can I purchase a new car weeks before filing chapter 7

[laurannm]

Maybe blunt here, but why would someone go through the trouble with a bankruptcy and go buy a brand new car to have the loan upside down in 5 minutes? Crazy. Please stop and think here and make you sure you really get your "fresh start".

If I were you, I would get a vehicle, but definitely a used vehicle.

You are probably right, but given that I put on about 25k miles a year just for work, my thinking was that I find something with as low mileage as possible. My car had just died and I need something ASAP, and anything half-way decent used in our area had close to 100k miles. Anything that didn't have that many miles still would have cost the same that I paid for my Versa.

Plus, I wanted to be prepared in case we got pushed into a Ch 13, and just about everyone on here recommends trying to purchase a car that will be reliable for the 5 year period, even if it is right before filing

[down @ out]

car purchase

Hello Everyone,

It seems to me the major argument to purchase a new vehicle before a bankruptcy is that after the bankruptcy the interest rate you will pay will be
almost criminal.

About 7 months before I had to file in 2005 I saw the handwriting on the wall and purchased a new Honda. I was able to get 2.9% financing and a vehicle that I could count on. Now three years later, the vehicle is great,I have 21 payments left and it turned out to be a good decision.

Also I was able to sell a vehicle with 135,000 miles on it and have a bit of money to survive on.

In addition the monthly payment of the honda helped me at the bankruptcy because it pushed me to a negative monthly situation. Actually purchasing the car was a big part of me being able to file bankuptcy successfully.

The trustee didn`t even bring it up. I filed pro-se and it went very smoothly.

A word of caution. I filed under the old laws and things maybe different now, and I too would be a bit worried about buying a new car and filing the next day.

Down @ Out