Suggestions/ideas/advice post ch 7 car purchase

[dancersmom22]

We're 9 months post ch 7; Because we had 2 older paid off Fords, on the advice of our attorney, 3 months before we filed, we purchased a used car to help keep our DMI low. Since our credit had already tanked, we could only get financing with Santandar, at 20% interest!! The car is 9 years old, and we have 3 more years at $310 a month, at this horrible interest rate. I can't see continuing to pay this loan, and since we did not reaffirm, we can walk away. Any ideas on how/where to start looking for a car and/or loan. Can we get approved and at what kind of interest rate? I've done some cleaning up on our credit report -disputing incorrect reporting, etc. (We are current on our mortgage, and have never been late, it was uninsured medical bills that pushed us into ch 7).

[Pandora]

OMG - $310 a month on a 9 year old vehicle and you still have 3 more years?! holy crap! I'm wondering why your attorney advised to purchase such an older used car vs. a new one at that type of payment.

Ouch....

Church bulletin boards are a good place to look for nice gently used cars.

[IBroke]

I had a similar car loan with 22% interest for 3 years which I paid off a few months ago. A month ago, the car started falling apart and I wasn't willing to spend thousands of $$ on an 11 year old, 135K mile car. 10 days ago, I went to my local dealer and traded it in for a CPOed 2009 Lincoln MKZ. Since this was an emergency-purchase, my score was very bad because I wasn't prepared so I had to accept an 18% interest-rate. However, I'm happy I got approved in the first place. Having 2 repos on my report and a recent BK, getting approved for $23K isn't a sure thing - especially not with a 589 Fico. I can't complain though because this car is in a different league! Now more piling up repair-bills for me!

Right now, I'm paying $547/month for the new one. Considering that the old was $300 without any warranty, I'm much better off AND continuing rebuilding credit again.

However, I'm going to refinance this loan in 6 months and I'm positive that I can drastically reduce the current interest-rate. I should be able to get my score close to 660 at that time.

To the OP: What about lendingtree.com? Once you're done cleaning up the report and pushing up your score (don't forget to pay off the CCs and have them report the right balances), you might be able to get an interest-rate below 10% - depending on your circumstances and current score.

[Charlie777]

I was in a similar situation, let a Toyota Lease go (not reaffirmed) and had to replace it. I was able to finance a certified used Fusion at a Ford Dealership at 10.5% last July, refinanced with NFCU in March at 5.9%. If you didn't discharge Ford Credit debt, and have had a good payment record on auto debt, I would try Ford Credit via a dealer. But I would go in and ask to speak to the dealer's Finance Manager first, maybe even take in a MyFICO report and tell him you're not going to authorize any inquiries before he looks at your report and gives you a good feeling of what he can do.

[Scooter10]

We're 9 months post ch 7; Because we had 2 older paid off Fords, on the advice of our attorney, 3 months before we filed, we purchased a used car to help keep our DMI low. Since our credit had already tanked, we could only get financing with Santandar, at 20% interest!! The car is 9 years old, and we have 3 more years at $310 a month, at this horrible interest rate. I can't see continuing to pay this loan, and since we did not reaffirm, we can walk away. Any ideas on how/where to start looking for a car and/or loan. Can we get approved and at what kind of interest rate? I've done some cleaning up on our credit report -disputing incorrect reporting, etc. (We are current on our mortgage, and have never been late, it was uninsured medical bills that pushed us into ch 7).

You didnt reaffirm so you can just walk away. I would go to a franchiseday (ford, chevy, nissan...) dealership find a car and let them work it out. They have 100's of connections and should be able to get you a loan at a decent rate. dont exspect 4.99, 10% is reasonable. Also dont let them pull your credit until youve found a car, and then make the purchase late saturday or sunday. They have to secure financing, but the lenders are not available so they usually make an offer at a rate they think they can get then they have to go get it. If they can not get it they have the option of taking the vehcile back (now it is used card with some miles and they dont want to do this) or they will finance you in house. Thats is what i did anyways and forved them to finance inhouse.
Another option in CapitalOne, they are a BK friednly lender, but the only problem is they have approved dealerships tha tyou can use and you can only use those dealerships.
I was able to secure 7 percent about 6 months out of BK, but I had to put $4500 cash down on a $30,000 purchase.

[zpbk13]

I posted my post bk experience in a separate thread but the highlights are Ford approved me for a lease of a 2012 Ford Escape at 2.9% interest for 36 months or a purchase of the same vehicle with 3.9% interest for 72 months. It never hurts to explore your options! I hope this helps.

[dancersmom22]

Update -- after car shopping for the last 2 weeks, we ended up purchasing a 2010 Ford Fusion; Cap One approved us with 9.1% interest, $500 down. But we ended up with Wells Fargo w/ 8.3% interest, $500 down payment. Ford Credit approved us for a 2012 Ford Fusion, but the payments would have been $450 per month, and since we're more comfortable with a lower monthly payment -- $285, we opted for the 2010 Fusion. Guess I'll be calling Santandar next week to tell them to come get the car we didn't reaffirm! Wonder how long it will be before they come get it? I hate to keep paying insurance on it!

[jetsfan2010]

Congrats on the purchase and the financing. Santander seems to be rather slow on picking up their vehicles. you may need to call a couple times.