Friend need's to buy use car

[DYLAN150]

He filed for chapter 7 in Dec 2010, had that meeting 341 in Feb. The trustee just sent him a letter saying the trustee filed a report of no distribution. The case should be closed (discharged) soon. Can he now buy a used car to drive to work without it being some kind of problem from the courts? I mean, his case is just about over.

[daxtell]

i am in the same situation as your friend. my discharge is in 8 days! woo hoo! my 1995 jeep cherokee is on its last leg and i am so afraid of it konking out on a daily basis. i applied with ford motor company as i had read and heard that they were bankruptcy friendly. and i was upfront with everything dates and times etc. plus i do not make much money. they said they are willing to help and work with me to try and find financing. but the manager said it will be tough coming out of bankruptcy to find anyone willing to finance unless i can pay a minimum of $300 a month for a payment. they are still looking at the situation and hopefully something can be worked out. i had asked for $200 or less a month at first, but he said the finance companies probably would not lend because that would be a $6 to $8 thousand vehicle and they would not finance at that low amount. He suggested the higher payment of $300 to up the car value amount to get a shot at them financing.

[antrob]

Sounds like the Dealership is trying to put you right back in the hole. Never negotiate a car's price by the monthly payment.

[Pandora]

...plus i do not make much money. i had asked for $200 or less a month at first, but he said the finance companies probably would not lend because that would be a $6 to $8 thousand vehicle and they would not finance at that low amount. He suggested the higher payment of $300 to up the car value amount to get a shot at them financing.

that salesman is full of crap... you can get many nice gently used vehicles for under $200 a month in payments. The bigger issue is what will you pay for insurance on a newer vehicle - and you must remember to factor in taxes, tags, etc. An $8K car @18% (hopefully lower...) is roughly $204 a month, with 0 down. Yes you can find nice low mileage cars out there for $8K and under, you just have to look. Agree with PP - never tell a salesman what payment you're looking for as they will always go for that price point or higher, when there are many vehicles under that price point on their lots. Its all about commission.... I just googled KIA's (as an example) in VA - and there are many 2009 models with less than 50K miles for $9K - and thats the high end price point without any haggling. Also never divulge you filed BK until you negotiate a price for the vehicle. If you pull out all your cards in the beginning...they're just going to steam roll you in the end. I've never purchased a vehicle w/out financing obtained first, researched KBB value / private sale / trade-in price then averaged the high / low to get a price to offer. I dont tell them anything other than this is what I want to pay for this vehicle and its up to you to make it happen, otherwise I walk away.

I dont know what "not much money" is to you, however you need to ensure you can afford a car payment for the life of the loan, otherwise you'll just be throwing that money away should it get repo'd, not to mention a deficiency judgment post BK.