If you've been keeping up w/ my vehicle dilemma, perhaps you've been wondering how the story will end? Well, I won't keep you in suspense! I'll recap the prior chapters for any newcomers. 
The setup:
We have the following financed vehicles:
1. Dodge Dakota '03 Bought new in Mar. '03, $505 payment w/ 41 payments remaining. Its now has 42,000 miles, is worth about $10,000, guzzles gas with its V8 engine. It needs a new windshield, 4 new tires, a brake job, and it has some minor body damage. (Not my fault, FYI!) DH complains that its not the truck he wants, as he wants a full sized Ram w/ a Hemi.
2. Mitsubishi Galant '03 Bought in Aug. '02 under their Diamond plan, $369 paymetn w/ 22 mre payments then a $7100 balloon payment due. It has 55,000 miles, is worth $5,000 if we're optimistic, and is ok condition.
Both were current when we filed last month. Both also had constant late payments, and deferred payments-which of course added to the upside-down scenario.
What to Do?
Total of car payments & insurance (full coverage & I had an at fault accident nearly 3 years ago) is roughly $1100/month. DH has been working 2 jobs, and really couldn't afford to work less with our expenses. If we gave up one vehicle in the BK, we might be able to make it work with each of us working 1 job-which we would have to do as his 2nd job requires a vehicle.
Giving up the Galant is a must-don't want to be stuck w/ a balloon payment so whether we get rid of it now or pay on it for a while and get rid of it later, it would have to go at some point. Giving up the truck is a good idea when you consider its a high vehicle payment, uses a lot of gas, and has the most issues. I also figured that if we stopped paying on both, and kept the vehicle payments in savings, we'd have $2600 for a basic used car or a downpayment on a late model used car.
Last week, we did decide to give up a vehicle-hadn't worked out the full plan though. We decided that DH getting more sleep and more family time was a bigger positive than the negative of having only 1 vehicle for a family of 5.
Uh-oh
This past Sat. we got a motion to lift the stay from Chrysler, with a hearing set for 10-25. We decided to arrange w/ Chrysler to go ahead and give it back by 10-15 so we don't have to renew the tag for a few weeks. This also meant DH had to quit his 2nd job sooner, rather than later. So-we won't exactly be saving up that $2600.
It occurred to me that we don't have enough to buy a used car, and I don't want a beater that may be unreliable. Without a car, we can't get to work! but then, we can't finance a car until after BK and we don't know that we could get something decent. What if Mitsubishi filed a similar motion? We'll be in trouble.
The Final Chapter
I remember talking to 722Redemption a few weeks ago about a replacement vehicle and called them. By Sat., we'll have an '02 Taurus w/ 35,000 miles. Payment of $295/mo for 4 years (though we plan to pay extra and get it paid off sooner). Its a high APR, but its the car I want and it should last 10 years or more. In a year, we can likely refinance. The purchase price is $8800, plus sales tax, and a few fees. (Document fee, title transfer, etc.)
I'd rather NOT finance something, but I also don't want to put $1000 into something that lasts 3 weeks and dies. We'll save $350 by not having to renew tags on the vehicles we have. Our monthly car expenses will go from about $1100 to $400, and we'll save on gas also. We will NEVER again have 2 car payments. Within 2 months (hopefully sooner) my income will go up, and if we pay the $369 we had been paying on the Galant, we'll pay this car off nearly a year and a half early.
The setup:
We have the following financed vehicles:
1. Dodge Dakota '03 Bought new in Mar. '03, $505 payment w/ 41 payments remaining. Its now has 42,000 miles, is worth about $10,000, guzzles gas with its V8 engine. It needs a new windshield, 4 new tires, a brake job, and it has some minor body damage. (Not my fault, FYI!) DH complains that its not the truck he wants, as he wants a full sized Ram w/ a Hemi.
2. Mitsubishi Galant '03 Bought in Aug. '02 under their Diamond plan, $369 paymetn w/ 22 mre payments then a $7100 balloon payment due. It has 55,000 miles, is worth $5,000 if we're optimistic, and is ok condition.
Both were current when we filed last month. Both also had constant late payments, and deferred payments-which of course added to the upside-down scenario.
What to Do?
Total of car payments & insurance (full coverage & I had an at fault accident nearly 3 years ago) is roughly $1100/month. DH has been working 2 jobs, and really couldn't afford to work less with our expenses. If we gave up one vehicle in the BK, we might be able to make it work with each of us working 1 job-which we would have to do as his 2nd job requires a vehicle.
Giving up the Galant is a must-don't want to be stuck w/ a balloon payment so whether we get rid of it now or pay on it for a while and get rid of it later, it would have to go at some point. Giving up the truck is a good idea when you consider its a high vehicle payment, uses a lot of gas, and has the most issues. I also figured that if we stopped paying on both, and kept the vehicle payments in savings, we'd have $2600 for a basic used car or a downpayment on a late model used car.
Last week, we did decide to give up a vehicle-hadn't worked out the full plan though. We decided that DH getting more sleep and more family time was a bigger positive than the negative of having only 1 vehicle for a family of 5.
Uh-oh
This past Sat. we got a motion to lift the stay from Chrysler, with a hearing set for 10-25. We decided to arrange w/ Chrysler to go ahead and give it back by 10-15 so we don't have to renew the tag for a few weeks. This also meant DH had to quit his 2nd job sooner, rather than later. So-we won't exactly be saving up that $2600.
It occurred to me that we don't have enough to buy a used car, and I don't want a beater that may be unreliable. Without a car, we can't get to work! but then, we can't finance a car until after BK and we don't know that we could get something decent. What if Mitsubishi filed a similar motion? We'll be in trouble.
The Final Chapter
I remember talking to 722Redemption a few weeks ago about a replacement vehicle and called them. By Sat., we'll have an '02 Taurus w/ 35,000 miles. Payment of $295/mo for 4 years (though we plan to pay extra and get it paid off sooner). Its a high APR, but its the car I want and it should last 10 years or more. In a year, we can likely refinance. The purchase price is $8800, plus sales tax, and a few fees. (Document fee, title transfer, etc.)
I'd rather NOT finance something, but I also don't want to put $1000 into something that lasts 3 weeks and dies. We'll save $350 by not having to renew tags on the vehicles we have. Our monthly car expenses will go from about $1100 to $400, and we'll save on gas also. We will NEVER again have 2 car payments. Within 2 months (hopefully sooner) my income will go up, and if we pay the $369 we had been paying on the Galant, we'll pay this car off nearly a year and a half early.
Comment