Surrendering Car With Bad Transmission

[ursaminor]

Hi Everyone-

Quick question...I tend to over-worry so I'd love feedback on this if you could...

We have a 2006 Nissan Truck that has been a lemon since birth. We still owe $12K on it. Even if it wasn't a lemon, it is too much payment for us...so we chose to surrender it because of the cost and because of the 4 years of problems (they literally took the engine apart and put it back together under warranty). We've been working with the bank and they have been really great, believe it or not. We stopped paying in December, our 341 is April 8th, and we've kept the bank posted all along. They don't need to send a "repo man" out because we've told them we will cooperate, leave it wherever they want with keys inside, etc. They seem to be in no hurry to come get the vehicle (they are 2000 miles away from us)...they are still letting us drive it and we are amazed how long we've had it to date.

Ok...here is the thing...since this started, we've discovered our tranny is going only when in reverse (yet another problem with this truck). It was minor in December but now it is awful.

DON'T LAUGH...HERE IS THE QUESTION:

Is it ok to surrender a vehicle with a $5000 mechanical problem (I'm just guessing on the repair cost)? I am hoping the answer is "yes" but I feel like they're going to come out here to get it eventually and won't they be surprised if they have to reverse!

I am an honest person but honesty has bit me a lot in the past and right now I am in survival mode only. Do I tell the bank about the problem? Do I have any legal obligation to let them know (I'll deal with the moral part on my own)?

Thanks so much! This has really been bothering me and I thought it was time to ask all of you what you would do.

[jeep75]

It doesn't matter what the condition is of the vehicle they reposses, a general contractors truck may have tons of body damage. They are only intrested in trying to get what you owe on the loan because they know even if it was immaculate it wouldn't get what you owe at an auction in most cases.

[catleg]

No, obviously it is going to be a big financial loss for someone, but as long as you're filing BK you don't have to worry about it.
I think you are going to have a hard time getting them to come take it.

[ursaminor]

Thank you for the replies to date!
Do you really think they will reluctantly come get it? We are in the mountains in NW Montana, they are in Texas....what do they do, say "drive it all you want?"

[nokia123]

since you are giving the car back, just make sure you don't leave anything in the car that you don't want them to take. They can come at anytime and get the car, some will let you know, some will just show up, so just be ready.

[olivies]

Well, we're surrendering our Expedition and the AC system is shot (we live in SW Florida, so it's really kinda necessary if you want to drive it 6 months out of the year but it's also $2K to fix), the driver's window motor is dead and the window is off the track (we propped it up with a board inside the door panel- not about to pay $300 to a mechanic to fix it when we're not keeping it) and the passenger front window motor is dying- we don't dare open the window because it may not go back up.

We owe about $27K on the vehicle still- the dealer valued it at $10K when we filed LAST June. And that was not taking into account the AC system- he said he didn't want to put down on paper that there was a problem there. Honestly, if they wanted to drop the value to what it's worth to us...maybe $5K because it has 80K+ miles on it and it got keyed two years ago (filed a police report, but never filed insurance because our deductible is high)- I would consider keeping it. But that's not likely to happen.

[catleg]

OMG. SW Florida in a truck with no AC and windows that won't roll down? When did you stop making payments? You could always try parking it in a cruddy area of Ft Myers and hope some gang bangers steal it.

[olivies]

OMG. SW Florida in a truck with no AC and windows that won't roll down? When did you stop making payments? You could always try parking it in a cruddy area of Ft Myers and hope some gang bangers steal it.

Trust me- thought about it! LOL Big red SUV though is conspicuous so they're not likely to take it. We filed last June. Our last payment was made in April 2009 and it was current (we were in a 13 prior to attempting this 7, so they did receive $ just not directly from us). At least there's a sun roof! We let our 18yo son drive it at the moment. His car was totaled in an accident and we told him to use this one while we have it. Weather's warming up- he'll be looking to get a replacement car of his own soon I'm sure.