Tips for a Brit buying a (dull) second hand car in US

[unrepentant]

h0b0 said:

3xpendable said:

I've been reading a lot about the difficulties of starting up in the US while you have no credit rating etc. What if, as in my case, you're spouse is a USC with a good credit rating?

If, for example we were to move there could we use her credit rating to buy a car etc?

If she has a current credit rating she can ad you to her credit cards. You will over night get a credit rating.This is how I went from having a limit on my card of $250 to $25,000.

You sure about that Hobo? I added my wife to my Amex but as I am responsible as the primary cardholder it makes no difference to her score.

3xpendable - If your wife has a very good score and you do not have a bad score (i.e. no bad history) then she may be able to add you as a co-signor on a car loan. That would build your credit quickly, it's how a lot of Americans get their kids credit history started. Of course you will still need to have sufficient income etc.. How long ago did your spouse last live here?

When I came here in 2010 I had no US credit history at all, was a "ghost". After I had been working for a JLR dealership for a while I wanted to buy a new XJ on the employee program. I did not qualify for a lease (no credit history) and our finance manager had to beg Chase to lend me $20k on a car with an MSRP of $80k so that I could build some credit. One year of making those payments and I had a score of 730 and they leased me a $103k XKR with no questions. They have subsequently done both of my F-Types and my wife's Evoque. Once you get the credit ball rolling make sure you make every payment on time religiously and don't make too many applications, your score will soon grow.

[h0b0]

unrepentant said:

h0b0 said:

3xpendable said:

I've been reading a lot about the difficulties of starting up in the US while you have no credit rating etc. What if, as in my case, you're spouse is a USC with a good credit rating?

If, for example we were to move there could we use her credit rating to buy a car etc?

If she has a current credit rating she can ad you to her credit cards. You will over night get a credit rating.This is how I went from having a limit on my card of $250 to $25,000.

You sure about that Hobo? I added my wife to my Amex but as I am responsible as the primary cardholder it makes no difference to her score.

3xpendable - If your wife has a very good score and you do not have a bad score (i.e. no bad history) then she may be able to add you as a co-signor on a car loan. That would build your credit quickly, it's how a lot of Americans get their kids credit history started. Of course you will still need to have sufficient income etc.. How long ago did your spouse last live here?

When I came here in 2010 I had no US credit history at all, was a "ghost". After I had been working for a JLR dealership for a while I wanted to buy a new XJ on the employee program. I did not qualify for a lease (no credit history) and our finance manager had to beg Chase to lend me $20k on a car with an MSRP of $80k so that I could build some credit. One year of making those payments and I had a score of 730 and they leased me a $103k XKR with no questions. They have subsequently done both of my F-Types and my wife's Evoque. Once you get the credit ball rolling make sure you make every payment on time religiously and don't make too many applications, your score will soon grow.

This was 2005 when I did it but I'm sure it worked. I was put on her AMEX blue card and was initially given a credit limit of around $5k which was lower than my wife's. After a couple of years it was ramped up. Today we have credit scores in the 800's with hers being one point higher than mine. Bizarrely, we weren't even married at the time I was put on the card.