Exemption

[stew89]

My sister needed a car about 4 years ago and my mom applied for financing and I cosigned on the car. Well the car was paid off in 3 years. The car is a 1996 Toyota Camry that is in great shape with less than 100,000 miles. According the kbb.com the private party value with the vehicle listed as in good shape is 4,315. Now my name is still on the title and I have two other vehicles, one is a 2001 Nissan Frontier which I am upside down on but want to keep it and the other is a 1984 Ford Bronco II which is a play toy and has no value. Now I dont want my sister to loose her car and if I apply my full allowed 3,000 exemption on it will they still want that vehicle?

[lrprn]

Now I dont want my sister to loose her car and if I apply my full allowed 3,000 exemption on it will they still want that vehicle?

Since the car is a 1996 model worth $4200 and has another co-signer on it, the chances of the trustee taking it to sell it are very small. However he/she may insist on being paid the difference between what your exemption protects and the car's resale value.

Also check other used car appraisal sites like www.edmunds.com. There I'm seeing private party values lower than yours for most 1996 models. The cool thing about Edmunds is you can price the car's features and mileage for your zip code which is the most accurate way to know what a car is really worth in your area.

A question for you - you have three cars involved, one of which your sister is driving, one you are upside down on, and a 'junker'. If you are filing alone, some districts are quite strict on allowing only one car for each driver. Is that going to cause problems for you if you can only save one car and it's not the one you drive?