larger down payment you put down the more likely you are to get approved...again not sure about that ....good luck though...:xfingers

my dh and I have kinda sucky credit but we got a brand new car and we financed through fidelity bank. you just need to check around at different dealers and see what they have to offer. if I can get a new car in my name without a job, i think you will be able to!

My dh had some things on his credit back about 18 years ago. We had to eventually pay those things off so that we could start to build new credit. Absolutely no one would touch us on loans, it was terrible! Once we satisfied the payments we were able to buy on credit and have now had perfect credit for over 15 years. I know how bad it sucks to be denied for EVERYTHING based over one bad mistake:no

Even for a few years after we paid them off, they didn't clear off. However they showed up as satisfied payments (after we paid them off). After about 7 years total they cleared off completely:D

We bought a brand new car 6 months out from filing bankruptcy. Yes, we needed a good chunk for a downpayment, but we were able to get financed with a decent APR.

We bought a brand new car 6 months out from filing bankruptcy. Yes, we needed a good chunk for a downpayment, but we were able to get financed with a decent APR.

Just wondering, but what does filing bankruptcy do? do you kwim? this is a serious inquiry here....I don't mean to threadjack but you would be the first person i would ever be able to talk to about this.

we had a huge amount of debt from medical bills when DH got out of the navy after his first 4 years. I forget which one is which, but ours completely wiped all our debt out. But we have had to deal with the bankruptcy on our credit since then. We have been turned down for apts, credit for other places and what not. For us it was our only choice, and I dont recommend it unless you really have no choice.

We have 2 more years till it clears off of our credit history. :cp

more than likely you can get financed at a high rate which translates into a higher payment. I would honestly learn to drive stick and tough it out till he gets back then maybe sell the car and settle the debts that he has. That will improve your chances at getting a better rate. Or you can simply go in to a dealer and see what they can offer you