Here at Sears Imported Autos, we consider our incredible customers to be an extended part of the family. As loyal friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, our team is always ready to help out people when it comes to buying a new car. One important factor that goes into purchasing a vehicle is your credit score. This magic number often seems to go up and down mysteriously, and with drastic effects on your life. Keep reading to find out what can make your credit score drop, so you know how to keep that from happening.

Late Payments

This is probably the most obvious thing you can do to lower your credit score, and it can have very damaging effects. You will likely be reported to the Credit Bureau if you have not paid off your balance for more than 30 days after it is due. The result is a lowered credit score that can be hard to bring back up.

Credit Utilization

“Credit utilization” is the amount of available credit you are currently using. If you make a large purchase that takes up a large part of your available credit, then your credit utilization will be high. The higher your credit utilization the lower your credit score will be, and the lower your credit utilization is the higher your credit score will be. 

Non-Credit Accounts

One seemingly unlikely culprit of poor credit is unpaid non-credit accounts. Though largely unrelated, if you have an unpaid account, it could be reported to a collection agency. Your credit score will drop if this happens, so make sure to pay off all of your accounts if you can. 

Opening and Closing Credit Card Accounts

Another little-known factor that influences your credit is how many credit cards you have applied for, and how many you have canceled. Both applying for and canceling cards reduces your credit score, so apply for new cards sparingly while trying to maintain them as long as possible. 

We at Sears Imported Autos hope that this information will be helpful in improving your life and keeping your credit score high. We're dedicated to our community, so we want to ensure that all of our customers are taken care of. Contact us today to talk to our friendly financial experts and learn more about financing and our current special offers.