Improving credit

General Questions
#1

I recently financed a new truck.
I put more than half down.

My credit isn’t the best so my interest rate sucks and I’d like to pay it off as quickly as possible, however I also want to improve my credit rating.

I can’t pay it off right away but I probably could in a few months.

The car dealership said it doesn’t matter if I pay it off right away because as long as I pay it off it will improve my score.

However other people have told me that I should make payments for at least 6 months to establish a pattern, then pay it off.

Of course the longer I take to pay it off, the interest keeps on accruing.

#2

Pay it off as fast as you are comfortable doing. The cost of paying interest that you don’t have to pay is significantly higher than the small benefit of having a slightly longer history on the account.

#3

I’ve heard that if you pay a loan off in less than a year it doesn’t help your score.

#4

It may not help as much as paying it off over a longer term, but as the previous poster said, the money you save in interest is worth the couple of meager points you would lose (or better yet, not gain).

The important thing with credit is to not use all that you are eligible for, and to pay it off reasonably. Whenever you start discussing minor things like this, its just gravy, and won’t help you. There’s no difference in the loan products you get from having an 810 score versus a 780.