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Dealership needs to pull my credit for placing order

4208 Views 80 Replies 45 Participants Last post by  Big Swede
Dealership requires a $1,000 deposit, and also wants to run my credit report for placing a hellcat order, is it normal?

I am not using their finance, not sure whether this is appropriate.
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Guys, there is no such thing as a soft pull on a credit check LOL.

When I bought our Trackhawk, I insisted they see if I would get approved for the loan. They called me back in 5 min and said no problem its approved. I then proceeded to order a 3500 Limited diesel that same phone call. Yes, I have awesome credit.

R.K.
For a vehicle loan, no.

For services (gas, water, internet, cell phone) yes, there is such a thing.
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There are also compliance requirements the dealer must adhere to. Even if you aren't financing through them. They have to protect themselves against identity theft and money laundering. That's why they won't accept the credit score/report you provide them. Someone shows up to buy a car but has Radride's "awesome" credit report because they stole his identity is a nightmare they want to avoid. There is also OFAC compliance which requires them to have most of the same information needed to run a credit check.
There is a difference between hard and soft pulls. Insurance companies use soft pulls to determine premium. When you check your own scores through your credit card apps, those are soft pulls. Neither records an inquiry. The pull initiated at a dealership is a hard pull and will show up on a credit report. If they then submit your application to several lenders, each one will be a hard pull.
Last thing I'll say is someone with a 800+ credit score has options that someone with a lower score may not have. The better your score, the less you need to play the dealership's games and the more they need to accommodate you. They need as many of you in their portfolio as possible, because that's what gives them the power to get the 550 credit score people approved.
Ex dealership finance director here. With excellent credit.
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There are also compliance requirements the dealer must adhere to. Even if you aren't financing through them. They have to protect themselves against identity theft and money laundering. That's why they won't accept the credit score/report you provide them. Someone shows up to buy a car but has Radride's "awesome" credit report because they stole his identity is a nightmare they want to avoid. There is also OFAC compliance which requires them to have most of the same information needed to run a credit check.
So if it is a compliance requirement then why doesn't every dealership require a credit pull to order a car?
Plus, if the dealer runs a hard credit check on you, that will affect your credit rating (lower it), which will affect the rate you can get later from you own lender.
10000000% TRUE!!!
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I lock my debit card and unused credit cards for the same reason. Annoying to unlock the debit on the rare occasion that I need cash but it's worth it.
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So if it is a compliance requirement then why doesn't every dealership require a credit pull to order a car?
I still think TONS of people forget that laws/requirements vary from state to state and dealership to dealership.
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I still think TONS of people forget that laws/requirements vary from state to state and dealership to dealership.
possibly, but I have to see the compliance law that only applies to certain states/dealers that says you have to run a credit check. I know a copy of a drivers license is required for compliance/legal/insurance reasons, but having bought over 50 cars never once had a dealer try to sell me that line
I saw a similar situation last year. One of my adult children decided to purchase a permanent home. In the process he discussed mortgage terms and interest rates with a number of mortgage companies. Each of these, in their general course of business, pulled a credit report. As all of the various inquiries were about the same purposed transaction, which was still on the table, the inquiries for credit grading purposes were ignored. If you are shopping for one car, having multiple inquiries from different lenders for the same purpose, I suspect that they will be treated in the same fashion. Now, if in the middle of your car hunt, you apply for a general purpose credit card or a retail store credit card, these will be viewed differently.
This whole thread reminds me of this video

This reminds me of the Eddy Murphy skit of how white people act when black people aren't around.

You absolutely HAVE to see that skit.

Especially after the 3 minute mark.
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There are far more people with an 800+ credit score who would be against a hard credit pull in this situation than those with a lower score. Sure, there are people with 800+ who would be fine with it, but they are in the minority for sure.
As a business owner, my credit gets pulled 4X a year from lenders, regardless. No need for more...
Dealerships can do what they want, it all depends on you, otherwise take your business somewhere else. That's the reality. Same thing with prices.
There is a current thread about Dealerships suddenly having customer ordered RE/HC sitting on the floor, where the customer cannot find the financing to complete the transaction. This due to rising interest rates, inflation, uncertainty in the general economy or customer credit risk has become unacceptable. All of this could have been prevented if the Dealer had done a simple “what if“ of the customers ability to remain stable under financial change.
There is a current thread about Dealerships suddenly having customer ordered RE/HC sitting on the floor, where the customer cannot find the financing to complete the transaction. This due to rising interest rates, inflation, uncertainty in the general economy or customer credit risk has become unacceptable. All of this could have been prevented if the Dealer had done a simple “what if“ of the customers ability to remain stable under financial change.
This isnt a problem on a car like this. Its not like its a pink dodge caravan that was ordered and then left behind. This isnt an issue to put in a sold order and have someone back out with the inventory so slim on the hellcats. They will probably sell them for more than they would have made on the sold order.
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Vet Rider - I hope that you are correct in this matter.
You think that is bad the dealer i bought my redeye from and paid in for in full with cash ran my credit report even after i told them not to and it wasn't necessary as i am paying the whole amount. I had to call and threaten them to get it removed. What a mess .
They did this exact same thing to me, pulled my credit after I gave them a deposit then pulled my credit again once the vehicle arrived. Lol, I can not stand dealerships man. Especially ones that don’t know how to do their job or incompetent salesman that think they know stuff. As always they’re always studdering mumbling pricks when you call em’ out on something.
Yall need to stop filling out and signing their credit apps. Thats the only reason they did it, were allowed to do it. Once you fill out and sign that credit app, you are giving them permission to spam you out to all their banks and also for them to pull it in house. Dont fill out the app and sign it...
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It's not unheard of for dealerships to pull credit prior to placing an order. It all depends on what you're trying to order and where from. If you go to Miami and put an order in for a Hellcat, they won't care even if you look like a bum with 1 shoe on. They'll be able to sell that car in that market. But, if you're in the Midwest a bit removed from a major urban area, if you try to order something that is too much car for their local market, you might get hit with a credit check.

When I was a new car sales manager back in the late 2000s, I had a guy come in who looked a lot like a very new Army soldier. Young, high and tight, dressed like a knob (tight jeans, tucked in tee-shirt with rolled sleeves... basically the very epitome of someone who just got out of basic and was scared to walk around in public with their gig line being crooked). He was inquiring about a 2009 GT500. He talked to a salesman and wanted to put an order in. We had allocations for 2. I asked the salesman to inquire how long he had been in the military for. He came back and said 1 year. I then instructed the salesman to go over the pricing and explain what the ballpark payments would be to make sure he was OK with it. Of course, the guy said yes to a $1,200/mo payment. Being a recently separated military guy myself, I knew that the guy couldn't have been making more than $1,800/mo at the time. So, I told him in honor of his service, we wouldn't charge him an ADM or a deposit, so long as he passed a credit check. His credit came back in the LOW 500s.

I ended up selling him a used Misubishi Eclipse :). He put something like 10 grand down on the 12k car.
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One other thing, when you're car shopping, you only take 1 "hit" for a credit check. I believe it's good for 2 weeks. So, you can apply 52 times in that period and it only counts as 1 credit inquiry.
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