New Car Question

[minan]

Bought a reliable car (honda) 2 weeks ago because car lease ends in Nov. Plan was to wait to file until end of year, however looks like I may not be able to wait until end of year.

Need the car for transportation. No other car available.

What I'm afraid of is that they will take the car once they get notified I filed especially since I just bought it and haven't made my first payment.

Will Honda repo if I file bankruptcy in July before my first payment?
Should I reaffirm this car loan?

Any advice would be helpful.

[lorelei]

My attorney said that since my car (2004 Hyundai, 118,000 miles, needs new tires, cracked windshield) wouldn't last another five years to go ahead and get a new car now before filing. He said not to do anything stupid, like getting a Lexus or Cadillac, but that the Trustee knows I need reliable transportation to get to work.

[minan]

Lorelei, so how long after you bought your car did you file bk? By the way, I want to keep the car and can afford the payment.

My concern is when to file to avoid Honda freaking out and taking the car.

[lrprn]

My concern is when to file to avoid Honda freaking out and taking the car.

Assuming the loan you took out on the car is close to the car's actual value, the only reason Honda would be allowed to take your car after filing is if you get behind on payments. If you continue to make your car payments on time by the day of the month the payment is due (not in the grace period), Honda can't take the car. They have no legal grounds to do so. They can't just take the car because they might want to.

Take the energy you are wasting on this non-issue and put it towards refining your pre- and post-filing budgets instead

[minan]

Thanks lrprn. There's just so much information to absorb and I want to make sure there's no surprises.

I retain my bk lawyer on Tuesday so that's the first step forward. I have learned so much on this site.

I think the thing that helped me most was knowing there are others in financial crisis and that bk is not the end of the world.

[lorelei]

Lorelei, so how long after you bought your car did you file bk? By the way, I want to keep the car and can afford the payment.

My concern is when to file to avoid Honda freaking out and taking the car.

I haven't yet, but I'm set to buy the new car this week.