Do you have a question about consumer credit? You may find an immediate answer by using the search engine. If you can't find what you're looking for, please fill out the form, being as specific as possible.
Please note: The Ask Experian team cannot respond to each question individually. However, if your question is of interest to a wide audience of consumers, the Experian team will include it in a future column.
Our policies
The information contained in this column if for educational purposes only and is not legal advice.
You should consult your own attorney or seek specific advice from a legal professional regarding
your particular situation.
Please understand that Experian policies change over time. Column responses reflect Experian policy at the time of writing. While maintained for your information, archived responses may not reflect current Experian policy.
Credit Advice
Topics addressed on February 29, 2012:
Inquiries for multiple car loan applications cannot be removed
Dear Experian,
While looking for a new car the auto dealer shopped the best rate for a loan, generating seven or eight hard credit inquiries, which have dropped my score. Can I have these hard inquiries removed?
- DRL
Dear DRL,
Because the law requires that your personal credit report list all organizations that have requested it, the inquiries cannot be removed.
However, most credit scoring systems allow people to shop for the best rates on car loans without having any significant negative impact on their credit scores. Today, credit scoring systems count all inquiries for auto loans within a given period of time, usually around 14 days, as a single inquiry.
Car dealerships often send your application to multiple lenders at the same time in a process called “shotgunning” to find the best loan terms. As a result, lenders compete for the loan and the consumer benefits by getting the best rates and finance terms available to them.
If the drop in your score was in fact due to the loan application with the auto dealer, it should have had the same impact, whether there were eight inquiries or just one.
It is also important to be aware that the impact of inquiries decreases over time, so your credit scores should rebound fairly quickly, assuming there are not other issues with your credit history.
Thanks for asking.
- The "Ask Experian" team