My two major credit cards give me the option of seeing my "estimated FICO credit score" every month when I go on their website to pay my bill. On the same day, one card reported a score of 835 for the past several months. Two minutes later, the other card reported a score of 809, also for the past several months.
Whatever. I mostly don't care, but it shows that the number is hardly an exact science.
It sort of is. But there are factors that can vary. First look at which credit score they are offering. For example, I have one bank that offers FICO Score 8. Also, from which crediting reporting agency. Not all creditors report to all agencies. Also when people pull credit they often don't pull from all agencies. So, with TransUnion I might have one more credit pull than I have at Experian or wherever. Also, while major credit card companies may report to all 3 lots of others creditors don't. For example, if you have a late payment to a doctor they might report to only one of the credit agencies.
We are getting ready to perhaps refinance our house. The lender I am working with said that there are actually multiple FICO scores. The one that the bank shows online is one that is the credit card FICO score. But, mortgage companies have one that varies a little and is a mortgage related score. You can go to myfico.com itself and can buy your actual score from all 3 agencies. This will show you your scores for mortgage, auto loans, etc.
But basically there isn't just one credit score there are different versions of FICO Score (Score 8 is very common but it isn't the only one) and it can vary depending on which type of score it is (mortgage, auto loan, etc.).
And, of course, if the data it is getting varies from one agency to another then the result will vary. For mortgage purposes, I was told that they get the mortgage score from all 3 bureaus. Then they use the middle score. If it is a couple they use the lower middle score of the two people. So, if my middle score is 820 and DH's in 810 they would use DH's.
Fast forward to 2020, we will be purchasing a new vehicle in April and I've thought about how to obtain better pricing, based on borrowing vs cash. I had planned to get to the bottom line cost, based on a cash purchase and then once presented with the opportunity to finance, ask for a further discount if we agreed to finance. I gather you are saying, agree upfront to finance at a set cost and then switch gears at the last moment to cash. Am I correct?
Used to dealers might give you a better deal if you were financing with them but they wouldn't be upfront about it. The last few cars I bought, though, it was different. Sometimes, they would offer a choice of a lower price or a lower interest rate. But, this was absolutely disclosed upfront. Other times, it made no difference whether I was financing or not. They were clear that it made no difference at all.
can you check your own credit score without adversely affecting it?
Yes.