Post Chap 7 Discharge:cap one vs.Lending Tree?

[Nyfhpy]

My Chapter 7 was discharged on 11/16/06.
My divorce will be final on 12/13/06.
My car has more than 100,000 miles on it and the transmission is no good.
I need a reliable car day and nite for work.
My question is should I try Capital One or Lending Tree or even E-Loan?
Opinions/ info will be greatly appreciated.

[BassBoy]

You need to plan first.

Considering that you were discharged only 15 days ago, I wouldn't run out are start car/loan shopping just yet. I say that because before you even fill out a loan/credit application, you'll need to make sure that the accounts on your credit reports are accurate. Whatever debts that were included in your BK should be listed as Included in Bankruptcy or IIB, account closed and have a $0 balance and no late payment history. It will do you NO GOOD to try and get an auto loan if you have accounts still showing open and with balances. That will appear as if you have too much debt, or too much credit (to spend).

That aside, there are many lenders willing to work with those of us with bad credit and BK's, however every situation is different. Some of us have been approved, while others were denied. Some of us got decent interest rates, while others got high interest rates. And there are even those of us who were able to get the excellent rates offered by dealerships (i.e., 0.9%). So you see, it can go wither way. If I may suggest, you can make some phone calls to local banks/lenders and even dealerships to see what they may be able to do for you. Diligence is going to be key here.

Sorry I can't give you any straight answers here, but it's hard to be specific.

[Nyfhpy]

Thanks

Appreciate the words of wisdom.
As an aside, (and I know this has nothing to do with any of this) my ex and I filed 10/13/2005 had 341 12/06/2005 and weren't discharged until 11/16/2006 (and only after the trustee-a well known buffoon- was compelled to grant us the relief of stay so we could finish up the divorce).
This has held up property division (practically nil) and work out of who will pay medical debts (subsequent to filing-for ex wife's drug rehab).
Not saying poor me but I feel kind of overwhelmed.

[SinkingFast]

You may have some real work to do on your Credit Reports.

If you and your Ex had co-mingled finances, there could be debts from your Ex showing up on your Credit Reports. Like CC's where you were Authorized Users on each other's accts will show on your Credit Reports.

Most definitely,........... Check on your Credit Reports before loan shopping for a car.

You can go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp to get free copies of all your Credit Reports. That's if you didn't use their service for your pre-BK Credit Reports. Many attnys are asking for Credit Reports now to be sure people include all debts.

Be sure to remember your User ID and password for Annual Credit Report. They are backed by Trans Union who's behind TrueCreditReport.com, a Credit Monitoring Service many people here have used. If you decide to sign on with True Credit to work on your Credit Reports, they will use the same User ID and password as Annual Credit Report does.

[HHM]

Even though your existing car sounds like it's on its last legs, unfortunately, you are just out of BK...so it will be tough.

I assume you have a job...are the terms of the divorce basically finalized, are you going to be paying any child support or alimony?

Credit aside, the first thing you need to do is figure out how much you can "realistically" afford. Also, I think your kidding yourself if you think you won't have to put some money down...do you have some sort of down payment? (unless, of course, you qualify for the Capital One Blank Check). A $300 per month payment for 60 months is $18,000. Take out interest, tax, and doc fees, and assuming the interest rate is 11.9%, the purchase price is probably $12,000.

As for "new" cars...currently, the best incentives and financing is with Chrysler products. Dealers generally have more flexibility in financing new cars than they do with used cars (because of manufacturer incentive, etc). But, your still talking about a hefty monthly payment.

As for non-dealer financing...Capital One is probably your best bet.

However, if you can limp around with your current car, I would do so at least for a few months. At which point, you probably start seeing offers come in the mail.

[Nyfhpy]

SinkingFast--yes having just checked all three cra"s it is clear that there are co-mingled debts including Med Bills related to her Rehab. Also some just plain incorrect info taht I am already disputing.

HHM--thanks. Yes I have a job (6 figue income) and yes the divorce is finalized other than waiting for the discharge(which as I said just came thru--now just waiting for the EX to re-assure herself that the settlement is the best deal the judge would ever give her-if we went to trial).And yes there is alimony/child support. Even so, I will have enough "cushion" to afford 600-650 per month car payments.

Not sure what to do.

[SinkingFast]

Having just dodged the first big winter storm,......... I'm thinking,......... Were this my decision to make, I'd wait until next spring myself.

The area we currently live in typically gets a lot of snow. I'd hate to ding a brand new, or even new to me, vehicle in a weather related accident.

Just some thoughts for you.

If weather isn't a consideration where you are, then,.................

Keep in mind, out of your $600-$650/mo allowable, you have to account for increased insurance, possibly.

Maybe your old ride is more fuel efficient so you might have to account for spending more on gas.

Taxes??!! Some States assess personal property annually, others don't. Sales tax at the time of purchase that might be rolled into the loan.

Once you consider ALL the factors, be sure to subtract the extras out of your monthly payment so your total expense won't exceed the $600-$650/mo you're allowing.

[sp114]

I applied and was approved for my capital one auto loan 8 days after my discharge. My credit scores were pretty high when I filed and weren't too bad when the case was discharged. I was approved thru the Blank Check program at 10.95%. Not sure if this is normal or I just lucked out. All I can say, is that I was VERY impessed with how smooth everything went.

[HHM]

I applied and was approved for my capital one auto loan 8 days after my discharge. My credit scores were pretty high when I filed and weren't too bad when the case was discharged. I was approved thru the Blank Check program at 10.95%. Not sure if this is normal or I just lucked out. All I can say, is that I was VERY impressed with how smooth everything went.

Based on the responses we see in this forum, the Cap One Blank Check program is getting positive reviews and you can get approved fairly quickly right out of BK. Realize, that 10.95% is still a very high interest rate for a car. I wouldn't recommend anyone take a car loan at that interest rate unless they absolutely, positively, had no other option. I guess my advice would be, make sure you like the car you buy, because you won't be able to sell it for how much you owe for about three years.

[chucko]

Based on the responses we see in this forum, the Cap One Blank Check program is getting positive reviews and you can get approved fairly quickly right out of BK. Realize, that 10.95% is still a very high interest rate for a car. I wouldn't recommend anyone take a car loan at that interest rate unless they absolutely, positively, had no other option. I guess my advice would be, make sure you like the car you buy, because you won't be able to sell it for how much you owe for about three years.

I'm not sure exactly how accurate that statement is. There are too many variables for that statement to be true. Interest rate is not indicitive of resale value. Sure you are paying less of the balance off each month, but it completely depends on type of vehicle, age, and depreciation rate. If he were to buy a nice Honda for example, I would bet he wouldn't be upside down on the loan. Other cars might be different obviously.

[onlineuse]

Here's some real numbers which speak volumes:

$20,000 car $20,000 car
APR 10.95% 6%
Payment $434.35 $386.66
Total Interest $6,061 $3199.36
Total Cost $26,061 $23,199.36


To end up paying the same amount for the car over the long run you'd need to pay an addition $288 a month on the 10.95 to end up at the same 23,200 cost.

[HHM]

Here's some real numbers which speak volumes:

$20,000 car $20,000 car
APR 10.95% 6%
Payment $434.35 $386.66
Total Interest $6,061 $3199.36
Total Cost $26,061 $23,199.36


To end up paying the same amount for the car over the long run you'd need to pay an addition $288 a month on the 10.95 to end up at the same 23,200 cost.

and that is $20,000 financed, the actual price of car would be lower, after sales tax, title, and all the BS fees dealers tack on etc (in most places, the total add ons represent about 8-10% of the sale price of the vehicle (in this case, the sale price of the above hyothetical vehicle would be about $18,185).