Hello guys and gals...especially you, Marv!

This has to do with a car purchase, so bear with me (no pun intended). Here is my situation as best I can describe it. I am trying to decide what my best course of action should be.

I have 4 current accounts on Transunion and Equifax---3 retail cards (all opened very recently) totaling $900 of available credit, and an AU Discover account that has $2000 available. All of these accounts have a zero balance.

On Experian I also have a fifth AU account that for some reason has never shown up with the other agencies. This account has a $9,000 credit limit and a very high balance. However, it is being paid off this statement (the check is already in the mail) and will have a near $0 balance when it updates to the CRA's sometime around August 26.

Now, I don't want to lose the ability to get a major credit card when the FICO scoring no longer considers AU's. This means there is a 33% chance that I will lose this account in September, and it is my ticket to a good major card. At the same time, I have the opportunity to get new 2007 Hyundai Sonata where my parents will give me between $10k-$12k to use as a down payment. I would need to finance the other half. I guess anyone doing financing will pull all 3 reports anyway, but I know my CU pulls Experian for credit card apps, so if they pull only one it will likely be Experian.

It boils down to this: I will have about 4 days where I will have a good FICO on Experian. I had planned on using those days to get 2 major credit cards to replace the 2 that will no longer count when the AU change hits. If I apply for two cards that pull Experian, then the next day apply for an auto loan, do you suspect the 2 inquiries from the previous day will significantly hurt me? Would you suggest I skip the credit card apps altogether? Or do you think that my credit union will likely pull all 3 reports anyway, so having a high Experian score won't help as much, or at all if Experian is still my highest score?

From experience I figure doing the car loan app first would likely kill my chances at landing a credit card, which is why I'm not thinking of that as an option.

I am really trying to make a wise decision here, so I would appreciate any and all advice that each and every fine CB member wishes to give.

Thanks,

Carol Anne

Additional info if it helps:
Scores and utilization from MyFICO.com as of 7/28 (all utilization will by 0-2% by late August):
TU: 709 (20%)
EQ: 680 (20%)
EX: 670 (81%)

Payments and negatives on report:
1 Judgment from 2002; 0 late payments on any account

Previous auto loan:
$6900, paid as agreed (December 2000)

Also, I have one new account that will likely show up between now and the time I take action ($200 Target Red Card).

If you have read this far, I love you!

No one's ever told me when this much celebrated Authorized User score change is actually going to take place.

None of the credit reporting agencies have announced a score card change, nor has any one my automotive lenders announced any impending change in the near future.

For consideration for an automobile loan, we discount any authorized user tradeline as they simply do not indicate fiscal responsibility on a consumer's behalf.

forgot to add, simply because of cross collateralization I would not apply to the same credit union for both credit cards and an auto loan or any other combined product(s). If you get credit cards at one credit union, either let the dealer get you the auto loan, or do it yourself at ANOTHER credit union.

Ah, "Cross collateralization" is a new term for me, but after looking it up it makes sense. Thanks for your advice.

FYI

All of my AU accounts recently dropped off of Experian. Not sure they are waiting until September. Experian's score at myfico dropped from 602 to 565. Experian's PLUS score, via creditexpert, dropped from 620 to 582. Experian dropped on True Credit from 583 to 522.