re: Credit Question

Don't worry about this overly much. The only way to really seriously ding your score is to be late on payments, file for bankruptcy, that sort of thing.

Having a high balance relative to your total credit available is a ding, but not a huge one.

As others have pointed out, in the long run it may help your score to finance your car. Your credit score generally increases not only when you borrow (and pay off according to the terms) but also by the type of account. All things being equal you are better off with both revolving and installment credit rather than borrowing the same amount of just one type.

Finally, as someone else already mentioned, with a 740 score you should just be able to pick up the phone and ask for an increase, then just not use it.