What “Soft inquiry” means
A soft inquiry is a look at your credit file that is not tied to a credit application: checking your own report, a lender pre-screening you for an offer, an employer or landlord check, and most “see if you pre-qualify” tools on lender and dealer sites. Soft inquiries are visible to you but not to other lenders, and they do not change your score.
A hard inquiry happens when you actually apply for credit and the lender pulls your file to decide. Hard inquiries can lower your score a little and stay on the report for a time. Scoring models treat several auto-loan inquiries inside a short shopping window as one, so comparing loans does not have to cost you points if you keep the applications close together.
How it shows up at the dealership
Dealerships generally run a hard pull as soon as you fill out a credit application, and some run it with several lenders at once. That is normal for a real application, but it is not something to do on a first visit “just to see what you qualify for.” A pre-qualification on the dealer’s site is usually a soft pull; the form at the desk is usually a hard one. Ask which before you sign anything.
Your own pre-approval from a bank or credit union is a hard pull too, but it is the one that gives you a real rate to compare against.
What to do
- Check your own reports first (a soft pull) and fix errors before anyone else looks.
- Use pre-qualification tools to get a rough tier, then apply for real with one or two lenders inside the same two-week stretch.
- At the dealership, ask “is this a soft or a hard pull, and which lenders will see it?” before handing over the form.
- Do not let a dealer run your credit until you have agreed on the car and the price.
- Keep the whole set of applications close together so they count as one shopping event.
What to say
“Before I fill this out: is it a soft pull or a hard application, and how many lenders will it go to? I already have a pre-approval, so I only want one hard pull here.”
Also called: soft pull, soft credit check.
