Might be trading in my Subaru STi...

[93LXHORSE]

I've been unemployed for about 6 months and things are tight. Back when I was on the road working, a large car payment was no big deal, hell I was getting enough per diem to afford a CTS V if i wanted it.

Thing is, not getting 4 grand a month in per diem any more and the payment on the STi is 610 a month.

Won't be too much longer and the STi will have to go. So I need advice on trading in a car to get a lesser car and take the least amount of butt reaming. Can I have some input on making sure I have a plan and know what I'm doing before I trade?

I'm paying 610 a month and would like to see that cut in half, or close to it. The car is 2011 WRX STi 5 door (hatch) version. It's got 20,000 miles on it. Excellent condition. Owe $34,000. Not sure what the dealer would give for trade in value.

So what would be a good strategy going in, knowing that I want a car of lesser value and lesser payments? I have no idea what car I even want.

If I just go return the car to the dealership, I owe whatever the difference is between what I currently owe and how much it's worth to them, right? Is there any benifit in doing that? And if I get into another car, I then make payments on the new car plus the difference owed after the payoff or trade it..... is that right? I haven had much experience with the dealerships and want to make sure I do myself the least damage and not get screwed TOO bad. I KNOW the dealerships aren't looking to help me out of my situation without them making some good money out of it.

Unless........ there is someone here that's at a dealership and could work with me. What's the impact on my credit either way?

My grandma has some kind of $2000 credit towards any GM car...... some kind of benifit with her GM credit card.

Lemme know how I get out with the least damage.

BTW I have a perfectly good Dodge Dakota sitting in the driveway that's paid for and runs just fine.

[Geor!]

If my credit was better and I was willing to have a car payment again, I'd take over payments for ya as my ten year old WRX is showing its age. That being said, my credit isn't the best and I don't want another car payment anytime soon. Sorry partner. Good luck to ya and hopefully you're back to work soon so you don't have to hand it over.

[sc281]

Sell it and buy a 5 year old civic cash ($6-8k), or finance the ridiculously cheap payment.

You don't need a debt burden, especially being unemployed.

Heck, I'm not unemployed (knock on wood), and I'm driving an 11 year old cherokee with 140k mi. Does just fine.

There has gotta be better places for you to put that money than a depreciating asset.

[Denny]

Jeez, bro, how upside down is that? Your best bet is to trade it in and lease something in that range, hiding the big shit in a balloon or final payment. That way you have some time to get some income rolling in while making less of a payment. Either that or sell it outright, taking a little hit that you can work with someone on.

[yellowstang]

Call Skip at Grapevine Ford and get a Mustang! OK, not really a Mustang, but maybe a Focus or something cheap and roll a lot of negative equity into it. F-150's also seem to have some good rebates, etc now.

[Denny]

Sell it and buy a 5 year old civic cash ($6-8k), or finance the ridiculously cheap payment.

You don't need a debt burden, especially being unemployed.

Heck, I'm not unemployed (knock on wood), and I'm driving an 11 year old cherokee with 140k mi. Does just fine.

There has gotta be better places for you to put that money than a depreciating asset.

Right. I have the Cobra that was bought cash and I daily a 96 Grand Marquis (53K mi). Ya, it's no CTS-V, but you'll never see me in a car note again.

[93LXHORSE]

Or, I could just walk away from the car completely and say to hell with my credit... I don't really need anything right now, I already have a house and all the toys I need, haha...

[JFurst]

Get a 5k civic

Fuck a car payment

[Denny]

Or, I could just walk away from the car completely and say to hell with my credit... I don't really need anything right now, I already have a house and all the toys I need, haha...

It happens all the time. Dump the problem and repair the issue at a better time in the future.

[Lone Sailor]

Between this thread and your other thread about the "free check" it's obvious you need to quit using what credit you may have left and pay for everything in cash. If you don't have the cash to buy then you don't need it.

If I were in the same position I would have got out from under that car as soon as the employment ended since that's how you were paying for it. Now you've wasted roughly $3660 by continuing to make payments for a car you don't want. You could have done a lot more with that money than paying on the Subaru.

[Sean88gt]

You're probably close to $6k upside down. Rolling that into another car would be foolish. You can always get new "things" but you have to make sure you're protecting your survival vs your credit.

[A_A_G]

Carmax will probably give you the most but you're still upside down for sure. Try selling private party? The good thing on your side is STIs hold their resale value well, plus the shortage of new ones too should help you sell quick.

[onemeangixxer7502]

Carmax will probably give you the most but you're still upside down for sure. Try selling private party? The good thing on your side is STIs hold their resale value well, plus the shortage of new ones too should help you sell quick.

my friend has had his for sale with like 8k miles for like 3-4 months asking 30.

[scootro]

Or, I could just walk away from the car completely and say to hell with my credit... I don't really need anything right now, I already have a house and all the toys I need, haha...

nooooooo! your better off filing for bankruptcy

[dblack1]

I took a moment out for you to check on trade in. Looks like they are going to offer you in the 26-9 range.

Here is the big problem. It used to be easy to roll over up to 120% of LTV, meaning you could buy a car with a sticker of 20k and actually finance $24k on it. Those days are gone and now you are stuck in the 105% range from what I've seen.

So the only way to roll over the debt to the next car is to buy a new one substantially below the msrp ie: msrp $26k, you buy for $20k and roll over the $6k financing it into the new car.

Your other problem is the lack of a job. Hard to get a loan without one.

I have a friend that walked away from a loan after losing his job. He owed $24k and they sold the truck for $15k at auction. He his on the hook for the difference, but guess what? He just bought another truck without filing BK, three years after giving one back, but his rate is 10% and he had to put money down.


Sometimes it is just better to walk. I'm not your shoes, but I'd be weighing in all the options at this point in time. $600 a month is a lot of coin for something you don't need. There are lots of ways to rebuild credit and a BK isn't that bad. If you have a CC purchase some gold/silver 6 months before filing BK. It is easy to sell for cash.