Car issues in the middle of a ch 13

[sahaley]

Its been a rough day... found out my car needs a new transmission to the tune of $4k... ugh.... I am 36 months into my ch 13... 24 to go. My car is a 2003 Ford Explorer with about 120k miles on it - blue book is around 5-6k. My atty is out of the office til Wed.... I have 3 kids, 2 jobs and spend nearly 75% of my day in the car it seems. I need some advice. Feeling very helpless right now.
Thanks.

[sahaley]

My husband has a vehicle and we are attempting to eek by on one car but its going to be unmanageable very soon... he wants to take out an emergency withdrawal of 4k from his 457 to pay for the repair... who knows if this would even qualify.

[kornellred]

What is a "457" ? Obviously, you cannot manage a busy life with 3 kids and 2 jobs without transportation. You can probably get a used transmission for your Explorer (not rebuilt) for a lot cheaper than $4K. You just don't expect major breakdowns on vehicles with only 120,000 miles on the odometer.

[jetsfan2010]

The good news is you are 3 years into your plan. Way out the option of paying to fix the truck compared to using 3-4k on another used car.

[Flamingo]

Many of us that are or have been in a Chapter 13 run into some sort of issue like this. Getting through a Chapter 13 with a vehicle that was older or had high mileage at the beginning of the plan sometimes just does not work - the vehicle may not make it the next three to five years. Both of ours were 3 years old going in and one started to have major issues and then both needed repairs and we were starting to get hit hard with car repair bills. The bills are your own responsibility during your plan as they are bills incurred after filing. While it's difficult for most to try to save anything during a Chapter 13, car or house repairs always need to be done sometime during your plan and you can bet on tire replacements also during that time. Somehow one has to save for these expenses to make it through - budgeting and saving is difficult during a Chapter 13 if one has never done it before. Your best bet is to contact your attorney and go over your options as to this as this far into your Plan you want to ensure you complete it successfully. Best of luck to you...

[sahaley]

a 457 is similar to a 401k - retirement savings. Will go over the details with my atty this week - hopefully there will be some options. Its very true about savings - we have been doing that - little bits at a time.... unfortunately when it rains it pours.... with 1200 heating/plumbing repairs, new tires in Nov for my car, new brakes for my husbands car last month and another 350 in repairs needed for that one... that will be the priority at the moment... we need one functional car. Thanks for the luck.... I am gonna need it!