<prompt> Human: I financed a car through VW Credit and made sure there was no penalty for paying off early. When going into the dealership, I was optimistic about getting a good rate and building my credit with a loan. I come to find that I have a thin file too few lines of credit and despite having a great credit score, I couldnt get a rate better than 5. I have the cash to pay the car off, though the finance guy said its best to keep the loan open for 13 months to show I made payments for over a year. Is there merit to this?My plan would be to pay off all but monthly payment 13 to reduce the money lost to interest as much as possible. Is this the right approach?  <response>: No, dont pay interest to increase your credit. just get a credit card and pay it off every month. 