Car exemption question

[so-beyond-broke]

I know that on the Schedule B for personal property you must list the current value of your vehicle. My 98 Nissan Altima based on the KBB values is about $3,135 - it could use some repairs. I currently owe the bank about $2,900. I plan to reaffirm and keep the car. It should be paid off by December. However on the schedule c you have to list the exemption limit which is $2,400 in NY. I only have about 200 in equity in this car at the moment. Do I list the equity amount as the amount that I want covered by the exemption? Also NY allows one to have Personal Property aggregate limit of $5,000. Since the car is considered personal property does the amount of the car or "equity" of the car included in this aggregate amount or is it separate? Can the trustee take property away from a debtor who's car has a lien on it from the bank? If they wanted the car, wouldn't they have to pay the bank off?

Thanks for any advice,

sbb

[LostOne0069]

Yes, they could take the car if you don't exempt it... but in your case, if it needs repairs, get some estimates on those repairs... as long as they're more than the amount of your equity then you should be safe even if you don't exempt it.

Really, with only $200 equity the trustee probably wouldn't bother anyway as he's not going to get blue book value for it if he sold it, he's going to get auction value which would be less than low blue book.