This is not gonna be pretty...

Well, I am surrendering both of our vehicles, one with $3K hail damage, imminent tranny failure, and another $1K in repairs due, already $5000 upside down with 100K miles on it (2001 Odyssey) - the other a stupid buy at 11.7% for 66 months (2003 Lancer) upside down by $6000. This leaves me with no car at all, family of five with lots of activities - scouts, soccer, plus my work.

Spoke to one local dealer that owns several dealerships in San Antonio. Put me to special financing who said - wait until discharge and no problem. Discharge could happen as soon as next Thursday.

Same sales/BK specialist said to expect interest rate of 17.95%. Said options were both new and used. Said wife and I could qualify on our own - offered my mom to cosign (has good credit) and didn't seem to think interest rate would drop - just approval easier. I have about $2000 to put down. Need a minivan, preferably reliable and very recent model year, nothing older than 2005. Looking at Kia, Toyota, and Honda. New goes all the way up to $35000 - not concerned about depreciation since we will drive it into the ground anyway. But I think 17.95% is quite steep. I have a very secure job, same career for 15 years and make $76,000/year which is more than twice the median income in San Antonio.

The specialist was eager to help early on but lately has been ignoring my e-mails for information. After looking around on the forums it seems I ought to try a few online financing sources first off.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Do not pay 18%. You'll be upside down for the first 4 years. Try ford motor credit, which is very bk friendly. You can use it on any of their 7 brands and they also own mazda. Many have gotten low apr offers from them fresh out of bk. Another alternative, is capital one's blankcheck.

FOMO - you've done a great job rebuilding your credit. Have you purchased any cars since discharge?

Yes - Cash. I am considering buying something newer tho, maybe 5 years old, thru my credit union at 6%.

T-minus 4 days and counting until I exit the 60 day club and settled on a Toyota Sienna (either new or used if available). I think the dealer's finance office tried Capital One during the BK and we got a decline. I hope to try again once the discharge posts on PACER. Will then check credit reports to see if it is there and start making sure everything is reported correctly. But I can't wait out the 30-days to get all that in order - so I have to apply right away and take my chances. Dealer wants to put me into 17.95%. I have to be able to do better than that.

Dealer wants to put me into 17.95%.

Please don't do that. No matter how desperate you feel you are. You'll pay $15,000 in interest alone. By the time you are no longer upside down, you will have paid $30,000 on a $25,000 car, and still owe $10,000 more.

FOMO - I know. I have to find another option. I will submit to Capital One and Lending Tree and let 'er rip. Somebody has to be better than that. The financing is probably 13% and the dealership tacks on 5% for profits.

I feel your pain, Walnut. I had to buy a car before the BK was discharged and ended up with 18% interest. However, I just got approved last night for 10.95% through Road Loans, which isn't bad considering I've only been paying on the loan since December. I'll be able to pay the car off in 48 months instead of the original 66 without increasing the payment, so I'm thrilled. I used to say that if you couldn't pay a car off in 3 years, you couldn't afford it, but that was before BK and the land of high interest rates. :)

If at al possible, try to avoid using a cosigner, ultimately that will not play well for you with credit-rebuilding efforts. A better choice would be to have family member w/ good credit add you as an authorized user on a credit account that has a cushion of credit you could use as a down payment. Even w/ BK and poor loan rates, money talks - you can buy down your interest rate, but you have to play firm with the dealerships and not let them play Deliverance w/ you.

Before you do anything go to Lendingtree.com and see how that comes out. Sometimes lending tree doesn't do the capital one app, so if they didn't then got to cap one and do that one on your own. Also, go into a large ford dealership. Go directly to the special financing department and tell them EXACTLY your situation with the BK. I did just that and got 0.9% two months out of BK . Then 4 months later I got a loan with Cap one for our second vehicle using the blank check..it was 10.9%. Check out your options. The foreign vehicles will be harder to finance that the american ones. Ford is the most lienient, but you have to go through the special financing dept. Don't try to apply online for ford. Good luck and keep us posted.

We really didn't like the Freestar - will try Lending Tree and Cap One first. Thanks everybody!

I don't care for the freestar either... But how about a used Windstar, 99-03? Just a cheap vehicle to get you started. You make payments for a year or two, then bam! Your credit is good again. Then trade it in for whatever you want.

At this point it is more about you what can and should get versus what you want. Would you go with a 21% rate instead of a 0.9 rate just because you do not care the vehicle. If its functional for your family and safe transportation, I would think the style wouldn't be so much of an issue. A Ford Focus DEFINITELY was not my first choice, but I drove it long enough to get through the BK and save up for what I wanted. Good luck.

At this point it is more about you what can and should get versus what you want. Would you go with a 21% rate instead of a 0.9 rate just because you do not care the vehicle.

Very good point. If they're looking at kia, honda and toyota... Honda and Toyota have good resale and reliability, but its not worth paying an extra 10k in interest. And kia, well, has nothing, other than a cheap price tag.

A quick look at Car and Driver Magazine's 10 best cars of 2007 shows there are 2 hondas on the list. There aren't any fords, however there are 2 Mazda's... Which are financed by ford motor credit, who is very bk friendly and has been known to give low apr offers to those fresh out of bk. You can't go wrong with something like that.

We really didn't like the Freestar - will try Lending Tree and Cap One first. Thanks everybody!

You really need to let go of the "what we like and don't" view and realize financially what you can afford. I have to drive a gigantic and I mean HUGE 1978 Lincoln Town Car for 3 years just to get enough money saved up to pay cash for another vehicle. Honestly you should really be looking into getting some reliable, dependable, and safe for your family no matter what vehicle or age it is....save up some money and wait about 2 years, your credit is looking better and you have a nice down payment ready. That's the way to go right now.

Well, we got good news from the Toyota dealer - someone turned in a 2006 Sienna with 16K miles and the price is about $24K. I also found a 2002 Nissan Maxima with 27K miles fully loaded for $13,700. Probably will try and buy both and surrender the other vehicles. Today I end my membership in the 60-day club. Called Clerk of Courts and she said they run the discharges on Thursday so we should see it about that time. Is the PACER entry sufficient proof of discharge? Do I need to then contact the credit bureaus myself to get them to show the discharge or will they pick it up right away???

You should be fine in just printing off your discharge from Pacer, also most financial/dealers have access to Pacer and can check your status as well. I would try to print it and see if they accept that first.

Walnut--

Just a comment on minivans. I have a 2002 Kia Sedona that I absolutely LOVE.

The cheap price tag was what originally attracted us to it, another manufacturer (honda, Toyota) would have been $40,000 with all the options our Kia has. Our sticker was $24,990 with ALL options except a power sliding door (that wasnt an option at the time, it is now).

The thing has 91,000 miles on it,and we have never had a problem out of it.

Now, as someone else said, a Kia is not exactly a good investment if you like to drive a new car every few years, because they have absolutely NO resale value. But it is a great investment for someone who wants a good car at a good price, and intends to drive it till it dies.

I am so impressed with Kia, after I run my minivan in the ground, I want a KIA Sorento. Man I love those things. I am hooked on Kia.

Thanks for the info. We drove the Sienna and basically fell in love with it. Have not driven the 2006 used one yet. Stll waiting to discharge. The clerk of courts said it should process tomorrow. As to the Maxima, my mother is going to cosign, which should bring the interest rate down. We'll see. I figure we should get both vehicles by Saturday and then early next week surrender the discharged ones.

Unreal - the dealer for the Nissan got me conditionally approved through some outfit called Triad. The condition was I had to turn in (I think they meant trade in) my 2001 Odyssey which I intend to surrender. The dealership told me just to bring it in and then said something about negative equity being my responsibilty. I said, "!!!!!! No, the debt is discharged - I don't have to pay a red cent." Then they were baffled with how to deal with the surrender or redemption. I thought I could only redeem it before discharge. Anyway, they are going to call Triad again tomorrow and get clarification. Somehow I don't like the sound of this. Was discharged today and bureaus haven't yet updated. The Honda account shows it to be open. All others are closed - most reporting correctly as IIB. 2 charge offs to deal with and a few that are wrong that need fixing. This is from equifax. Had to order the other two by mail. Argh... can this get any more frustrating. I have half a mind to say forget it and just pay as I go on the two vehicles - fix the hail damage and take my chances. Still no word from the Sienna dealer - hopefully they are better that this outfit selling the Maxima to me.

Yeah, don't take the car to the new dealer, they have absolutely nothing todo with your old car and they might screw it all up.

I applied for Cap One and was declined - do you think it's because my discharge is not showing on the bureaus yet?

Could be, however although cap one is bk friendly, it doesn't mean they approve everyone right away even if you were discharged.

Your best option if you don't get a low apr offer from a dealer is going to be checking out local credit unions.

So you're looking to get into $38k in car debt essentially the day you are discharged BK? Not to mention the horrible rates, I just don't see how this is a good idea at all. Sure we all need reliable transportation, but I think it can be had for a lot less than $24k and $13k repectively. I don't know anything about your income, but getting right back into that much debt doesn't sound like a very good idea to me.

Gross income is just over $100K per year - wife just went back to work on weekends to pay for the van. So, all in all it is not a bad deal only because we drive our cars essentially for 6 years or more. I know - it does sound odd, but is better to have 100K mile warranties on a Jeep Liberty and Toyota Sienna than be out of warranty on two vehicles seriously upside down and in need of very expensive repairs. We bought both vehicles used to avoid depreciation and high interest at the same time. May refi next year or else just pay extra principal. We are not going to get any credit cards any time soon - will live on cash for the foreseeable future. We got in deep not with cars but job loss, bad housing decisions, and a buttload of credit cards.

Walnut, did you file for a chpt 7 or 13? Just wanted to ask due to your income status. Thanks

Chapter 7 in Texas. Within a month after discharge, surrendered two cars (still waiting for one to get picked up) and bought a 2006 Toyota Sienna (Capital One) and a 2004 Toyota Highlander (RoadLoans). Wife returned to work part time and income has increased. No credit cards and will not apply for any for quite some time. Still working on fixing credit reports.