Refinancing: now or later?

[happydude]

I was in a really bad financial position a year and a half ago and due to a car accident at that same time, I had to buy a reliable new car because I drive 100+ miles/day, work full time, and go to school full time and can't afford to take any risks witha used car that may turn into a nightmare. To keep costs as low as possible, I placed the $4.400 I received from the insurance company down to finance a 2006 Nissan Sentra "Special Edition" @ $16K.

 

At the time, my credit was horrendous (high 400's to low 500's), so it came as no surprise when I was slapped with an 18% APR. My monthly payment on the car is currently $415.83 and is going on 17 months with no late payments.

 

Currently, my FICO scores are TU - 631, EX - 614, and EQ - 659 (a vast improvement since I started to repair my credit since April 2007).

 

I'm currently working with HSBC to delete the remaining tradeline on Equifax which should wrap up within the next few weeks. I was thinking when that's removed, I will try to refinance my car in hopes to save money by dropping the APR some.

 

Based off the following information, am I likely to even get a decent APR, let alone approval?

 

 

My account status with TU, EX, and EQ are as follows respectively:

 

Total accounts: 3, 6, 5

Open accounts: 1, ,1, 1

Closed Accounts: 2, 5, 4

Delinquent: 0, 0, 0

Derogatory: 1, 0, 1

Balances: $13,660, $13,660, $13,660

Payments: $415, $415, $415

Public Records: 0, 0, 0

Inquiries (2 yrs): 0, 9, 0

 

TransUnion:

Real Estate accounts: n/a

Revolving accounts: Macys: current, closed by grantor; Capital 1: collection/chargeoff; settlement

Installment accounts: AmeriCredit: current

Other accounts: n/a

Collection accounts: n/a

 

Experian:

Real Estate accounts: n/a

Revolving accounts: Macys: current, closed by grantor; Capital 1: collection/chargeoff; settlement; Wells Fargo: closed, settlement

Installment accounts: AmeriCredit: current; GTE Southwest: current, closed at consumer request; Worth National Bank: current, closed, paid in full

Other accounts: n/a

Collection accounts: n/a

 

Equifax:

Real Estate accounts: n/a

Revolving accounts: Macys: current, closed by grantor; Capital 1: collection/chargeoff; settlement; Wells Fargo: closed, settlement; HSBC: current, closed, settlement

Installment accounts: AmeriCredit: current

Other accounts: n/a

Collection accounts: n/a

[MarvBear]

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[MarvBear]

To a certain extent, unless the approving creditor uses ONLY scores to assess a pricing structure, then whatever LTV model your approving lenders uses will have an impact on your rate.

[dlions720]

try a credit union. I have low to mid 600's as well and just refianced my loan from 21.75% to 5.5% at Port City credit union.