Comments on: Getting Out of an Upside Down Car Loan

By: pat neeman

pat neeman — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:31:44 +0000

dont sign @auti loan 4 kids or anyone now we r in a spot van sits on deck loan was buoght out dont even know who has it daughter is driving a van she got @ AS COSIGNERS WE CANT DO ANYTHING WITH VAN SO IT SITS ON PATIO WITCH I CANT US HAS PUT STRESS ON FAMILY & I GET MAD EVERY TIME I WALK OUT MY DOOR & SEE VAN ON PATIO THIS SITE DIDNT REALLY HELKP ME NEED HELP FIGURING OUT WHOS GOT LOAN WHATS OWED &WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THE PROBLEM VAN I NEED HELP

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 06:19:57 +0000

Jim, before you settle with the insurance company from the accident, look into what they owe you for depreciation of value due to the repairs. I don’t know a lot about it, but if you have someone you can go to for legal advice, they should be able to help you out. I believe you can pursue that up to two years after the accident.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:03:11 +0000

There needs to be legislation set up to stop these crooked dealers from financing a car for more than it’s worth. I purchased a 2007 Hyandai for $24K (the biggest mistake of my life). A month after I bought it, I had some idiot blow a redlight and t-bone me. The car was repaired but, when I tried to trade it in last month, I was told that It’s worth NOTHING because of the accident. I owe $12,000 for a car that’s worth nothing. Any suggestions?

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:23:46 +0000

Unfortunately, we have no easy fix. We’ve been paying the $500 a month payments and now we are upside down about $6K. Our plan is to use our tax return and a small personal loan to pay off the difference, sell the Blazer, and buy a $5K Dodge Grand Caravan (we can get a 2005 or older, probably). That way we get safety and better gas mileage, and we will save about $400 a month in car payments.

So, there’s no easy fix. We’re having to eat the $5K, but we’ll save $400 a month for the next 4 years, so we’re still coming out better. Good luck with your car, this has been an impossible situation for us and like I said, we’re having to just bite the bullet and take the hit to get out of it.

By: angelb

angelb — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:37:29 +0000

Rachel, did you ever work something out for your situation? I am in a very similar situation I need to get something done fairly quickly. I am approx $10k upside down in my Tuscon. I have a rare bone disease and need a vehicle that sits up higher (like a truck) so financing a cheap used car is not really an option for me. I am now one month behind on my payments and afraid they will repo any day now. Please help, I am open to any advise out there.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:26:48 +0000

Please help! We are upside down in a Blazer to the tune of $10K minimum. We can’t just sell it and finance the difference. We have 4 kids in carseats, so I literally MUST drive a big car. The reason we have our stupidly expensive Chevy is because our beater van DIED on the freeway and stranded me and my 4 kids. Not cool, and yes, we got screwed at the dealership because we were panicked. So we can’t sell it, eat the $10K and buy a $2K beater car because that is the car the kids ride in. HELP ME! Our $490 payment is KILLING US.

By: matttttttttttttt

matttttttttttttt — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:51:02 +0000

Adam,

Frugal dad is saying you go to your local credit union and take out an unsecured personal loan for the difference in the selling price of the car and what you owe on it. Then you go to your financing company with the enough money to get the get the title, which you can then turn over to the new owner.

i havent actually tried this method for getting a car unloaded, but i’ve been giving it some thought for a few months now. I need to know it works for sure before i do anything.

the other end of it is that you need to find a reliable car for as freakin cheap as you can, something that won’t require much work, that if the tranny does crap the bed doesnt require you import your parts from Uzbekistan, and is mechanically simple enough that practically any backyard mechanic can fix.

it sounds kinda risky, and i think it is, but if something does go wrong with the car (which probably will happen) hopefully the repair costs are less than the amount you were upside down in the first place.

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:24:10 +0000

What Frugal Dad says may have some merit, but I think he forgot one minor detail in his advice giving. When you take out a car loan to buy a car, who gets the title? You?–No. The bank who offered the loan does. And, in order to sell your car to someone else you will eventually need to obtain that title from that bank. So, I’m not sure how one would even try to sell a car that they don’t have the title for if they are selling it for less than they owe on it unless they have the means to pay any remaining difference once they got an offer from a buyer.

By: Seven Ways to Ruin Your Financial Future | Frugal Dad

Seven Ways to Ruin Your Financial Future | Frugal Dad — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:00:53 +0000

[...] in a couple years I had made virtually no dent in the residual payoff balance leaving me with an upside car loan, or lease in this case. I had exceeded the maximum allowed mileage and sustained the usual dings [...]

By: The Frugal Home Mortgage Calculator

The Frugal Home Mortgage Calculator — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:05:44 +0000

[...] debt payments to stay under the 36% rule. A couple credit card payments and/or a significant car payment could easily push them over the 36% [...]