Car payment question -- could I do this?

[Mickey'snewestfan]

The only debt I've ever had is my car payment, which has been on an automatic plan since I bought the car. Each month the payment simply disappears from my bank account.

This month, however is problematic. We're moving in the middle of the month, so right now I have 2 security deposits going, plus I have moving expenses, plus the new place requires one to pay a full month's rent (I'll pay a 1/2 month's rent next month), so I'm paying 2 1/2 months rent. My "emergency" fund is really depleted, but will start growing again soon.

I have a big check coming in on the 15th (won a big award through work), but my car payment is due the 14th. I went online and checked and it said the due date is the 14th and that if I pay after the 29th there will be a late fee.

My question is, can I turn off the automatic payment for one month, and then schedule a non-automatic payment for the 16th and then go back in and start the automatic payment again in July.

Or rather, I know I can do that, the computer will clearly allow me to, but will there be some kind of consequence? Will it show up on my credit rating or make it harder to buy a car next time?

Thanks!

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

is your automatic payment something you have set up through your bank or is it a part of your loan? if it is through your bank I don't see an issue moving your payment off of auto pay for a payment.

Also you have to be way later than 2 days within your 'grace period' to have it show up on your credit report.

Just don't forget to have it paid since it sounds like you are going to be busy.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

It's through the loan, but it wasn't a requirement. The first time I went online to pay they offered the option and I figured it was a good idea, and went ahead and scheduled it.

I know that I can turn off the auto payment any time, and that I can just choose a date for my payment to go through -- I just didn't know if there would be an issue.

 

[deerhart]

no. They won't report until its late and it isn't late until the date they charge a late fee.

I always pay my one car loan after I get paid on the 15th. Its "due" on the 10th, but late on the 25th (15 day grace period)

 

[kathie859]

no. They won't report until its late and it isn't late until the date they charge a late fee.

I always pay my one car loan after I get paid on the 15th. Its "due" on the 10th, but late on the 25th (15 day grace period)

I believe that most lenders won't report a "past due" until a second payment is missed. Late charges are not reported to the bureaus.

 

[mrodgers]

I've had a mortgage for 10 years (2 mortgage companies.) I've had a car payment for 10 years (3 different banks.) I've had kids for 9 years. And I've had a wife who didn't work for 10 years.

All was good at low income, but around 2002-2003 is when the economy started to collapse for normal folks. It only collapsed for rich folks in 2008. During that 2002 period, my income nearly doubled due to a new position, but it was twice as hard to pay the bills because of expenses rising. Since then, income hasn't risen by much and expenses are rising even faster.

I hadn't sent a car payment or a mortgage payment on time since about that 2003 time frame. We sent them along with the late fees when we could. We are all caught up now, now that Wifey is back working again, but that was around 7 years worth of NEVER sending in mortgage and car payments in even by the grace period. There were times that we were 3 months behind when we received our income tax return and could catch back up to only being a few days late on grace periods.

Again, for 7 years, we had NEVER sent in payments by the grace period. Countless times we sent in payments 2-3 months late.

I had never seen my credit report. Just recently I went to the site to get a free annual credit report from all 3 agencies. I figured it was trash. I read through the reports and not a single late payment was reported. Again, this is after 7 straight years of NEVER paying on time.

I don't think I'd worry about it...

 

[aceys_h0ney]

Can you just change the date so you don't have to remember to get it straight again? Like change it to the 16th then if you remember change it back later? My finance company requries automatic bill pay but if I need to change that I can call and ask. It does have to be done 48 hours before the bill is actually set to come out of my checking. Make sure you don't wait too long to change it incase yours needs the advance notice also.

 

[ssawka]

Assuming you can turn off the automatic withdrawl, do you have a credit card you can put the payment on and pay it off at the end of the month to avoid interest? We do this all the time when paying off loans, we put it on our rewards credit card and then pay it off at the end of the month. That way we get the rewards, but don't have to pay interest.

 

[bumbershoot]

Call them and find out!

Also, remember that during that "grace" period, they are adding interest. When DH was in charge of the car payment, he believed strongly in that "grace" period...when I took over and started paying on time, the difference in interest charged for that month was amazing. When I started paying *early*, the difference in interest nearly made us cry.

I read through the reports and not a single late payment was reported. Again, this is after 7 straight years of NEVER paying on time.

I don't think I'd worry about it...

That is shocking to me, and very very unusual. You are lucky beyond belief. While I had a car lease, I had 3 times (one per car that I leased) when I arranged a later payment with them, and a few times it was just outside of the grace period. And each one was reported. I would never count on my lenders to be that kind and easy.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Can you just change the date so you don't have to remember to get it straight again? Like change it to the 16th then if you remember change it back later? My finance company requries automatic bill pay but if I need to change that I can call and ask. It does have to be done 48 hours before the bill is actually set to come out of my checking. Make sure you don't wait too long to change it incase yours needs the advance notice also.

I haven't called and spoken to them, but I don't think I can do that. I think that if I pay automatically it will come out on the due date.

 

[Swimalie]

Turn it off and don't turn it back on. You shouldn't give someone access to your bank account anyway. If you want an automatic bill pay type of thing, do it through your bank, not through the lender.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

Usually, stopping/starting an auto payment is not an instant thing. It usually takes one or two cycles to change. You can try to stop it, but it may still come out on the day it normally does. Good luck!

 

[luvsJack]

My mortgage was on auto pay. If I wanted to delay a payment, I just had to call within 15 days of the payment being deducted from my account. I usually went ahead and set up the later payment with them when I canceled the auto one but I didn't have to do that; I could have paid it online or mailed a check. And then after the payment was made I contacted them and set the auto pay back up again for the next month.

As long as you pay it within the grace period you will be fine.

Now I use online bill pay with my bank. I can go on once a month and set up payments to go out that month. That way I have a bit of control over the date the payments go out.

 

[tiggertabi]

I would agree about changing your payment to go through your bank instead of FROM the financing department. That way, the money is in YOUR control in situations like this. I thanked my lucky stars that I had this option earlier this year when my work accidentally forgot to put the auto-paycheck in. When I noticed, i was able to cancel the car payment for a couple of days right away. I think through the financing company, it's a lot more difficult.