i don't want to sell on my own, and it's not worth what i owe, what do i do?

Question

i just bought my car in october and my life just got harder. i can't afford to pay for it anymore, and i owe alot more than it's worth. i want to get out of this as easily as possible. i don't want to try to sell it myself because i know i will never get enough for it. the car is worth 8000 on a trade and i owe 11000. i need a car payment that is very close to 100 bucks a month, and would love no car payment at all. any ideas? (by the way, it's a 2002 mustang v6 with about 55000 miles)

i'm not at all behind, and i could afford it, no problem... but i'm afraid that i will be temporarily out of work with my company soon... probably for about a month... and that will put me 2-3 months behind on all my other bills. then, i just got a notice that in 2 months i will have to start paying off my school loans, which cannot be postponed any further, per company policy. (ever heard of an excel loan?) not only that, but being a mustang, i have gotten 2 tickets in the last 18 months that are causing me to owe 600 dollars in "driver responsibility assessment program" fees (this is a NY thing). maybe i don't have to sell it, but what else can i do... there's no work around here, i'm just tired of being behind and would like the luxury of that extra 200 bucks to fall back on...

Answer 1

you may have to stick it out---you couldnt sell it on your own if you wanted to,, the bank holds the title,,, your best bet is to try to refinace to a longer term

Answer 2

you should talk to your bank if you are having any trouble at all making the payments. i wouldn't do it unless you are more than a few days late (past your grace period). some will make exceptions for people going through hard times. you will get the most money selling on your own, cutting out the middle man, esp. if the car is in good condition. even though you stated that it is worth 8000 on trade and 11000 is what you owe, you will probably get something in between if you sell yourself. you could ask about refinancing, but from what you have said, it doesn't look like it would be a better deal unless you got a super cheap interest rate. if you traded it in, you would really get screwed because all they are going to do is tack what you owe onto the new car, which will be super crappy because you are going to have to get the cost down so low just to make the payment which is for both now.
here are two other options:
ask to borrow some money from someone with the understanding that it won't be paid back right away. then use that to pay your car down, then refinance or sell your car.
ask to borrow money to buy a cheap car.. you can find one that will take you where you need to be for less than 1000 sometimes way less. then sell yours and make payments on the remaining amount.
whatever happens don't get behind with your payments. it will ruin your credit, the car could be repo'd, and you won't be able to get a new one for cheap for a long time!

Answer 3

Sounds like you got into a jam. My advice is to sell it for as much as you can get (if it's worth 8k on a trade you may be able to get 9k private party) and eat the difference. Get something cheaper (used from a private party) and more gas efficient.

It won't be anything as nice as your mustang, but you've learned a hard but valuable lesson. I have a few friends who are in over their heads with car payments and gas prices. Meanwhile I have an older corolla (1994) that runs strong, gets 34mpg, doesnt break down on me, and I have no payments on. I'll keep it as long as it makes sence to.

I'd love to have a muscle car or a sports car right now, but im young and in school, my finances arent stable and neither are my circumstances. Financing a car is more for a person like my dad, who has a fixed income and will 10 years from now too.

Answer 4

k im taking it your a young guy whos car is real important to his credibility here, if im wrong i apologise, but if im right heres a way you might get out of it a little and ease pressure on yourself. first of all sell the car for the most you can get on it. once youve done that if for instance you get 7000 for it, take 1000 and buy an old car, and i mean old, then if you really want to impress just say you bought it as an investment restoration project, this will kepp you on the road, the other 6000 use as a one off payment to your car creditors thus lowering the debt you owe them and still letting you have a car, i dont know if this would be legal where you are and it would be worth checking out first just to be on the safe side, but if the worst comes to the worst, let the car go by reposession and save up to buy a cheap car as i explained, your friends will think its way cool tohave an interesting car, especially if you invite them over at weekends to help you restore it cooled by a few beers, if you know what i mean :)

Answer 5

so you are upside down on your car. If you trade it in, they are going to add the 3K to your new loan and the interest rate will probably be higher to boot. Are you sure you can't sell it yourself? I know you might not want to, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. If you could get 9 or10K then you would only have to come up with a grand to get out of the loan and then go looking for something cheap.

Answer 6

I sell cars for a living. In order to get a car for about $100 per month you would have to finance about $5000. Most auto lenders won't do this. If you can find one that does, just buy the car you want first, then just let the other one go back.

Answer 7

This is one of those life defining moments. I had a friend in the same positiion. He ended up paying on the car for six months after he got rid of it.

The absolute best that you can hope for is finding someone willing to take over the payments. You loose everything that you have in it, but you wouldn't owe any extra.

Answer 8

My advise is to either 1) try to sell it for as much as you can, 2) take it to a bunch of dealerships and ask them how much they will buy it off of you for. I've actually sold a car back to the same dealership that I bought it from. Trade-in value was $17500 and they paid me $18800 for it. They are always looking for nice cars to sell.

Answer 9

You can usually get more for it if you sell it yourself than you will on a trade in. I think you should sell it to a person and buy a used car with whatever money you get from it.

Answer 10

Burn it and collect the insurance.
Just kidding not alot you can do, sorry.