Close to end but need new car!

[angel2002]

Hello Everyone!

It is encouraging reading thru the forum seeing some of you are at the end of your journey. We should be joining the celebration in about 4 months when our final payment is in the hands of the trustee. We can't wait!! Well, literally we can't wait .

Here's what's going on at the moment. My hubby's car was purchased in 2007. It is a 2002 Explorer and had 90k miles on it when we got it. Fast forward to now we still have the car and it now has 160k miles on it and is rapidly showing significant signs of pricey repairs just to keep it running. We've already put in over $500 in repairs just in the last 2 months alone and I'm sure it's going to be a matter of time before this car finally decides to really dig deep into our pocket books. It already needs new tires, rotors and brake pads at the cost of $1000, a new battery and battery cables, new shocks, and there is a steady leak coming from under the back end of the car. It's time for a new car before winter hits here and we are literally backed into a corner to get a new one. I'd rather do this on our own terms than wait for our hand to be forced. That is a bad scenario for making critical financial decisions. Our current cars are paid off. My hubby's car will yield next to nothing for trade since it is in such bad shape. Mine on the other hand has a great trade in value. Obviously we can't trade mine in alone to get him a new car because that would leave us with only 1 good car (the one that we end up financing). We NEED two cars and there is no way around it. The biggest hurdle is the trustee....... We are ahead of our plan payments and should finish our 13 early in December this year. We owe about $1800 to the plan. I know we need to have trustee approval but I'm worried they will deny our request. What we would ideally like to do is trade in my car for 2 new cars and split it between them. I know it's a little over zealous to ask the trustee for not 1 but 2 new car loans but in reality we had 2 car loans when we filed with a combined total of $700 so I don't see how it would be a big deal. Not to mention if we purchase the 2 cars in about a month by the time the 1st payments are due on the new cars we only have 1 trustee payment left so I don't see how it could possibly "interfere" with our ability to complete our plan. In case you are wondering we are trying to keep the combined payments for both new cars under $800. I've gone over our budget about a million times for post bankruptcy living and we would very comfortably be able to afford those payments alongside our mortgage and still be able to set aside money into savings each month. I'm figuring $800 because of such awful scores right now. We are looking for 2 more cars that we plan to keep for another 7-10 years so we do not want to get the cheapest possible cars just to have new cars. We also don't want to turn around and get used cars with already 40k-60k miles on them. Mine has 50k miles on it and I've had it for 7 years!

I'm just curious as to what the trustee might say. I am pretty much prepared to be shot down because that's just me being used to disappointment but I sure hope they are lenient considering we only have a short time left. I know we should wait for discharge but like I said the Explorer is in pretty bad shape and it has become highly unreliable and will be even more so once the snow starts falling in the next couple of months. Sorry this was so long and thank you to those that took the time to read it.

[dmc-2008]

Wow so close!!!! I wish you could some how just limp along without upsetting the apple cart that is the trustee!! Take a bus, get a ride, something. 4 months is too close then do whatever u want!!!

[angel7821]

Talk to your attorney first and see what he/she has to say. You just might get the go ahead since you are almost done. Best of luck to you.

[kornellred]

Most trustees require that debtors who did not file pro se must approach their attorneys to initiate any changes or modifications to the Chapter 13 confirmed plan. Your attorney will be in the best position to tell you what is possible in your case and why.
In your explanation, you mentioned that you had two car loans going in to your Chapter 13 and that now they are paid off. In most cases, that extra disposable monthly income available after the loans are paid off would generate an automatic plan payment increase defined in the confirmation document. If that situation was glossed over when you filed, it might not be so good to bring it to the trustee's attention.

[angel2002]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Kornellred, we are in a 100% plan. I asked our attorney about this about a year and half ago in regards to some expenses suddenly ending, such as the car payments and day care and whether that would affect our plan payments. He told us that they wouldn't but of course I'm not saying that he could have potentially be misinforming us. I have an email out to the attorney and hopefully I'll hear something next week. We really don't have a lot of options right now. It's either continue to fix this car and ride it out or state our case loud and clear. We've had a few bumps along the way but always managed to come out on top. I'm hoping the trustee will agree so we can get rid of this car!!

[LadyInTheRed]

If you are in a 100% plan, getting the car loans approved should not be a big problem. But, keep in mind that you will probably incur additional attorney fees to get the loans approved.

[angel2002]

Update: So after a week and talking to our lawyer we are doing much better. Our lawyer referred us to a dealership that deals mainly with bankruptcy filers. The process itself was amazing! The people were so friendly and not one ounce of pressure could be found from any of the staff. We were worried about the trustee granting us permission however, after talking to our salesmen and him looking over paycheck stubs he convinced the bank to waive trustee approval. For one we are within a couple of months of discharge and secondly our trustee payment is being taken directly from hubbys check so the bank didn't even bat an eyelash at waiving trustee approval. We looked at several different cars and settled on a 2011 Camry with 36k miles on it. The sales guy was gushing about our lawyer and agreed to drop $1300 off the sales price to get us down to reasonable payments. As I figured we are at an extremely high interest rate however, we are not keeping this car forever but it will serve its function just fine until next year when we can walk onto the dealership with huge down payments and repaired credit for the cars we are going to keep for another 8 years or more. We were prepared to spend hours at the dealership but in reality we were in and out in less than an hour! The first payment is due Oct 29th so it works out perfectly since we will only have 2 payments left to the trustee.

On a side note, Just on our way to this particular dealership we had to drive by the Bentley, Lamborghini, Lotus and Porsche dealerships and then as soon as we pull into the lot we notice the kinds of cars sitting on the lot. There were Hummer, Mercedes, Corvette and Porsche cars mingling with 4 door sedans and minivans. I think there was even a Maybach listed on the website on Wednesday. It just goes to show that bankruptcy can hit every financial situation in the rainbow. We didn't feel so bad about ourselves after noticing those luxury cars keeping company with our new Camry.

[spidge]

Good to see there was a satisfying solution for you. I would imagine winter is quite hard on your cars in Colorado so that explains the 8 year goal for a car. I live in Southern California and have had a few cars go for 13 years before deciding to let them go. My current car of 12 years is steadily nickle and diming me, but I hope to milk it as far as I can. I still have 2+ years in my plan to go and I doubt it will make another summer as the heat is rough on it. My fingers are crossed every time I drive it.

Good luck to you and I look forward to your Discharge announcement.

[angel2002]

Thanks Spidge! I wish you the best of luck with your car and that it doesn't cause you as much of a headache as our Explorer caused us. I am counting down this discharge by the weeks now. We will be calling the lawyer at the beginning of November to prepare for our final payment at the end of November. We would like to give ourselves the gift of discharge for Christmas by making that final payment early. So excited, nervous, scared and downright anxious to have control of our lives again.

[angel7821]

Everyone is nervous towards the end of their plan. I don't know why that is. I certainly was and it was for no good reason. Congrats on your "new" car purchase and am looking forward to your discharge party. It will be here before you know it.