Sorry, this is going to be a little long winded.
I've been debt free for a number of years, until last year when I purchased my LX2610HSDC.
I have found that credit scores matter the most when you don't have much to put down. The larger the down payment, the less the loan company cares about your credit score. And at some point, they only care if you are breathing (well, not quite, but it seems that way). Generally that point is when your down payment puts you in an equity position.
Years ago, I purchased a new wakeboarding boat from a dealer that was liquidating stock as he was going out of business. I purchased a $75,000 boat for roughly $55k, and put $12k down. At the time, I was self employed, had a credit score below 700, and was applying as stated income. There aren't many more strikes that you can get on an application.
Strike 1 - Boat loan are very high risk for lenders
Strike 2 - Low Credit Score
Strike 3 - Self-Employed / Stated income (no proof of employment)
Despite those risks, they approved me without a second thought. I had significant skin in the game with a $12K down payment, and I walked away from the deal with an equity position. Only downside is the interest payment sucked, but I planned on paying it off in 1 year or less.
But other priorities came up and 2 years later, I still had the loan with a crappy interest rate. So I went and did what almost no one is able to do. I refinanced the boat to bring down the interest rate. This is almost unheard of because banks NEVER get boat owners who have real equity in their boat. 99.99% of the time, the owners are upside down in payments, and boat loans are extremely high risk. I still had a low credit score as the boat was my only debt, but once they found out that the boat was still worth 10k more than I owed on it, they couldn't get the loan paperwork processed quick enough. That loan I payed off 1 year later.
When I bought my 2015 Diesel VW Jetta, had no problem getting 0% for 60 months because of the down payment (20%). Which by the way I got more than that back in cash due to the emissions scandal, but that's another story.
When I bought the LX2610HSDC with BH77, I had no problem getting approved for the 0% for 84 months because of the down payment (20%). I wish I had included the front mount snow blower, but I was trying to keep the payment down.
To sum it up. I really don't care much about my credit score. With a large enough down payment, just about anything is possible. I only have 1 credit card, which is a corporate card given to me for travel expenses which I haven't used in 2 years. Other than that, I have had no other credit cards for the past 12 years. I don't have a problem using credit for large purchases (vehicles, tractors, home loans, etc), but for 99% of our daily routine, it's cash only. I will NEVER EVER have a personal credit card again.
Oh BTW, you can rent a car with a debit card. You just have to know which rental company to use.
I've been debt free for a number of years, until last year when I purchased my LX2610HSDC.
I have found that credit scores matter the most when you don't have much to put down. The larger the down payment, the less the loan company cares about your credit score. And at some point, they only care if you are breathing (well, not quite, but it seems that way). Generally that point is when your down payment puts you in an equity position.
Years ago, I purchased a new wakeboarding boat from a dealer that was liquidating stock as he was going out of business. I purchased a $75,000 boat for roughly $55k, and put $12k down. At the time, I was self employed, had a credit score below 700, and was applying as stated income. There aren't many more strikes that you can get on an application.
Strike 1 - Boat loan are very high risk for lenders
Strike 2 - Low Credit Score
Strike 3 - Self-Employed / Stated income (no proof of employment)
Despite those risks, they approved me without a second thought. I had significant skin in the game with a $12K down payment, and I walked away from the deal with an equity position. Only downside is the interest payment sucked, but I planned on paying it off in 1 year or less.
But other priorities came up and 2 years later, I still had the loan with a crappy interest rate. So I went and did what almost no one is able to do. I refinanced the boat to bring down the interest rate. This is almost unheard of because banks NEVER get boat owners who have real equity in their boat. 99.99% of the time, the owners are upside down in payments, and boat loans are extremely high risk. I still had a low credit score as the boat was my only debt, but once they found out that the boat was still worth 10k more than I owed on it, they couldn't get the loan paperwork processed quick enough. That loan I payed off 1 year later.
When I bought my 2015 Diesel VW Jetta, had no problem getting 0% for 60 months because of the down payment (20%). Which by the way I got more than that back in cash due to the emissions scandal, but that's another story.
When I bought the LX2610HSDC with BH77, I had no problem getting approved for the 0% for 84 months because of the down payment (20%). I wish I had included the front mount snow blower, but I was trying to keep the payment down.
To sum it up. I really don't care much about my credit score. With a large enough down payment, just about anything is possible. I only have 1 credit card, which is a corporate card given to me for travel expenses which I haven't used in 2 years. Other than that, I have had no other credit cards for the past 12 years. I don't have a problem using credit for large purchases (vehicles, tractors, home loans, etc), but for 99% of our daily routine, it's cash only. I will NEVER EVER have a personal credit card again.
Oh BTW, you can rent a car with a debit card. You just have to know which rental company to use.