Whenever you see the word free, your eyes probably light up. After all, who doesn’t want something that is for free? Since you’re in the market for a car loan, it’s probably a great relief to see that you can get your credit report for free. However, it’s always important to exercise caution with these types of offers. How can you truly find your report for free?

Annual Credit Report

If you want to get your report for free and not become the victim of a scam, you really must go to annualcreditreport.com. This website, which is suggested by the federal government, allows all people to get a copy of their credit reports. As you can probably tell from the name of the site, you are entitled to this report once every 12 months. It’s smart to not pull your report too much anyway because it might make your score drop.

Other Websites

Yes, some other websites might claim that they are able to provide you with your free credit report, but it’s rarely the case. Credit reports are very official, and you want to go through an agency that is official as well. At first glance, other sites might seem to be offering you free reports. However, as you investigate them, you’ll likely see that you will eventually be charged.

What To Do

So let’s say that you are looking into taking out a car loan to buy a car with bad credit soon and you’re nervous because you can’t get your credit report. Ultimately, the car dealership is going to look into your credit score anyway, so you do not necessarily need to see it before hand. If you want to get an idea of where your credit stands and for how much you are going to be approved, opting to get a pre-approval is a very smart idea.

So many people are trying to figure out how to get their free credit report, and now you are a person who knows the secret. To review, you should:

• Use annualcreditreport.com because this is the site that the government recommends for free credit reports.
• Be careful about using any other sites because they might scam you or eventually charge you money.
• Understand what the possibilities are if you aren’t eligible for a free credit report right now.

Once you have obtained your free credit report, you’ll surely have a better idea of where you stand before you apply for an auto loan.