hoapres

I don't recommend buying a car until they need one but there are likely to be some good deals in December and maybe even better deals in six months as some dealers have lots of inventory. Do your research before making a purchase but you might be able to get a good deal.

I see score degradation if your utilization goes over 10%.

This is ONLY one data point. CR has only TWO credit cards. The oldest is 10 years old and the other is 1 year old. There are 2 older closed credit cards on the CR from 2007 on the CR. ZERO utilization over a period of 12 months results in a consistent FICO score in the 770 to 790 range with the highest being 789. Leaving a small 3% balance on the CR results in the FICO score going up to 814. These are FICO 8 model scores. Note: This is ONLY one data point so it might be different for others.

How likely are you to be sued for any outstanding debts? Sometimes the best course of action is to make sure that you are beyond the statute of limitations for current debts as sometimes if you start rebuilding your credit then the chances of getting sued for old debt might increase. If the above isn't an issue then most likely getting a secured credit card is a good place to start.

Getting rid of your last negative on a CR often leads to a 50 point gain.

If you have an established relationship with a banking institution that holds multiple mortgages then you might want to talk to that financial institution to see what can be offered. I don't know the extent of your real estate holdings but it might be possible to write off the interest of the auto loan off your taxes should you be able to establish that the use of the auto is related to your business.

Capital One shopping extension has saved me some money.

If you have the funds then try to get a secured credit card with the highest possible limit. Opensky top limit is $3K. Capital One top limit is $1K.

Fico 8. IT would have been to do an interesting comparison with FIco 10, Fico 10T and the Fico auto score.

I have access to possibly the best CR to test utilization on FICO. The CR has ONE and I do mean ONLY ONE tradeline being an 8 year old Capital One secured card. Here are the results with varying levels of utilization 100% gives one 697, 50% gives 717, 30% gives 730, 0% gives 768. The credit limit on the card is $2,500. Also was able to look at some old CRs which the person was generous enough to share FICO scores with me. In short, ANY and I do mean ANY derogatory means a MINIMUM of a 50 point drop. The FICO score went up 50 points as soon as the last derogatory fell off the CR. A 2010 filed BK resulted in a FICO score of 498 with 50K+ of charged off debt. This isn't an ideal CR but from the point of doing some tests on FICO then it can hardly be beat.

This may only be applicable to the SF Bay Area although I have heard of some other cases. In short, if you don't have ALL CASH in the SF Bay Area then you are likely OUT of the housing market. Don't take this as gospel but horror stories include a house being offered for $1.8 million going for $2.8 million in Berkeley. That's right $1 Million OVER the asking price and the sale was ALL CASH. Houses are getting multiple offers with many for all cash.

The specimen had bad credit in 2010 and decided to ride out the 7 years along with taking the attitude of paying cash for everything. He got one of those OLD and I do mean OLD Cap 1 secured credit cards that charged and still does a $29 annual fee. He got the card in 2014 starting off with a $500 credit limit which got up to $2400 in 2017 and hasn't moved since. He kept the balance close to the limit under the expectation that Cap 1 would give him an increase. I pointed out that keeping a balance close to the max along with paying minimum balance isn't going to get him a credit increase. He paid off the card last month and I told him to keep using it but just pay the entire balance off before the statement hits. I didn't believe that he would go from 697 to 768 by paying the card off. FICO score was definitely going to go up after paying the card off but I didn't expect a 71 point jump. I told him don't be surprised if Cap 1 doesn't unsecure the card and/or give a CLI. Time will tell. It will probably take Cap 1 six months to figure out that the specimen isn't down to his last dollar.

Forgot to mention that the 7 year Cap 1 credit card has PERFECT payment history.

This is only one data point so take it FWIW. On a THIN (and I do mean THIN) credit file having ONLY one entry being a 7 year old Cap 1 credit card. NOTHING else positive or negative on the file. The FICO score at 100% utilization being 697 went to 768 after the card was TOTALLY paid off. (0% utilization) This is a FICO 8 score. Results likely to be different with FICO 10 or 10t.

Not sure if this works for the OP but I would be going down to a dealer auto auction and get a car. You need to know someone that has a dealers license to help you out. $10K cash can get you a good used auto.