Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with car and loan

What are my best options if I only need a car for a year or less?

frippsie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:34:03 -0800

My car lease is ending soon. I thought I wouldn't need a car for any longer than my lease terms. But now I do. What are my best options if I only need a car for a year or less? I only got this car because I accepted a job and moved to a city where a car is necessary for reliable transportation. I didn't expect to be here for longer than two years because my job is very stressful, and I see it as a stepping stone to something better. (I don't want to get sidetracked as to why I'm still here, but rest assured it's not the situation I want to be in.) I'm leaving my current job in a year's--or less--time. I would most likely be relocating to a place where I don't need a car at all.

However, I do still require reliable transportation for the rest of the admittedly indefinite time I am here. So should I get a new lease, buy out my current lease, buy a different car, or what?

Complications: I don't have the cash to buy my leased car outright--I'd have to get a loan. I don't want to be stuck with trying to unload the car in the middle of a lease or before the loan is paid off. Unfortunately, public transportation and walking/bike riding aren't good options for me. I do carpool sometimes, but I don't want to be begging rides 100% of the time.

I know this sounds a bit all over the place...that's why I hope AskMe can help me think about this more clearly, and hopefully offer some good suggestions! Thanks in advance.

Is there any way to estimate what a car & car insurance would cost me if I moved to San Francisco?

scazza — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:16:16 -0800

What are ways to estimate what a car and car insurance would cost me if I moved to San Francisco? I'm looking for what it would cost to have a reasonable, eco-friendly (not necessarily a hybrid, probably not a hybrid) car for 2 people in San Francisco. Something like a hatchback that's 1-2 years old. I live in NYC now so I have no idea how to go about estimating insurance and car loan payments. Resources? Thanks!

(There is a question about this from 2005, but I think things may have changed by now.)

Should I buy a car right now?

LolaGeek — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:07:31 -0800

Weighing the pros and cons of buying a car in the near future. Should I? (And if so, what should I get?) I have a 2002 Ford Focus with about 85,000 miles which was purchased used in 2003 and and paid off last year. My mom bought the car and the loan was in her name because I was in college at the time, but as soon as I graduated I started making the payments myself (still in her name). When it was paid off she transferred the title to me. On the way to the auto tag place, the car started doing this weird shaking thing and stalled out. I had that issue fixed, but it seems like ever since that day, little problems have cropped up every few months that involved replacing a worn out or broken something-or-other. If I'm going to trade in the car, I'd rather do it while it's still in relatively good shape, before something major happens to it.

Arguments for buying a car:
- It's probably an awesome time (economically) to buy a car.
- The end of the model year is coming up.
- Kelley Blue Book says I can expect to get a trade-in value of $2000+.
- I have a bit of money saved up, and could make a decent down-payment.
- My credit score is over 720.
- I can get a vehicle loan from my credit union at 3.99% APR for 1-24 months or 4.99% APR for 25-60 months.

Arguments against buying a car:
- My current car isn't really that old or in too bad shape.
- It sure is nice not having that $200 payment every month.
- Even though my credit score is good, I have very little history. My current car was paid in my mother's name, and my husband's name is the only one on the mortgage for our house. The only credit things I have in my name are a credit card (paid in full every month) and my student loan (small).
- My company is getting bought by another company, and even though nobody knows what's going to happen in the future, I could possibly be laid off in the next 3 months-2 years.

Sub-question: For years I've been saying my next car would be a hybrid, but now that I'm really looking into them, I don't know if the increase in price is worth the potential savings in gas. Then again, I'm all for saving the environment. But I hate losing trunk space to a battery. Any opinions on getting a hybrid vs. just getting a newer Focus? (Also, Ford is currently offering a $1500 rebate of some sort, but it looks like that deal is ending August 3...)

Best way to improve credit with car loan?

willy_dilly — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:48:59 -0800

Best way to improve credit with car loan? My current credit score is sub-par due to carelessness with credit cards when I was in college. I'm about to purchase a car for the very first time and is looking into financing it to help improve my credit score. The car costs $37k and I plan on putting down $15k, finance the rest off a 60 month term, and then paying everything off by the end of the 12th month to minimize interest.

As I mention earlier my credit is bad and I got approved for 9.5%, which is completely fine since I'll be paying the entire thing off after the 12 month. What I want to know is if 12 months is long enough to have a positive effect on my credit. I was told that 10 months is enough but I want to do a whole year to be safe. Another thing I would like to ask is whether it will help improve my credit if I increase my loan amount by decreasing the down payment to $10k only.

My current score is 660, after I pay off the car loan, can I expect a significant bump in my credit score? After I pay off my car loan and hopefully increase my credit score, I plan on getting a personal loan to mix up my loan portfolio. Will that improve my credit also?

Is this wise / How unwise is this?

dance — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:52:50 -0800

Should I take out a car loan? I live in an expensive country but it looks like I'm about to get a steady job with a decent salary. My partner too. We're about to make the move from student style living to normal life and I want to finally buy a decent car that will last a while. But I'm not sure if taking out a loan on a car is a good idea, especially when the car won't increase in value. Can anyone advise? Especially with regards what rules of thumb there are for car loans...I read somewhere above a certain percentage + number of years means the whole thing becomes extremely ill-advised, but under that percentage it's okay.

Obviously the best thing would be to pay for the whole car with saved up cash - but to do that I'll have to wait a lot of years.

Is paying off an $11k auto loan with a credit card a bad idea?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:31:28 -0800

Tricky car loan situation. I'm thinking about paying off the remainder of a car loan with my credit card. Is this a bad idea? My boyfriend and I have spent over a year trying to figure out the best way to get his car officially titled in his name. He's had the car since 2003 (new) and has been faithfully making (loan + insur.) payments on it. However the loan is completely in his ex-girlfriend's name (and he is listed on her auto insurance). The bank is the title holder, which means that the loan needs to be paid off in order for her to get the title and transfer it to us.

We both have really good credit (mine is over 800, his is above 675), but we also both have significant student loan debt. Consequently, we have repeatedly been turned down for a loan necessary to pay off the ex's car loan (so that she can receive the title and sign it over to us).

Here's the solution I came up with the other day:
1. Draft a contract stating that I will pay off the loan with the bank. When that occurs and the ex receives the title, she will sign it over to my bf (essentially selling the car to him for $1). We all sign.
2. I will draft a second contract, between bf and I, stating the terms of paying back the loan. We both sign.
3. Bf will register and insure himself and the car here in this state (CA), ex-gf will remove him from insurance policy, etc.

I am comfortable taking on this much debt ($11k at 11.99% APY). The car loan rates we were quoted were not any better frankly. My credit card limit allows for this purchase. Also, fyi, the car is not worth nearly that much, but its very reliable. He definitely needs to hold onto it for work, etc.

Leaving the situation as-is is not an option. The current loan is absolutely terrible. He is unable to register or insure the car in this state, or in his name. Its risky to have this situation go on with this sort of liability; I can't legally drive the car ever, and if anything happens to him or the car, it screws over his ex-girlfriend. We'd like to not make this her problem, and just get everything legit.

Is there anything wrong with this plan and/or paying off this loan with a credit card? I am worried about recent reports of people being 'dumped' by their credit card companies. Or other things, like random rate changes. Are these valid concerns, and is there anything else I should be worried about?

Fyi, I am most definitely not worried about making this sort of loan/$$ commitment to my boyfriend. We are in it together, for as long as I can foresee, and things are great. Also, he has borrowed significant money from me in the past and has paid me back on time, every time. This question is about any hidden drawbacks to paying off the loan on a credit card.

is this bait and switch or what

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:42:46 -0800

I bought a new car. I love it. I negotiated a deal that is fair and that I'm happy with. The dealership just called me and said they can't find financing at the terms we agreed to, and now I have to give the car back or renegotiate the terms. Can this be legal?! I went into a dealership on Saturday night and made a deal on a car I love. I have had poor credit for a while, it turns out that it's been so long that I've had credit that I now have no FICO score at all.

Now the dealership has called me and told me they can't actually get financing at the terms we agreed to, and we need to renegotiate for more money down and a shorter term. This is unacceptable to me, I already put a hefty chunk of money down. This seems like typical bait and switch to me. We signed a contract -- it's not like I have the right to suddenly say that the terms we agreed to were not going to work for ME.

What are my options here? Has this ever happened to anybody here? Is this even legal?

good income - bad credit - can I buy a car, and is now the time to buy?

stenseng — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:26:15 -0800

Young professional guy, late 20s - pretty terrible credit, decent income (~50k) - need a car - is now the time to buy, and if so, can I get financed, and if so, what terms should I expect/ask for? Am willing to buy American - GM etc...

down payment after papers are signed

vocpanda — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:27:57 -0800

NewCarOwnerFilter: Got a new car, signed the papers (including financing through dealer), and took the car home. Now dealer is telling us that we must put a down payment even though we signed the papers with 0 down. First time buyer here. We bought a new car through a dealership with their financing option on 0% down over the weekend. Today, they called us and said our financing application was denied by the bank unless we put some down payment. The bank, Chase, apparently denied our application due to lack of down payment even though we have excellent credit (>750). The down payment is not an issue, financially for us.

However, what worries me is that the dealership refused to send us anything official from the bank (email, fax, or mail) and insist that we must go to the dealership in order to see any ‘official’ papers from the bank. When we asked the dealership if we can talk to a rep from the bank, the dealership guy on the phone said that Chase would only talk to the dealership since they’re the one booking the deal.

Anything that we need to worry about or am I being paranoid? Again, the down payment is not the issue as much as the fact that the dealership never stated a down payment is a requirement at the time of sale.

Are No-Credit Auto Loans No Problem?

lekvar — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:10:26 -0800

Online auto loans; too good to be true? My credit is non-existant, but I need to get a new(er) car. I have a good amount of money for a down payment, but no reputable bank will touch me. However, I just found a number of online auto loan lenders who specialize in bad/no credit/bankruptcy loans.

Obviously, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Just as obviously, I'll likely be hit with a usurious interest rate. I'm OK with that for the time being, but I feel like there's something I'm overlooking.

Any MeFites have experience in this area? Are they a scam or a godsend? Any hidden weirdness I should look out for? Any specific recommendations?

Hard facts and anecdotes are equally welcome.

Refinancing a car with bad credit

rhizome — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:03:37 -0800

How can I refinance my car with my terrible credit? I have awful credit, I just had a credit card cancelled a few months ago, and even a credit union (and their downstream alternative) wouldn't extend to me. I haven't checked lately, but I imagine my FICO is in the 500s, if not lower. This is my only debt, but the interest rate is 20% (yes) and I really want to figure out how to get out from under it, just for financial sanity's sake. I am getting my credit reports now, just to make sure I don't have any identity theft accounts open or anything janky like that, but I'm pretty sure I'm clean. It just seems my bad past credit bill paying habits that bitten me here.

Upside-down car loan.

Brocktoon — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:50:50 -0800

Outrageously upside-down with a car loan. Help! The current pay-off amount for our car loan is right around $20K. We went to CarMax last night to see if we could get into a cheaper, more efficient car, however they appraised the car we have at about $8K, and as far as I know, no one would roll-over such a huge deficit. We like the car we have (aside from it's somewhat average fuel efficiency), but the monthly payments are a real killer: $550, and we're also about 2 months behind thanks to a severe income drop last year. My wife wants to do a voluntary repo, but I think that is a terrible idea, and leaves us with very few transportation options. No bank that I know will give us a re-fi, due to less then stellar credit and a general tightening of belts by lenders. Any advice?

Selling my car in Oklahoma, but it's registered in Texas. What do I do? The sale might happen today! Help!

jimmyhutch — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:11:43 -0800

Selling my car in Oklahoma, but it's registered in Texas. Can I get some advice on what to do here? More details inside, and this sale could happen today! I live temporarily in Oklahoma (moving back to TX as soon as we sell our house), but I am still registered in Texas with the car. I am selling the car for a little less than I owe on it, but paying the cash for the remainder of the loan to the loan company (Capital One Auto - I know, I know) isn't an issue.

I called Capital One Auto, and besides telling me repeatedly that they'll release the title to the new owner after I pay off the balance, they were extremely unhelpful.

So, how this stands is that I am selling my car for cash in Oklahoma, and the car is registered in Texas. Which state do I need to deal with in this situation? Obviously I need to let Texas know that I no longer have liability on this car (via this form) once I sell it to the guy, and then get a registered payment to the bank so that they will overnight the title.

What else am I oblivious to in this situation? Have I left out something for forgotten something that is gonna screw this up?

Thanks for your help, in advance!

Help about a lien!

omnipotentq — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:02:23 -0800

I'm buying a used car, and have a question about the whole title/lien thing.... First off, I did look at some previous questions, but none of them fit exactly my situation, so I really appreciate your indulgence.

I live in VA. The seller of a beautiful 2003 Mustang also lives in VA, about 2 hours away. I've seen the car, had it checked by a mechanic, want to buy it and will be going over this week to the owner's bank to purchase the car. The reason I'm going to the bank is because they still have a lien on the car, and he needs my money to pay off the lien. (I'm buying it for around $5000, if it matters.)

The owner said he talked to the customer service dept of his bank's national branch today and they said that if we do it all in the bank, then they'll give me a "transfer of ownership" document which I can then take to the VA DMV. I'm guessing that from there, I get a title from the DMV and take it back to my bank (BB&T) and then BB&T has a lien till I pay the car off.

Does this all sound right? This is the first car I've purchased, so I just feel a bit ansey about not having the physical title in my hands after I fork over that much money. It sounds right to me, but I just wanted to pick the hive mind's brain first. I'll be monitoring this thread closely today, so if you have questions, let me know. Thanks!

How do I take on these financial burdens, step by step?

cowbellemoo — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:15:25 -0800

My crappy car was deemed totaled and I'm going to accept the payout and finance a new used car. I'd also like to move into an apartment soon. Step by step, how do I wrangle this plan into fruition? Current situation: I co-own an old Corolla with my mom and I'm listed on her insurance. I was in an accident and the at-fault driver's insurance is taking the claim. I went in for an estimate and they said they're considering it totaled and will contact me with an offer. I'd like to take the payout (guessing ~$800) and finance a reliable car for around $10k. I have good credit for my age, $4k in credit debt, $15k in student loans, no savings. I pull in about $1300 per month after stu. loan payments. I live with my mother (so no rent, but I pay utilities and groceries). I'd like to move out within a few months.

So my three financial changes are: finance new used car, move auto insurance to my own account, and eventually get a modest apartment.

My questions: Step by step, what should I plan on? How much cash I should have available, and at what point for each step? Since the car's financing is adjustable, what downpayment/monthly bill/contract length should I shoot for? How can I handle the car handover so I'm not carless at any point?

I've only recently developed the confidence to strike out on my own, and these problems are one of my biggest sources of anxiety, so any help on these points is deeply appreciated.

How do I close my car loan after getting fired?

rhizome — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:26:25 -0800

I just bought a new car before getting fired two days later, and now I'm having trouble securing the loan. What do I do? Two weeks ago I bought a new car. At the time I was employed (but under a bad boss, natch). Last Tuesday I got word that I was going to be fired that day and walked out. I received a perfunctory voicemail from my boss and my final check arrived two days later.

I have enough assets to be fine with the car loan payments for 3-4months, but the employment verification is hitting a snag. I didn't misrepresent myself at the time I signed the papers, but now there's a lot of back and forth with the dealership about this. Their last suggestion was to find a friend at my old job that would lie for the employment verification. I don't think I can get someone to lie like that and besides, wouldn't that be fraud?

So, I have assets and I'm looking for a job. I'm confident I'll be making at least as much as I did at the old place, but it hasn't happened yet. I also have a bunch of 401k money that I don't think I can leverage, but it may help in documenting. What are my options, and what is the responsibility of the dealership in this situation?

Cash or carry?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:02:25 -0800

I'm buying a new car, I have bad to mediocre credit (my score is 563) and I have an inheritance I could use to pay cash instead. Which is best for me? The car is $35,000 and I'd be putting down $15,000 against an interest rate of 13% through a CapitalOne loan (via the dealer).

I have a $100,000 inheritance sitting around that I could use to make up the remainder to avoid the interest rate, but that wouldn't do anything for my credit. I'm perfectly willing to take the loan if it will help me more in the long run, and the dealer says I can refinance the car in 6-9 months once my lazy bill-paying falls off the 30-90 day incident window for my credit cards.

As a software engineer I make $82k/yr and I don't have any other debt (I usually clear my cards every month) and my monthly overhead is about $1500 (rent control apt + utils), so I can afford the $550/mo car payment, but looking at loan calculators it seems I'll be paying about $8k in interest on the $20,000 loan. Though I've never bought a new car before (I'm 39), I'm very excited about this one and committed to getting myself something nice in general (though my second choice is a Scion, my #1 criteria being "size").

I'm thinking that while it's more expensive in the long run, my credit would really benefit from carrying the loan (how? I don't know). I'm kind of money-dumb, so I cast my numbers to the MeFi oracle.

Pray for public transportation.

youthenrage — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 15:29:01 -0800

How can I prove to the DMV that the lien on the car I just bought has been paid off? The secured party listed on the title (a bank) was bought by FCNB bank and then by BB&T bank. I bought a truck from a friends dad about a week ago. The truck was registered in Maryland, but I live in Virginia. I just got the title, which needed to be replaced as they had lost the original one. The bank listed as the lien holder on the title no longer exists, and neither does the bank that bought the original bank. All are under the control of BB&T now. I need to prove to the Virginia DMV that the lien is off the truck, but have no clue who contact about clearing this up. The Maryland DMV? BB&T bank? If it's BB&T, who should I call? Their general 800 #? A branch local to the Maryland town where the truck came from? Will they issue me the notice that the lien is no longer valid even though I'm not the person on the title or in their paperwork?

help please.

Hooray I own my car

jclovebrew — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:05:29 -0800

Paid off my car. The bank sent me the title and a letter that tells me to submit the title to the DMV, who will then issue me a lien-free title in my name alone. The question is, what if I don't do this? Nobody likes going to the DMV. Also, I'm in NJ if that makes any difference.

Overwhelming Debt Problems

jeresig — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 10:48:27 -0800

A friend of mine has just taken on a large amount of debt since splitting with his girlfriend. What can he do to keep on top of it? A friend of mine recently split with his live in girlfriend who had lost her job, leaving him to pay her half of their mortgage. Additionally, debt collectors are after him for her car loan that she is not paying, for which he cosigned. She's agreed to give him the car, but he can only sell the car for less than half of the outstanding loan debt. On top of this, he's struggling with trying to find a way to pay his mortgage and the other monthly bills he has (such as his own car loan, his school loans, and credit card debt).

He'd prefer not to enroll in credit counseling, but he is in need of some sort of financial help/consulting before this snowballs out of control. He is also set on keeping his house, as he just purchased it less than a year ago.

Does anyone have experience with something like this? Any suggestions of what he can do to stay on top of this? Thanks.

P.S. This is in Buffalo (Upstate) New York, if that helps at all.

Selling Car with Lien still on it.

qwip — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:20:27 -0800

My wife and I are likely to be moving from the US to Australia in the next few months. I have a 2004 Audi that we would need to sell. I would like to sell the car to a private buyer, as opposed to a dealer, to make as much back as possible. How do people deal with having a lien on the title while trying to sell the car? Right now the car is worth approx. $27,000 and the outstanding loan amount is close to $21,000. Our savings are tight enough that it would be difficult to buy out the loan ourselves, get the title clear, and then sell. Have any of you dealt with this situation before, and if so, what did you do? I can't imagine a buyer would pay me the $27K and wait while I paid off the loan, got the title sent to me, and then sent it to them. The loan is held by Chase Bank and there are no local branches in my area.