I just had a test drive on Civic at Rohrich Honda. After the test drive, I asked the sell price for this car. The sales man and manager said they first need to know my payment option. I said I would finance part of this vehicle.
Then they tried to persuade me to fill a credit report application. The salesman claimed that it was a soft pull and would not hurt my credit score. Even though I asked him again, he still insisted it was a soft pull. This is my first year at United States, so I believed their claim and gave them my SSN.
However, when I came back home, I checked on Credit Karma. It clearly showed that there was a hard inquiry issued by Rohrich Honda. I send an email to the salesman and asked for their explanation, but he still insisted that it was a soft pull.
Here are three reasons I think about:
1. Credit Karma is wrong. The hard inquiry is actually a soft pull.
2. The finance manager and salesman think it is easy to deceive a student who only stayed at United States for 1 year.
3. The finance manager and salesman are totally unprofessional. They don't know the difference between hard pull and soft pull.
Hope first one is the reason.