Need advice about my car

Of course you can sell a car you owe money on. People do it thousands of times every day.

He must simply find a buyer and they meet at the bank which holds the lien. The buyer pays him, and he pays the lienholder and the title is released to the new owner, who must usually take it over to his bank so they can put a lien on it if he borrowed money to buy it.

This guy's problem is going to be finding a buyer who wants to put $10,000.00 or more into a 6 year old car.

If he lets it go back to the bank, they will simply sell it at auction and he will be legally liable for the difference between what it brings and what was owed.

He'll still be making payments, although they should be lower.

His credit will be wrecked and his car will be gone.

IMO, since he's obviously "Upside Down" on the car and paying a high rate of interest (Probably 16-18%), he should go and try to negotiate a lower rate of interest with his creditor, since he hasn't missed any payments.

They'd often rather do that than Repo it.

A Lower interest rate could also save him some money every month which could be applied toward insurance or extra payments on the car.

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"The most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being." - Sir Isaac Newton
(A REAL scientist)

A note on diabetes - only some people can avoid medication by avoiding starchy and sweet foods in their diets, not EVERYONE. Losing weight helps,too, of course, and developing a taste for non-sweet foods. There is a plant called STEVIA that is SWEETER than regular sugar, that does not effect your blood sugar. You can use the leaves as a sweetener, or go to a healthfood store and get the powder, that resembles beet or cane sugar. (My degree is in nutrition). Best wishes with this; it takes time to develope new eating habits. Congrats on the baby! (I don't know anything about financed cars!)

You need to get more protein. An odd symptom of low protein is a desire for sweets. So enjoy the candy, but get meat, milk, and eggs for breakfast.

You already have lots of good advice about the car and the credit, so I'll just tell you what worked for me. In 1973 I paid cash for a car for the first time, $250 for an old Corvair. It was so sweet to have no payments that I decided I would never buy a car again unless it was 100% down and nothing a month. I haven't always had a car since then, but every car I have owned has been all mine. That kind of freedom feels a lot better than the "status" you imagine you get by driving something you can't afford.

You've received lots of good advice on your questions. I only have a few things to add:

Refinance your car and then pay anything and everything extra you can on the principal - this will pay your loan down very quickly. Then sell the car when you are not upside down anymore. You and your girlfriend can get by with one car for a while so you can get more financially stable. When you get to that place, buy a used car with low miles. Do your homework with Consumer Reports and find the best used car you can - Toyota Corollas/Geo Prizms have worked great for us to over 200,000 miles with little problem - only maintenance + 2 repairs in 7 years.
Check out joining a credit union for the refi loan - their interest rate is sometimes much lower than a bank. Whatever you do, get your loan away from the dealer place! You were and still are being ripped off badly. The best you can do now is damage control and get the loan paid down quickly.

My husband is an undetermined diabetic - he became diabetic at 27 yrs and is insulin dependant, but doesn't fit the type 2 profile. He's very thin and was extremely active. So they call him a type 1. With either type, diabetes is a difficult disease to live with and control, but if you don't take care of yourself like you need to, you will do so much damage to your body that can not be fixed. So take the time to learn all you can (d-life.com is a great place to learn more) and take the time to take care of yourself. Your child will appreciate having you around. Moderation in eating, choosing wisely and planning your meals for the day help control sweet cravings and grabbing food that doesn't give you what you need. I just heard on the radio today from Chef Chris, who is a chef for diabetics, that if you toast Angel Food cake cubes it makes a great low calorie, low carb snack (remember that moderation part).

Good luck in your plans. Don't trash your credit. It takes a long time to repair and there are ways to pay off loans relatively quickly if you structure it right.

CindyOR

In most states you have to have the title to sell a car, you cannot usually get the title the same day you pay the car loan off. The bank has to send you the cleared title before you can then transfer ownership to another party. The clear title can take as many as 30 days to get to you. Of course there are always ways around this BUT for someone not experienced in buying or selling cars it is just another way to end up hanging yourself with red tape. And if you find a bank that is willing to shell out $18,000 for a car from a private sale without having a clear title I don't think I'ld be willing to do business with them. A personal loan or credit advance would be workable but how many people are willing to trust someone to take the cash, pay off the car, wait for the title, then actually send them the title, while in the meantime you can't insure or license said vehicle bacause of the wait for the title. Also, until the transfer is complete the "owner" is still responsible for the car. Where is his guarantee the new owner won't cause a massive accident which he would then be responsible for. It's a dangerous game (financially) and safest NOT to try it.

Forgot to add that even at a buy-here-pay-here dealer, the title is not stored on site. The parent company usually has a corporate office or vault where titles are stored. Even from the Ford dealer it took 2 weeks to get my van title when I paid cash on the spot. The only time I've ever know for a title to be available immediately is when it was a cash private sale, and the title was in the owners hand at the time of the transaction.

I had car insurance at the time of the purchase so I was able to drive it off the lot. Now that I'm working part time, I'm shopping around for a better car insurance place. I'm working at the library part time so I'm eligible for credit union loans so I'm needing more info on how to re-finance the car loan. How is that done? I've never done that so any advice would be welcome! Thanks for all the advice yall have given!

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Ted, you bought the car for $12,000, but owe $18,000? What have I missed???

Have you tried for a bank loan for a lower interest rate? I am not saying it is a good idea because it is all in the numbers and I do not know the numbers in your case.

When is the current loan paid off?

Have you looked for a second part-time job?

As for diabetes, remember that lean protien in your friend. If you are tempted to over eat, go for a second helping of meats instead of carbs. Vegetarian spagetti, for instance, has no protien and so it would be hard on your system. 1 cup of spagetti with a big Italian meat ball is good for you, however! Just do not eat too MUCH spagetti!

A couple of tuna sandwiches are good for you also.

ALSO remember that frequent snacks is what makes staying on the diet WORK! Do you want to eat one more fresh roll than your diet calls for? NO! Eat it instead 2 -3 hours later, when it is a NEEDED and HEALTHY snack! Snacks=great, large meals=bad!!!!!! Eat OFTEN!

BTDT, got the T-shirt!

By the way, your craving for sweets will not be quite so bad if you eat ALL of your snacks. I have a sweet tooth as well!

The car was worth $12k but the bank loaned out at $18k (I don't think there's a penalty for paying it off...personally after checking my papers the high amount is interest...it's supposed to be paid off in 4 years 6 months.

Yes, I already have a part time job lined up in January. Am starting the other part time job next week. I also get disability which will get whittled down the more I work which I don't mind because I do want to get off the Social Security thing. It's not SSI it's SSDI the money that was saved from my earnings.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Who got the other $6,000? Did you use it to pay off a debt, take it in cash, or did the dealer end up with it?

I am wondering if you give it back, if you must ALSO give the dealership back the $6,000.

If the loan is for 18k, that's what he owes, regardless of what the extra 6k was used for. So, basically, you're ugly upside down on your car. You're in a pickle because even if you let them reposess it you're still going to owe them the money. I think the only way to get out of that would be bankrupcy.

Now for my second 2 cents worth; do you have access to a local 'investigative reporter' such as is found at local tv stations? They might be interested in how a dealer got you into this mess - this could (repeat COULD) be an out of this situtation.

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Never mistake kindness for weakness.

I've never lived in Ohio, but I have lived in W.Va., TN, KY, GA, SC. In each of these states, there is a place on the back of the title that the lienholder signs and a notary signs stating that the lien is settled.

The title is then given IMMEDIATELY to the new owner who has 30-60 days to take it to the county court house, pay the sales tax, and apply for the new title. If there's to be a lien on the new title, that is noted on the back of the new title. The owner (not the bank) retains the title, but cannot sell the vehicle to anyone else unless he also gets the lien released (paid off).

I don't really get your point that this guy can't sell his car, because there's a lien on it. I've bought/sold a lot of cars that had liens on them at the time of sale.

A Bill of sale is also usually given and notorized and that can be used for licensing and insuring a vehicle while the state farts around issuing the new title.

Chance are, this guy CAN'T sell his car, but not because of a lien on the title...rather, because no one is going to want to buy it at the price he needs to settle the debt.

__________________
"The most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being." - Sir Isaac Newton
(A REAL scientist)