Don’t Know Your Credit Score? Don’t Go to the Dealer Yet

If you have no idea what your FICO (credit) score is, don’t even step foot on the lot of a car dealer. There’s no sense in spending all day looking at and test-driving cars only to get to the finance manager’s office and find out that your credit score isn’t good enough to qualify for financing. Plus, knowing what your credit score is beforehand might help you get financing through a private lender, which might get you a better interest rate than the dealer can give you.