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I've been lurking on the forums for a little while now and thanks to the wealth of knowledge available here, I've been able to re-establish positive credit. I think I've gotten a decent grasp on basic credit issues as it relates to credit cards and mortgages, but I cannot for the life of me understand automotive financing. It's the last frontier and I'm unable to conquer it. Here's the story... One year ago I filed Chapter 7. Since then I've been able to remove most baddies leaving only 2 paid state tax liens from 2007-08 and one IIB deposit account (currently showing $0 - discharge balance was $200). I have 5 store cards, 3 bank cards, au on 3 bank card accounts, and one closed/ paid/ never late auto loan reporting. My highest limit is $14k. Inquiries are TU 4, EX 2, and EQ 18 (left over from a little report poisoning from a previous creditor). My utilization is 35%. My debt-to-income ratio is 21%. My AAOA is 2.85 years. My FICOs average 655. My annual income is over 50k. I have opened credit union and bank accounts based on who they pull and what credit products they offer and applied accordingly. In other words, more sniping, less shotgunning. All are in good standing with no overdrafts, nsf's, etc. In all honesty, none of them have a lot of money in them either, but they all see regular activity. I have been declined on vehicle apps six times. The first three I chose specific vehicles. Thinking that the vehicle may have been the issue, on the last three I did not app with a specific vehicle - same result. None of the loan apps have been over 19,000 with a couple as low as 7500. Now, I'm sure, just from past buying experience, that I can walk into a dealership and get financing. But, the purpose of improving credit is to improve your bargaining position, at least in my mind. I haven't really been denied for the basics like too many inquiries, too much credit, too many new accounts, escalating debt, etc. They have mentioned insufficient credit history (I have positive tradelines dating back to 2004) and past delinquency. When searching the forums, I see the approvals/ denials are all over the place from 525 FICO approvals to 725 FICO denials. I know that each case is unique, but others must be just as confused as I am. Anyone have any insight as to where I may be going wrong? Also, I purposely posted this in the general credit forum as opposed to automotive financing thinking that at some point in our journey we all pass this way - reaching the point where we're ready to finance another vehicle.