Tips for Fighting Bad Credit

1. Check Your Credit Report & Fix Any Errors

The first order of business is to know your three scores from the major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. FICO^® Score 8 is commonly used by lenders, and it ranges from 300-850. Honda on Grand would like to see our customers in the range above 670, but we’ve worked with a variety of credit scores in the past. That’s just the range that most would consider “good.” If you have any errors on your credit report from either of the credit bureaus, dispute them quickly and separately — you’ll definitely see your score improve after.

2. Make Payments on Time

What’s next? Start the habit (if you haven’t already) of making your payments on time and at least with the minimum amount. We’d also recommend double checking that your payments go through since late payments have the most impact on your FICO^® score, some 35%. If you have trouble remembering due dates or haven’t enrolled in automatic payments, set up a reminder on your phone so that no missed payment goes undetected.

3. Stay Below Your Credit Limit

Another 30% of your FICO^® score is dependent on how much of your credit limit is being used, or your credit utilization. We wouldn’t recommend ever exceeding your credit limit — make your goal to stay below 30% instead. If staying below that number would be difficult month to month, give your lender a call to request that your limit be increased.

4. Be Patient

And finally, our last tip is to be patient. It may be difficult for some of our customers to wait on a new vehicle purchase, but after disputing errors and starting new habits, it takes time for your credit score to recover. After a few months of seeing your score improve, we hope that you’ll visit our dealership to start the conversation!