Give up the car or not???? WWYD?

[coffee]

Met with the lawyer on friday and he advised us to get rid of both cars and buy a couple of clunkers. We are giving back 1 car but we had planned on keeping the other and reaffirming the loan.

Problem is our payments for the car we were keeping are up in December and there will be a $3000 balloon payment due.

The car has under 100,000 miles on it, rust all over the undercarriage, AC doesnt work, big dent in the side from an accident but it is reliable.

He thought we should take our payments we wouldnt be making and any money we planned on the balloon payment and put it towards another car. Problem is we already have to replace the car we are giving back. He said he doesnt want us to end up not being able to come up with the baloon payment and get stuck with the repo and the remainder of the loan.

What would you do?

[bkmaggster]

I would give up the car and hoof it/bike/take the bus for a while. That car sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen. If I may ask, how did you end up with a balloon payment on the car?

[Tbornetun]

I would listen to your attorney. It sounds like he has your best interests in mind.

[HakunaMatata]

Do you have money for "clunkers"? What is the Blue Book/NADA value of the vehicle you're contemplating keeping? Can you envision yourself driving something that equals the $3000 balloon payment + payments submitted until December? I imagine you can find a reliable car with less than 100k miles, working air conditioning, little to no rust, and no dents for this amount.

I'd heed your attorney's advice and get rid of the car.

[debtmonster]

100k miles? My car only has 76,000 and is a 2007 and my attorney said to GIVE IT BACK!! He said I could always buy another car after discharge. If you have all of those problems with the car, it's going to be more of a headache.

If you want me to find you some low mileage $5,000 to $7,500 cars, let me know. When I say low mileage, I mean under 30,000 miles and no older than 3 to 4 years old.

If my attorney can keep us in our cars until January 2010 or later, I am hoping we'll have almost $10,000+ to put down on any car of our choice. If we can't get financing, then there will literally be THOUSANDS of cars at our disposable to buy for CASH.

[debtmonster]

I imagine you can find a reliable car with less than 100k miles, working air conditioning, little to no rust, and no dents for this amount.

I imagine you you find a reliable car with less than 30k miles, working air condition, no rust, no dents for under $6,000... and something NOT 5 to 10 years old. You can buy Kia Sephia's, Hyundai Elantra's, Hyundai Accent's, Kia Rio's ALL DAY LONG and those cars are super reliable.

[coffee]

Thanks for the responses and advice!
We ended up with a balloon payment from deferred payments and interest build up and I dont know what else.

Cant take the bus, no public transportation. We dont even have taxi service. Everything is too far to walk or bike. We need 2 cars.

I hate the car. Head gasket blew at 60,000 miles, had to have the engine rebuilt to the tune of thousands. The rust started when the car was only a few years old all over the rocker panels.

But....

We dont want another car loan.

I can definately swing buying 1 car in cash. 2 is a stretch. The only way I could make it is to not have the car given back until after December. Lawyer said they usually come to get them in about 5-6 weeks after you file. Plan to file at the end of September.

Decisions decisions.

[bkmaggster]

I filed on June 16, they still haven't come to get the car yet. You might luck out.

[coffee]

Do you have money for "clunkers"? What is the Blue Book/NADA value of the vehicle you're contemplating keeping? Can you envision yourself driving something that equals the $3000 balloon payment + payments submitted until December? I imagine you can find a reliable car with less than 100k miles, working air conditioning, little to no rust, and no dents for this amount.

I'd heed your attorney's advice and get rid of the car.

The Kelley blue book book value for the car is $3950 private party. We owe $4000 give or take a couple bucks.

[HakunaMatata]

I imagine you you find a reliable car with less than 30k miles, working air condition, no rust, no dents for under $6,000... and something NOT 5 to 10 years old. You can buy Kia Sephia's, Hyundai Elantra's, Hyundai Accent's, Kia Rio's ALL DAY LONG and those cars are super reliable.

Most definitely..."imagine" (instead of an affirmative) was used to continue the pondering process (plus, who knows...the OP may live in an ultra remote area without cars ). I'm in the (former?) Motor City and I know, without question, reliable transportation (without rust and with low miles and air conditioning) is available.

Coffee-

I know you're trying to plan your financial future and I commend you for pondering this. It would be awful if you decide to reaffirm this loan only to discover you are faced with costly repairs...costing you additional money and sound transportation.

There are plenty of reliable, inexpensive cars on the market. Of course, there are very few guarantees with cars (new and used...the difference, oftentimes, is warranty). If you truly dislike the car, you may be better off letting it go. You've already invested (seemingly prematurely) in the working condition of this vehicle and it would be awful if you had to invest more. Considering the KBB, you're (at best) at a break-even. BK offers us a new start. Maybe it's time to start a new engine?

[aces67]

I would let the car go back also.

[pookieny]

Give it up!

[debtmonster]

Tell me the most amount you want to pay an a nearby zip code and I will find something.

[hereforinfo]

The Kelley blue book book value for the car is $3950 private party. We owe $4000 give or take a couple bucks.

The KBB values are outdated considering the economy. You could probably get a much better car for your $4k cash.

[debtmonster]

I'm seeing lots of people sell cars on AutoTrader for less than KBB trade-in prices. It's a beautiful thing.