<prompt> Human: So Im currently driving a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with 250,000 miles on it that Ive had since high school have driven back forth from Dallas to South Dakota for college, so safe to say its on its last leg. I found a 2011 Dodge Charger for 12,400 at a used car dealership was all in on buying it. This is the first dealership car Id have ever gotten, my current one is a 1200 Craigslist purchase. I didnt know anything about the process. My parents vaguely mentioned credit but were putting more emphasis on not letting the salesman manipulate me.So I show him the car I want, we test drive, Im happy, I was willing to put down a 2000 down payment pay the rest monthly, we do a little paperwork, then he says he was going to check my credit. I didnt think much of it. He comes back out the room wide-eyed goes Dude your credit is shit. I have a 412 credit score. He says itd be nearly impossible for me to get a loan with that, that I cant purchase majority of the cars on his lot. All that he offered me were some jalopys that were in worse condition than my Jeep for the 2000 I already had, I respectfully declined, he apologized, I left.So I have 2 questions:First, how the hell did my credit get so bad already what can I do to fix it? Other than student loans, I dont have any medical bills, never tried opening any accounts or cards, pay rent on time, dont have any child support or anything. Are student loans really that crippling? Im only about 14,000 in debt, as opposed to my parents who are 70,000 in debt yet buy new cars have a house with no problem. Youd have to rELI5.Second, what are my options as far as getting a new car? Im living comfortably off of a decent paying job, at least for a 20 year old in an apartment. Thered have been no issue with me paying the car note every month. From my understanding, Im not getting approved because they dont trust me to be able to pay off the car correct me if Im wrong. Like I said Im pretty new to this. So do I have ANY options other than settling with another Craigslist cash car?Anything helps. Thanks!Edit: Not sure if its unsafe to show this or whatever, but this is pretty much exactly what I expected. Just loans from each semester. I didnt think itd plummet my score this much.Edit 2: Pay these fucking loans. Got it! Thanks guys lol.  <response>: Doesnt sound like you have bad credit. It sounds like you have NO credit. You need to build some credit history to show that youre able to manage debt.The Charger isnt a great car. The salesman kinda did you a favor there. Also, you might want to look at makes other than Dodge This includes chrysler and most jeeps because the quality and reliability just arent there. If this is a long term vehicle, consider a different make. Finally, pay in cash. If you cannot pay for a car in cash and you have a running car, you really shouldnt buy the car. 