Worst-case personal scenarios that got approved for financing post BK?

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I'd love to hear some worst-case personal scenarios that actually got approved for auto financing post-BK, if you'd be willing to share... how long post-discharge, any prior repo, what your scores were, how long on your job, length of time at residence, who you got financed thru, and how much $. Here's why:

April '09 I lost my job with no warning - went from $95K to $0K income overnight. Was able to file and get Unemployment which I started receiving about 8 weeks later, which equaled about $20K/yr. Anyway, started applying like mad for all kinds of work the moment I lost my job, and due to the economy, just couldn't find work. (Literally, I added it up about 6 weeks ago and at that point I'd applied for over 900 jobs of ALL kinds at ALL wages... just couldn't get hired!). That, and getting sick without insurance, exhausted my savings and prompted my Ch. 7 filing in Nov '09.

My '08 Honda CR-V was repo'd about a week before I filed. Was racing to beat the clock on that... was in contact with AHFC and had been making partial payments and supposedly had an agreement, but they repo'd anyway. Wasn't going to reaffirm, and realize the surrender would have been almost as bad if not equally as bad on CR as the repo, but still.

Ch. 7 discharged Feb '10. On new job just a few weeks. In current place of residence 1 year. Credit scores 590-620 (all 3). Got a Credit One card about a month ago.

All that long-winded diatribe is to preface the fact that unfortunately I will NEED to get into some kind of car fairly soon. Driving 20 year-old Buick with 184K miles that was free gift from friends (NICE!) but that has been in shop twice in last month and promises more of same. Area doesn't have decent public transport; single, live alone, and car pools not an option.

Seriously, will anyone even take a look at financing me? Can probably come up with about $1500 or so down in the next 6 weeks... the longer the Buick stays out of the shop, the more cash I can come up with. THAT is the unknown varible in the equation.

[Amy26]

There are a lot of posts in this section about people getting financing after bankruptcy. If you look through them you will see that people are definately getting financing after bankruptcy. I got financing 3 days after I was discharged.

However, many here will argue as to the terms and rates of these offers and tell you its best not to do any crazy financing offers. With that said, depending on your situation, make sure you're comfortable for what offer you accept and don't accept a wild term and rate just to get a vehicle.

I got a fairly yucky rate when I purchased 3 days after my discharge but I was able to refinance it with a credit union 6 months later for a much more attractive offer.

[blerg]

There are a lot of posts in this section about people getting financing after bankruptcy. If you look through them you will see that people are definately getting financing after bankruptcy. I got financing 3 days after I was discharged.

However, many here will argue as to the terms and rates of these offers and tell you its best not to do any crazy financing offers. With that said, depending on your situation, make sure you're comfortable for what offer you accept and don't accept a wild term and rate just to get a vehicle.

I got a fairly yucky rate when I purchased 3 days after my discharge but I was able to refinance it with a credit union 6 months later for a much more attractive offer.

Thanks Amy - I do appreciate your reading and responding. I did spend a few hours reading the section pretty thoroughly and while I agree there's some good information, I didn't see a tremendous amount of detail as pertains to peoples' individual circumstances.

Sure, folks are getting financed after BK, but peoples' situations vary widely. That's why I went to the trouble to post what I did, with my particular set of circumstances, and ask people who'd had luck getting financed if any happened to have a situation as bleak as mine and still managed to get approved... and by whom. I have my doubts that anyone will touch me after being unemployed a solid year then only on my new job a brief time, plus with the repo of the car in the Ch. 7.

I do agree and understand that if I do get approved somewher, it may not be a great offer with great terms, and I have to be prepared to make a difficult decision at that point.

[BobMango]

I understand the point of your question, but even if you get lots of responses about really bad credit risks getting financed, you really won't know with any degree of certainty what you can do until you start contacting lenders.

Every situation is different. Some small local credit unions are willing to work with people, it really depends on location, history, creditor standards, etc. If you are looking for reassurance that you can get decent financing for a vehicle, we can't give you that. Good luck.

[ROB37LAW]

My scores were in the very same range as yours. I had no prior repos and a good auto loan payment history. I was discharged in 04/10 and financed a used 2010 vehicle in June 2010 through a local credit union at 16% over 60 months with a promise to refi in 6 months. I financed 14k. Capital one gave me a better interest rate of 12% but I chose to go with the credit union. Good luck to you.

[Strapped4Csh]

My wife and I were able to get financed through chase at 13.5 for 60 months about 2 months after discharge. Our scores were in the 550s and we included 4k in credit card debt from them in our bankruptcy. We were told we were also approved through wells fargo which shocked me since we had given up our house financed through them in the bankruptcy. We got an 09 fusion with $2500 down (part of which went toward tax, title, reg, etc)and financed about $15k. They wanted pay stubs, a utility bill and references (4 I think) and would finance 80% of black book value on a vehicle.

Capital one wouldn't approve us since we had too much delinquent debt with them (we discharged $232 in credit card debt with them).

Even though the rate is high, it's not such a big deal since we're on track to have it paid off in 12 months.

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My wife and I were able to get financed through chase at 13.5 for 60 months about 2 months after discharge. Our scores were in the 550s and we included 4k in credit card debt from them in our bankruptcy. We were told we were also approved through wells fargo which shocked me since we had given up our house financed through them in the bankruptcy. We got an 09 fusion with $2500 down (part of which went toward tax, title, reg, etc)and financed about $15k. They wanted pay stubs, a utility bill and references (4 I think) and would finance 80% of black book value on a vehicle.

Capital one wouldn't approve us since we had too much delinquent debt with them (we discharged $232 in credit card debt with them).

Even though the rate is high, it's not such a big deal since we're on track to have it paid off in 12 months.

Nice to hear your story, and thanks. I was actually coming here to update and say that I bought a car yesterday and was able to get financed through Wells Fargo at 15% with only $500 down on a certified pre-owned '06 VW New Beetle, with scores in the 580's. Not a great interest rate (could've maybe got it down a bit with more cash down, but the old car died and had to make the purchase quick without time to save up any more)... but the payments are low so I can afford to pay extra, and I plan to try and refinance with my new credit union in 6-9 months.

Capital One wouldn't approve me either because of less than $300 credit card debt with them discharged in my BK7. I got RoadLoans financing before going to the dealer, approved for $17000 with $750 down at 18%, so even though that was grim, I at least had it to use if I needed it. Glad the VW dealer was able to get me with Wells Fargo at a better rate and less cash down.