Pre-Qualification vs Pre-Approval

Pre-qualification (or "soft pull pre-qual") is an estimate based on a soft credit check — it doesn't affect your score, but the offered rate is not guaranteed. Pre-approval (or "hard pull pre-approval") involves a full credit check and provides a binding rate commitment for a specific loan amount. For car shopping, pre-approval is what you want — it gives you real leverage at the dealer. Most lenders will match credit pulls within a 14-30 day shopping window as a single inquiry, so apply to 3-4 lenders in the same week.