newer car before filing CH13

[notagain]

We will file Chapter 13 on Feb 1. In order to pay the least amount back, we need to decrease our disposable income. Is a newer car the best way to do that? What if I go out and buy a car and then the CH13 payments are more than I can afford?

I loathe car payments, but my atty says I'm either paying it to creditors or to auto finance company. But, where am I going to find someone to finance with mortgage 3 months past due? If I have to have a down payment, will that look bad to trustee?

I don't want to commit to a car payment, but my car is a 1997 Protege that was abused and given to me. It has a cracked head and 140,000 miles already, so i don't know how long it will last.

[rrockinggramma]

buy a car!!!!! you will be so sorry if you don't Not many lenders work with people in a chapter 13. Once it starts you won't be able to get anything

[Flamingo]

We will file Chapter 13 on Feb 1. In order to pay the least amount back, we need to decrease our disposable income. Is a newer car the best way to do that? What if I go out and buy a car and then the CH13 payments are more than I can afford?

I loathe car payments, but my atty says I'm either paying it to creditors or to auto finance company. But, where am I going to find someone to finance with mortgage 3 months past due? If I have to have a down payment, will that look bad to trustee?

I don't want to commit to a car payment, but my car is a 1997 Protege that was abused and given to me. It has a cracked head and 140,000 miles already, so i don't know how long it will last.

Unless you walk or take public transportation to work, a 1997 car lasting another 3 to 5 years probably will not happen. However, you may have a difficult time obtaining financing with three late mortgage payments as you state and probably high debts listed on your credit reports along with that since you are getting ready to file. If you ever had a car loan through Ford Credit or GMAC and paid successfully on it, that would be the way to go at the moment. You certainly can't go in and explain to a finance manager at a dealership that you are getting ready to file 13 and need to get a car prior to filing. Hopefully someone on here who was in a similar situation can help you more. See if your attorney can recommend a car dealership as she/he has probably dealt with similar issues such as yours in the past.

[helpless]

Get a car if you can. That is the biggest thing that we regret and wished that our attorney had suggested. It has been a long 2 1/2 years with unexpected repairs. Some months I don't know how we do it, we do, but boy I wish that I had bought a car before I filed. Good luck.

[AboutToBK13]

Buy the car. We bought one last year just before our scores tanked. Heading into 5 years of BK 13 was part of the reasoning. Oh, and we purchased a 100,000 mile warranty on the vehicle as well. We wanted to make sure we were prepared as best we could. I wish that we had purchased a new one for DW as well.

[woeisme]

Really wish we had bought a car first! I asked my attorney about it, and he said he couldn't advise me to take on any new debt while considering a BK. Now we are in a 5 year plan with a 10 year old truck (130,000 miles on it) and a 9 year old car (150,000 miles on it) and will have to beg the court to allow us to get a new one when one of these dies on us, and then try to find a lender who will sell to us while in an open CH 13. Definitely would have been better to buy at least 1 reliable car beforehand. We're lucky though, our trustee allows us to keep tax returns under $6500, so we might be able to get a $3000-4000 car next year to keep us going a while without having to modify our plan.

[notagain]

Thanks to all of you for your replies. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get something newer to drive. I may have actually found a dealership to finance us! I have to have 1500 down and a 17.50%interest rate, but hopefully I will be able to refinance at some point. Looking at a 07 Dodge Caliber with 20,000 miles - new anything is out of my price range.