Buying a car?

Question

I'm upside down on my current car but have to get ried of it because I have put way more into then it is worth. I'm around 5, 620 upside down. I have a mercury cougar 2000. I'm looking at a 2005 ford focus, I'm curious how far this dealer can go to help me & how much my insurance would change. On my cougar I am paying monthly payments of 141 a month (lucky I know) but will this extra upside downess I'm unsure how bad my payments will be - any ideas?

I know its going to be more $$$ but I have spent about 3,500 grand on that car fising it in the last year, I can't trade down my car is worth nothing :( - I refuse to get another car that is going to cost me $$$ every 2 months to get it fixed

ha ha, no I love my car it was really nice but it has over 107000 miles on it and there is quite a bit wrong with it :( It was my first car & i hate to see it go but I can no longer afford its reapir bills (im a student) everytime I get it fixed its at least $800 :(

I have no time for 2nd job - I am a full time student & I have a full time job, & when I'm not at work or school I'm studying while babysitting to make more $$

Answer 1

Unfortunatly you are going to take a loss if you trade. If you bought a new car and traded your you would probably get what you owe on your old car paid off and probably $500 down on the new car. All that money you put into your car is lost. It depends on the dealership as to what deal you can get. As far as payment on a new car, it will depend on your credit and other factors. The better your credit, the better finacing percentage you will get. Look for a new car payment to at least start at $300. More if you don't get a good trade/down payment. Your insurance will also go up. At least it has for me whenever I bought a new car. The new car is worth alot more than your old car, therefore if something happens to it and it is totalled out in an accident it costs more to pay it off than it would an older car.

Answer 2

If you were looking at a higher range of cars I would say that the dealer has plenty of lee-way to eat up some of what you're upside down. For example, if you were trading into a Ford Explorer, they probably could come $5000+ off the MSRP. For a $40k vehicle that would be 12%. You'd still be upside down because the fact that new vehicles depreciate, but it still wouldn't be the worst scenario.

With the 2005 Focus there won't be as much room to negotiate. If the Focus cost 10,000 and the dealer came off the price by 12% as in the previous example, you'd still only be reducing the sticker price by 1200, not a big difference.

I would hang on to your car a while longer and when you're not making repairs, double and triple the payments. At $141 per month, it would take 40 months of principal alone to eat up the negative equity in your car. I'm sure you actually owe longer on the car since that doesn't include true car value and interest. I hate to say it, but you owe way too much on a 2000 POS Mercury, and going upside down on another car with a less than stellar track record of maintenance issues won't get you into a better position.

Answer 3

Think USED car. Buying a new car will only add to your problems. Also is you current car a lease or did you buy it?

If it is a lease, then keep it until the end of the lease and turn it in. If you own the car (minus what you owe on it). Then you have two choices.
If it is still drivable, then drive it until you pay it off (or you financial situation improves).
If it is not drivable and requires work, find out how much the repairs will be. If the repairs are less then the pay out price (how much you owe on the car), then financially your best option is to repair the car. If the repairs are more then what you owe, then pay off the car and then sell it.

If you don't have the cash on hand to do either option, then look for another source of cash (can you borrow money from somewhere else). Going to a dealer to solve this money problem is a bad option, the dealer will setup the financing to get you in a new car and pay off the old one, BUT the term will be very bad. You will be so upside down on the new car that if anything happens to it (like an accident) you will be stuck. Talk to a finance adviser. There are probably some financial advisers in your area (check on-line or in the phone book) that may be free or low cost ($50) that may be able to help you understand your options.

Answer 4

Check out daveramsey.com. He is a financial planner who deals with your exact problem a LOT. His recommendation is that you sell the car immediately for as much as you can get for it which being a 2000 Mercury cougar is not going to be a lot. You then have the debt which you still owe on. His recommendation then is that you get a second or third job and use that income to pay off your debt.
And of course your question is what do I do for transportation today. Depending on where you live I'm guessing you have a public transportation system. If you do not, then a less than $1,000 car should do fine for you until you are back up and going. PAY CASH(check) FOR THIS CAR OR DO NOT BUY IT!!! Don't buy from a dealer, but out of the paper.
I know it's not what you want to hear, but this is the best way to get yourself out of this trouble that you dug yourself in. Nobody ever said doing the right thing is easy.
Never buy a car you can't pay cash for!!!!

Answer 5

Let's look at this situation rationally....you want to roll an additional $5,620.00 into another car just because the car you already own isn't worth what you put into it? Are you completely insane?? You do realize that if you do this by this time next year you will be driving a three year old vehicle that you owe $8,000.00 more than it's worth? What if you wreck it and it is unrepairable? I'll answer that --- the JUDGE will order you to pay the difference. What if the transmission falls out the next year? What if you decide you just HATE that car but you are stuck with it for four more years? This is madness. Get a second job, pay another $6,000.00 on your present car to dig your way out of this $hit-hole before you drown.

Answer 6

You are not making the situation any better by trading cars. If you want to improve your situation, you will either keep the car you have and continue to make the payments, or trade DOWN. Find a very cheap car that will not require you to make payments and finish to pay off the debt you already have.

Answer 7

yo ali, take it fom ur bud/weight loss partner, buying a ford (any kind of ford) aint make matters any better. comes a point wer u gotta bite the proverbial bullet. ur at that point my dear. chalk it up as lesson learned, we all been there. (take it from this old fart, been there a cuple times). anyways, ur gonna take a loss anyway u look at it. buying another car isnt ur answer. u may have to bus it for a while, life sux but car suck worse. tradin in ur cougar is a very short term fix with LOOONNNGG term negative and $$$ consequences. either that or move up to chicago and we can carpool AND resist McD's together.
AL

Answer 8

Repair the Cougar and when you have that car paid off you can buy a Focus.

Answer 9

why on earth do u want a ford focus... its going to burry u further in a hole...get an import

Answer 10

are you switching cars due to vanity?
or is it mechanical?