I know no one can predict the future or tell me what FICO scores will be or interest rates for sure and I am aware that any responses to this post will be guesses at best. However, I would like some input as to what sort of loan I can expect.

I will be discharged from bankruptcy shortly. I need to get another vehicle soon. We currently own an S10 pickup and a car. The pick-up is on it's last leg and not large enough for our family. However I know that rates for a car loan would be horrible this soon out of bankruptcy. So we will be buying my aunt and uncles Explorer outright with our tax return and selling the S-10. But the explorer is older and won't last years longer.

Our car will be paid off in six months time. So our plan right now is to pay off the car and start saving the amount of our car payment for 6 months to a year. Once we are our of BK a year we hope to get a mini-van that is 2 to 3 years old. We want something around $13000. We hope to put $5000 down, use the explorer as a trade in and take a 36 month loan. We want our payments to be under $300 per month. We have never been late on or missed a car payment.

Are we dreaming to think we can get decent loan terms at that time?
What sort of terms have others in similar situations had?
What sort of interest rate can I hope for?

Additionally, I am reaffirming my car loan and my mortgage. My student loans are, of course, non-dischargable. So I will, hopefully, have those three trade lines reporting positively. Do I actually need to get a credit card before then to have another trade line reporting?

If I don't need a card I would prefer to wait until the credit card offers get better instead of taking one with high fees. If I need to have a credit card in order to get the best car loan I guess I will deal with the high fee cards and get one to establish that payment history.

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In the Reading and Resource Section of this forum, which is a read only forum, you can look up information regarding Sales Tax by State, Lemon Laws by State, along with a number of industry specific topics very relevant from the dealership's perspective.

In the main section of this forum, there are two pinned topics both of which are read only topics. The first concerns Bank and Credit Union rates and tiers. You might find this useful in predicting an interest rate on your next vehicle purchase. The second is a general purpose credit application that you can use to get an idea if you might qualify for an automotive product loan based on an insider's perspective of the information you provide.

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In order to qualify for an automobile loan, I'd not see it as necessary to have a credit card post BK.

You can be approved immediately post BK. Your rate will depend on when you apply and how any approving lender will assess your overall creditworthiness at the actual time of application AND the amount of money you wish to borrow relative to the assessment of the automobiles worth.

So basically you are saying that they main issue on my application will be my ability to pay the loan (my income) and the amount I want to borrow in relation to the value of the vehicle.

Okay.

How do I make sure that I get the best deal / best interest rates that I possible can in my situation?

Is my plan going to do it? Or do I need to be doing something else?

Your plan sound as though it should be eminently feasible.