Dave Ramsey - No FICO?

[Westernskies]

I bought a new Dodge Ram truck a few months ago, they were offering an additional $500 bonus cash if you financed through GMAC (Chrysler Credit). Minimum amount you could finance was $7500-$8000; you also had to make three payments before paying it off (depending on who you talked to...)so I financed $8000.

First statement arrived, sent them $7950
Second statement arrived, I sent them $50
Third statement was the title, and a note thanking me for my business.

When I took the truck in for it's first scheduled service the sales manager told me that he heard I'd paid off the truck "early" when received a call from GMAC chewing him out for "allowing" me to finance the $8K

 

[FinanceDude]

When I took the truck in for it's first scheduled service the sales manager told me that he heard I'd paid off the truck "early" when received a call from GMAC chewing him out for "allowing" me to finance the $8K

Dealerships don't make much money financing that small of an amount. I can't blame you for taking the extra $500 and short-term financing. The F&I dude probably only made a flat $150 to finance your truck, which GMAC pays the dealer for going through GMAC instead of a local bank. However, since you only had the loan for 2 months, GMAC actually "lost" money on the deal, because they gave you $500, paid the dealer $150 or so, and therefore made virtually no money on the loan.........

 

[Alan]

What are some good ways to maintain a good FICO score without using a credit card? Is this another area Ramsey is incorrect on?

Thanks in advance!

Our son, aged 28, has never had a credit card, car loan or mortgage. He did have a $6k student loan when he graduated and paid it off within 12 months. He uses a Debit Card.

I did get his FICO a year or so back through one of those free offers and it was high 700's.

 

[Westernskies]

Dealerships don't make much money financing that small of an amount. I can't blame you for taking the extra $500 and short-term financing. The F&I dude probably only made a flat $150 to finance your truck, which GMAC pays the dealer for going through GMAC instead of a local bank. However, since you only had the loan for 2 months, GMAC actually "lost" money on the deal, because they gave you $500, paid the dealer $150 or so, and therefore made virtually no money on the loan.........

Worse than that, they actually loaned me the $8K for four months at N/C since it took them 60 days just to get the loan paperwork in place. I was expecting the last payment to include a few dollars in interest, but they just closed the loan and sent me the title; I never even had the opportunity to request a payoff amount.