Comments on: Upside Down Car Loans: Eight Simple Steps To Get Out Fast

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:09:44 +0000

I love you

By: Melis

Melis — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:18:19 +0000

your credit is affected because you haven’t made your payments on time but a car repo, voluntary or involuntary (same thing!) is horrible on your credit.

By: Sad-broke

Sad-broke — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 04:37:14 +0000

Question: I have had a car loan for over 5 years, and I am totally upside-down in this loan, I have a $502 a month payments, I bought the car from a dealer for $21,000 used and put $2,000 down. I have made all the payments up until 3 months ago, when my income disappeared unexpectedly. I still have a payoff of $7,000 and the blue book on the car is $4,500. I am 2 months behind on my payments and the auto finance company is threatening “repossession”. My credit is already bad from this loan, so would it not be better to simply voluntarily return the car to the dealer instead of not making the payments and getting the car repo-ed? My parents have an extra car (that is fully paid for) they will let me use until I get back on my feet financially and increase my income again when I can buy a cheap used car. So, if I do this “turn in the car deal”, what is my exposure financially and will it solve my “not enough income” problem or will it cause some other unforeseen problems for me? Your answer would be greatly appreciated.

By: Tomas

Tomas — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:07:24 +0000

Great post, for me, I would rather buy a used car if consider the new car’s depreciation but if I have no other choice, upside down car loan would be better.

By: wade

wade — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:49:16 +0000

i had an explorer at 12 mpg, ugh, with ten k on it so i got a fusion at about 30mpg or so and ended up owing 16k, the car books at 8200. i will drive this thing until one of us dies, the payment is only 275 and it is the better motor and tranny.
if this thing quits i will haul it to the river and have an ACCIDENT!

By: Borrowing Money is the Same As Buying Risk

Borrowing Money is the Same As Buying Risk — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:56:23 +0000

[...] that I’ve been saving up and avoid the 2.99% interest, and any other fees associated with financing a car. However, that would leave me $18,000 less in savings. Do I care? [...]

By: Erik

Erik — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:36:13 +0000

Becoming upside down on a car loan is one of the most common financial mistakes. Money Crashers gets hundreds of hits a day from the posts we’ve written about being upside down. The best way to prevent this from happening is to pay cash for a used car or save up a huge down payment. Don’t do SIGN AND DRIVE!

By: Farouk

Farouk — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:52:26 +0000

thanks for these useful tips

By: Brad @ Jacksonville real estate

Brad @ Jacksonville real estate — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:24:41 +0000

You may actually be able to find a nice “beater”. I’ve started seeing 2000-2002 model cars in great condition with less than 120k miles for under $7k. Not quite the $2k beater. Cars like Toyota, Audi, Volvo, etc. Craigslist: use a search tool that will search multiple craigslist locations vs. just your city.

By: John DeFlumeri Jr

John DeFlumeri Jr — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:59:48 +0000

You may have to keep the current vehicle, finally pay it off and drive it 5 more years without having payments, that works too.

John DeFlumeri Jr