Community Chat

[Ainhisg]

I am thinking of purchasing a car. My credit reports are frozen.  Will a car dealership tell me ahead of time what company they use to check my credit score so that I can go ahead and have it thawed?  Or is there one reporting company that most car dealerships use?  Also, if done online, how long does it take for the freeze to be lifted, and do you get some kind of notice saying that it is?  TIA for all information!

[Group 5 minus 1]

Why are they frozen?

[sydsgma1]

I do not call mine frozen, but I have security on them, so that I have to give permission to have anyone use them. 

for me, it was an easy process..I had to answer my security questionsl

all the bureaus :Experian, etc have the same score.

it do not think it will be a problem.

[sunshine45]

think about how long it will take to begin looking and choosing and unfreeze your credit report for a week or so. once you purchase and get your loan approved, freeze your credit report again.

if you unfreeze it by phone or online, it should happen almost immediately. if you do it by mail, it will definitely take longer once they receive the request.

[on the bay]

@Ainhisg -

I was worried about that too. 

The car dealership said they usually use one but I think ask the dealership itself and let them know you have to unfreeze it.

I found 2 were easy to unfreeze and one was not (forget which one).

You are smart to try to find out which one they use.

@Group 5 minus 1 -

Everyone was encouraged to freeze their credit reports back a few years ago when equifax was hacked.

If you apply for credit or loans of any kind you have to unfreeze them.

[riley1]

I think the dealer I purchased my car from used Experian.

[Ainhisg]

@on the baythank you; your response was very helpful!

@Drythethank you so much for the warning! 

@riley1thank you!  I think I had read that this is the one most dealerships use, but I did want to see if anyone had direct experience.

[kaydee50]

DH has done this in the past.  Ask the dealership which one he uses.  Otherwise, do all 3.  Freezing/unfreezing a credit report is pretty quick.  Just remember your pin number.  And you can set the time limit for the report/s to be unfrozen--a day, week, etc.

[CelticCrafter]

@on the bay same thing here, 2 were easy to unfreeze and I don't remember which one was not.

[MamaWick]

We unfroze all 3 on the day we knew we were applying, and set it to expire and re-freeze in 24 hours.  Easy peasy.