How many credit applications are too many? ?

In the cases of car loans and mortgages, the hard inquiries generated by multiple credit applications is consider as just one as long as you do all the applications within a couple weeks. It is obvious that your are loan shopping and not buying multiple cars or homes.

One is too many. You have already hurt your credit. Applying, even once, hurts your credit.

However, since the damage is already done, you might as well apply some more. If the applications are all for car loans and they occur within a short period of time, then applying more times does not hurt your credit more than applying fewer times.