Comments on: How to Escape a High Interest Car Loan with Negative Equity

By: NjT

NjT — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:15:45 +0000

Hello,
I have a 2006 Mustang GT that I purchased a little over 2 years ago. I have only 19,000 miles on it. As of now I owe $28,154 on it. I was told that the value now on my vehicle is only worth $14,500. My monthly payments are $602.00. How in the heck can I get out of this freakin bind? Ford really did me dirty, and put me in an upside down situation. Do you have any advice or suggestions what I should do? Or should I suck it up and keep paying all that money until I get some equity on it and then trade it in with some money down also? But I know by then my car will be worth nothing and I will be losing out in it all. I just want out of this high payment for the next four years…

Thanks!

By: autum

autum — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:14:34 +0000

hello,
i was just wondering if anyone could help me with my situation. i bought a dodge grand caravan a couple years ago, anyway i owe 14,000 on it and its book value is only 7,000.. i have tried to trade but seem to get no where with it . does anyone have any advice? my credit score is great . i just dont understand..

By: Jeff G.

Jeff G. — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:57:17 +0000

Hello,

Ok, I own a 2007 Hyundai Entourage Limited that had a $32,000 sticker plus with TT&L, extended plan, 10.49% financing for 72 months and no down…I’m paying $600. a month for 6 years. I recently went to trade for something sportier and better on gas and was told with the banks not releasing credit easily (my credit score is 690) and my negative equity…they recommended I wait another 2.5 years. I’m 2 1/2 years into a 6 year note. Here’s the kicker: remember I stated the Entourage was $32,000 on sticker 2 1/2 years ago, well ….the POS is only worth $12,000 just 2 1/2 years later in a trade-in value. My payoff is a little over $25,000. and that translates to $13,000 of negative equity. I will never ever ever ever own another Kia or Hyundai based on their depreciation of $20,000 in 2 1/2 years.

Any suggestions????? Thanks!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:02:38 +0000

I bought a 2007 Ford F-150 last year for my job which I no longer have as I was layed off. I own $27,000 on it and want to get out of it. If I sell it privately I might be able to get $22,000 for it, I basically I can’t afford the payments every month on it and am borrowing money on an overdraft just to make payments.

my wife has a Kia Spectra which is payed for.

should I try and sell it and just deal with the remainder balance on loan or try and trade it in somehow. my credit score is around 750

By: L S

L S — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:05:46 +0000

PLEASE HELP, I’M IN A CAR CONTRACT WITH DRIVETIME AUTO THE CAR IS A CHEVY IMPALA 2004, IT’S WORTH $5,000. THE DEALERSHIP IS ASKING FOR $15,000 FOR THE VEHICLE AND $8,000 IN INTEREST FOR A TOTAL OF $23,000. I’VE HAD THE CAR FOR 1 YEAR I’VE PAID $5,000 ON THE LOAN. THE CAR HAS OVER 100,000 MILES ON IT, PLEASE HELP. I HAVE NOT STOP THINKING ABOUT THE MISTAKE I MADE BY SIGNING THIS LEASE. I’M SURE THE DEALERSHIP THREW A BIG PARTY RIGHT AFTER I LEFT.

By: mnc

mnc — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:57:23 +0000

Monica, I would start by suggesting that you order a free copy of your credit report from at least one of the credit reporting agencies. Take a look at all of the accounts to ensure that everything is valid and reported accurately.

The reason that you want to do this is because it seems like a rather drastic drop if your only negative items are the 60-day past due on the auto loan. Are there any other negative marks on your credit report? You mentioned that you recently became a single mother so you want to make sure that all accounts with your ex have been closed and/or paid off.

Where did you check the trade in value on your car? In this area, 2006 Altimas are often going for $16k to $20k depending on condition and mileage.

By: Monica

Monica — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:49:32 +0000

I purchased a 2006 nissan altima in May of ‘06. My loan was for 24,000. I did not put a down payment on the car, which I know now was a big mistake. I pay 495.05 a month with a 13% interest rate. I am struggling extremely bad to make these payments I currently am 60 days past due. The reason I am behind in payments is due to fact that I have recently became a single mother. And I have also been paying for collision repair on the car. I called my finance company yesterday to request a payoff and the amount was 21,000. I also checked the trade in value which is only at 10,000. My credit has also taken a big plunge due to me being past due on the loan constantly. When I purchased the car my credit score was at 600, now it is at only 399 what happened?? Any suggestion would be helpful!

By: Erika

Erika — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:15:59 +0000

I own one car, a 1998 Honda Prelude with 127,000 miles. I also have another car, a 2005 Acura RSX with 34,000 miles. I owe approximately $15,000 on the Acura. I need a larger car as I’m expecting a baby in October. The Acura dealership is willing to buy back my car, and with the money left over from the extended warranty, I could be free and clear with no negative equity on the car (i.e. pay off my loan).

I’m looking to buy a 2005 Honda CR-V. The ticket price is $18,900. The salesperson said that he could sell me the car with both trade-ins and lower my monthly payment from $400 to $300 a month.

Would it be better to sell both cars a start fresh? Or would the trade-in deal be better? Several people have told me to sell the Prelude on my own, but I’m very limited with time right now –and, more importantly, quite honestly, I don’t really trust myself to sell it (I’m afraid that I’m going to make some wrong move and get a bad check or get scammed).

I also thought about selling the Acura and keeping the Prelude, but I need reliable transportation because I drive about 2 hours round-trip per day for work. The Prelude is in great condition, but it will eventually need a lot of work on the transmission.

My credit score is good (714), but my debt to income ratio is high (a little less than 50%).

Additional info: The car loan company that currently holds the Acura loan will also finance the Honda.

Last question: My husband’s credit is non-existent because he has never paid rent, had a credit card, or had steady income. He cannot get approved for a credit card. He has a job though and makes more money than I do. Should I include him on the loan to help him/us establish credit? Or should I continue to have only my name on it?

By: Jamie

Jamie — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:25:29 +0000

Lost and desperately needing advice. My husband was stationed in Hawaii and while there traded in our Chyrsler Mini Van for a V50 Volvo and in doing so added a good 10K on to the already astronomical price of the Volvo. Here we are a year later with a house to pay for (which is being rented) an apartment to pay for, another car ( Honda 03 low miles thanks to living in Hawaii, we are in Ga now). Our problem is this: the two cars are draining us literally. We are struggling to pay our bills and not succeeding. My husbands credit has suffered greatly (very low 500’s) and we just don’t know what to do about this car. He has tried to trading it on something cheaper, even trading both cars in for something cheaper…no luck! Is there ANY possible way out of this hole?? I think the pay off on the Volvo is like $34K and it has almost 20,000 miles on it. We’ve even tried selling the Honda outright just so we’ll only have one payment but the pay off on it is like 14,000 and no one is willing to pay that much for an 03 even though it only has 20,000 miles on it.

ANY Advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

By: Shane

Shane — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:50:46 +0000

So I thought it’d be cool to buy a 50k truck that the dealer put about 13k in extras on (ie lift kit, wheels, etc). I put minimal cash down. I’ve had it for a year now and the current pay off is at 50k right now. My payment is huge and I’d like to get into a more economic and practical vehicle. It was fun to have a big truck but I’m over it now and stuck with a lot of negative equity. KBB and Edmunds say trade in is about 33k and NADA says about 36k. I have about 7k I can put down with a credit score of over 720 right now. I could possibly have a couple thousand dollars I can negotiate with right since it does have all the cool after market stuff on it? ROUGHLY that leaves me with 9-12K negative to deal with. I was thinking about maybe trying to roll that onto a smaller car costing maybe about 20K and paying about 30k in total. Would a bank finance more than a auto is worth? What should I do? I know I can refinance but then I have a huge freakin TANK I never like to drive anymore. Thanks for any advice!