Should I turn in my car?

Question

I recently filed bankruptcy. I have the option of keeping my car or surrending it. I am only behind one payment of $400. However, the car is a 2003 Nissan Altima with 75, 300 miles. It needs a little work: a tune up and an oxygen censor. It also has a lot of body damage, about $750. My interest rate is very high and I still owe $14, 212. I am scheduled to pay 56 more payments, another 4 years and eight months. Should I just surrender the car? I have about $3000 that I can use to buy a used car. I also live in a small city. I only live about three miles from my job and our city has a public transportation system I can use until I buy another car. I have to turn over the car immediately if I am going to. What should I do? I can afford to make the payments on the car. But, I think I should get rid of it and wait a year or two to get my credit better, it is currently 550, before financing another car. What do you think? I've made every payment on time, except one, in the 1 1/2 year.

My bankruptcy is already discharged. Something happened where they didn't receive the reaffirm paperwork, but since I "voluntary" kept paying I guess they didn't bother me. Then, they called yesterday to see what my intent was. I told them I needed to think about it after understanding that I still owed $14, 000.

Answer 1

from what you cite ... dump it.

and don't finance another car, ever. Buy used. Your target seller is elderly, possibly the widow of a man who recently died. Their cars tend to have had good maintenance with fairly low miles -- and thus are bargains. {I got a 10 year old Oldsmobile with only 60k miles on it for under $3,000 and it had been dealer maintained!!}

you need to keep expenditures LOW.

Answer 2

You may have a problem but not really sure because I don't know how the new bankruptcy laws are structured. However, under the old bankruptcy law when you filed you stated with your filing the debts you wanted canceled and reaffirmed those that you would keep.

The reaffirmation is part of the filing whether or not the creditor was properly served. If you continued making payments, and now after the discharge you default or voluntarily surrender the property you open yourself up to a deficiency, the creditor will sell the car at auction, and if he only get say $1,200.00 he can demand the deficient $13,012.00 from you and the bankruptcy can't protect you because this will occur post bankruptcy filing. In other words, you are going to have to deal with a debt that should have been taken care of in the bankruptcy.

If not too much time has passed since your discharge it might be possible to reopen your bankruptcy to take care of this matter. Check with your lawyer.

You should have voluntarily let the car go during your bankruptcy. Since you are so upside down in your financing the creditor probably would not have bothered to take possession of the car.

Answer 3

If the car is covered under the bankruptcy, and since your credit is going to take a hit anyway I would surrender it from the condition you describe it is only worth around 7k. Question is with the new bankruptcy laws will you still be paying on it? Bankruptcy will remain on your credit for 10 years, so I do not believe in 1 - 2 years your credit score will be better than what you have now.

Answer 4

Get rid of the car, it's sucking you dry. Buy a used car, save your money and start building your credit back up. Holding onto that car will only make things worse. That payment is going to outlast that car, and then what?

Answer 5

It sounds to me like you could do without a car, and in your financial situation I would highly recommend it. Cars are a huge expense. Even if you can make the payments, you also have the costs of fuel, maintenance, and insurance. If you live so close to your job and can use public transportation to get around, do it!

Answer 6

Auto finance is what I do for a living and from what you say you are around $4,000.00 to $5,000.00 upside down in this car.

I would let it go back if I were you.

Once your bankruptcy is discharged you can use your $3,000.00 for a down payment and get approved for another car with no problem at all.

Answer 7

dump the car and use transportation to go to work.
save some money beside the 3000 and believe me in a year or two u can buy a car in cash or at least pay most of it in cash and enjoy being debt free...
Good Luck

Answer 8

keep the car