Another Car Question!

[Darsa]

Wow, there've been a lot of car threads lately!

I have one; I don't know if there's anything that can be done but maybe someone can give me an idea.

My husband, about a year ago, bought our 2004 Chrysler Pacifica. It was bought for a ridiculous price, with a high interest rate (14%), and it really ISNT what we were looking for; we were hoping to find something to transport people and camping/hiking equipment in.

Anyway, long (and ANGRY) story short, we now owe almost $15k to Wells Fargo on this THING, and we don't want it anymore. Sure, it LOOKS really snazzy on the outside, great, wonderful. It's also sucking our bank account dry and doesn't do what we want it to.

Is there anything at all that we can do to salvage this situation? Our credit is NOT good so refinancing is not an option; we're working hard on it but as of right now there's no hope for a refi. I can't STAND to make that payment each month, and I just KNOW that something spendy's going to happen to it well before it's paid for. We currently pay just over the monthly payments (I round up each month).

I'm not looking for a scolding, or judging, or anything like that; I **KNOW** that purchasing this thing with INCREDIBLY stupid (and so does he, now).

Car dealers won't pay off a loan like that in order to sell us a cheaper car, will they? DH seems to think that we might be able to find something like that but it seems like it would be a silly thing for them to do!

Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts and ideas!

 

[mishasmom]

Wow, there've been a lot of car threads lately!

I have one; I don't know if there's anything that can be done but maybe someone can give me an idea.

My husband, about a year ago, bought our 2004 Chrysler Pacifica. It was bought for a ridiculous price, with a high interest rate (14%), and it really ISNT what we were looking for; we were hoping to find something to transport people and camping/hiking equipment in.

Anyway, long (and ANGRY) story short, we now owe almost $15k to Wells Fargo on this THING, and we don't want it anymore. Sure, it LOOKS really snazzy on the outside, great, wonderful. It's also sucking our bank account dry and doesn't do what we want it to.

Is there anything at all that we can do to salvage this situation? Our credit is NOT good so refinancing is not an option; we're working hard on it but as of right now there's no hope for a refi. I can't STAND to make that payment each month, and I just KNOW that something spendy's going to happen to it well before it's paid for. We currently pay just over the monthly payments (I round up each month).

I'm not looking for a scolding, or judging, or anything like that; I **KNOW** that purchasing this thing with INCREDIBLY stupid (and so does he, now).

Car dealers won't pay off a loan like that in order to sell us a cheaper car, will they? DH seems to think that we might be able to find something like that but it seems like it would be a silly thing for them to do!

Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts and ideas!

I know that they used to add any amount you were heavy (any amount owed over what it's worth) in your old car to the balance of your loan on your new car. I'm not sure if they're still doing that with the way they've tightened up their lending practices. But then you would owe more than your new car is worth, too. Maybe that would be worth it to you just to get out of your old car??

 

[AKL_Megs]

My DH has an '08 Impala that he wanted to trade in for an '09 Silverado. He still owes $15,000 on it, and the dealership only wanted to give him $8000 for his trade, so he would have had to foot the bill for the extra $7000 in the new loan. Not gonna happen! The dealerships blamed it on the CARS program, which is making the resale value of used cars less. (I think they are just plain stupid! They could have had a great car that they could have sold for upwards of $15,000 AND they could have sold a $30,000 truck! )

But anways, my point is, I doubt that Chrysler would be able to give you a better deal on YOUR trade.

Do you think you can sell it on the street for $15,000? Then in turn, you could purchase a cheaper, more sensible car? If you couldn't get $15k, could you get $12,000 for it? $10,000? If you could pay THAT much off, it would make your payments smaller, and maybe you could still get a cheaper, more sensible car AND balance BOTH payments until the Pacifica is paid off?

This is what I would do. If you REALLY need/want to get it off your hands, perhaps you could do this and say, go without cable or some other luxury just until you pay off the first car.

 

[dnoyes]

The only way a bank is going to let you roll a balance over to a new loan is if you have really good credit.

The only other option would be to buy a car considered "soft" on the market. You will end up in much worse shape than you're in now but I'll explain it to you just in case you still want to try.

Dealers go to auctions and can buy lease returns (that's what we call rental cars by the way) There are ALWAYS cars that can be bought for thousands of dollars back of low book because the market is flooded with that kind of car/suv. So if you owe $5,000 more on yours than it's worth it can be covered because the dealer bought the car so far back of book.

BUT it doesn't take long for the book values to catch up with the trend (low auction prices) and the value of your new car will fall like a rock and you will still owe a ton on it. It's the last step before a repo .....

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

It is possible but a longshot. Your best bet is to find a vehicle that has a high manufacturer rebate right now so that the rebate would offset the negative equity you have in the Pacifica. The highest rebates I know about (and these expire the end of August I believe) are with Jeep ($6500 on a Grand Cherokee) and Chrysler ($4500 on a Town & Country minivan). There are also additional rebates available through certain banks or if you are military (we got an extra $500 rebate on the Town & Country we bought last nite).

If you can come in with your own financing then you are MUCH better off than financing through the dealership. Go and talk to your bank or credit union and see if they can either refinance your current loan or approve a loan for a new vehicle. Do you have any cash you could put down for a down payment?

How many miles are on the Pacifica? What options does it have? You can look up the trade-in value on kbb.com or edmunds.com for an idea of what a dealership would offer you.

Good luck!

 

[scrapquilter]

If you did a private sale, would the car sell for anything close to $15K??????????
If so, sell it in a private sale, then take that $15K or however much you get and use that money to pay cash for some car that fits that budget.

If you don't get the full loan amount selling it, you are on the hook for the difference. Its definitely NOT a good idea to roll an outstanding loan balance into a new car loan because that will just make you upside down on the new car.

Is your credit good enough to get a low balance transfer rate on one of your credit cards? If you could transfer all or some of that $15K loan onto a credit card balance transfer at a lower rate, like 4.9% or something (even lower would be even better) that would save you a lot over the term of your loan, and maybe it would make you feel at least a little better as you pay off the Pacifica.

 

[mtemm]

not trying to take over the op's thread, but question...some people are suggesting she sell. how do you sell a car privately when you still owe money on the car? don't you need to pay the car off first so the title is clear?

 

[KathyTX]

Ouch... pretty painful situation here.

Looks like the dealer trade-in value on a 2004 Pacifica in good condition is going to be around $7000. If you owe $15K on it, that's an $8000 dollar gap between the payoff value to your lender and what the vehicle's worth to a dealer.

I don't think there's any financial hocus-pocus a dealer can do to roll that whole $8000 difference into a note on a more affordable car that would help you.

Have you looked into what you might be able to sell the car for in a private sale? Edmunds shows the retail value around $9000. Unfortunately, it looks like you're painfully upside-down with what you owe on this car any way you look at it. Sorry, I just can't see many options for you here!

 

[AKL_Megs]

not trying to take over the op's thread, but question...some people are suggesting she sell. how do you sell a car privately when you still owe money on the car? don't you need to pay the car off first so the title is clear?

Ooh... good point, LOL. I don't know what I was thinking!!!

 

[Starbrite]

Our credit is NOT good so refinancing is not an option; we're working hard on it but as of right now there's no hope for a refi.

I was in this same situation a few years back. I was young & dumb

I wanted this little red 2-door sports car soooo bad. I was even willing to pay an astonomical interest rate for it (I had awful credit). Fast forward 3 months....SURPRISE I'm pregnant. I tried like heck but there was no way that baby seat would fit in the back. I was upside down BIG TIME.

Anyways, my point is.... Are you sure nobody will refi for you? My local credit union refinanced at a rate almost 1/2 what I was paying. (I refinanced as soon as I found out I was pregnant). I paid the regular higher payments until the baby was nearly 6 months old. Then the gap was much lower & I found a dealer to roll it over on a new car. In the meantime, I borrowed mom's car for 6 months while she was sporting around town in my dream car

There's no quick fix. It took nearly a year, but I got out of that car. Of course the next car was immediately upside-down....but I kept it until it was paid off & I was officially out of the hole. You live & Learn

 

[Darsa]

*sigh* I think I might be stuck. BUT! I might possibly check with my credit union; they financed our other car (that I *DID* choose and haggle price over) at 4.75%. That WAS back when our credit was much better, so I'm not sure if they'll be able to help... but it looks like that'll be my only option other than sucking it up and calling it a lesson learned.

Thanks for the info, y'all!