Three cars?

[hankhill]

We have two old cars (from 1990), that book at $1,500 each, and a classic car that we inherited from in-laws. The last car has sat for almost 10 years and needs a lot of work before it is even driveable. I got a NADA price guide value on it of about $3,100 (that's low retail, which NADA guide description fits to a tee). Can we double the federal exemption since we're married, and use the $5,500 toward all three cars? Or are we limited to just two cars for two people? Thanks for the help.

[jazzop89]

I have a similar situation. (I hope it's similar enough to warrant piggybacking on this thread rather than starting a new one).

I own nothing of value except for five cars. One is a relatively new car that I still have loan payments (not delinquent) and use 90% for business (well-documented), two are 20-year old Hondas with minimal value, and two are 50-year old classic cars in non-running condition. One of the classic cars is mostly disassembled and in plastic storage bins. The other classic car is restored but with a non-running motor. The book value on the classic cars is surprisingly high-- about 5-8x what I paid for them.

1. How does the BK court/trustee reconcile the difference between a book value and the practical consideration of a disassembled or non-working car?
2. What can I do to keep these cars? If there is any possibility of losing the classic cars, I will not file BK. They are all I have and my only link to sanity in this world.

[My filing state will either be FL, NJ, or NY-- not sure which I qualify for].

[brokejoker]

We have two newer cars with loans and an older "project" car that doesn't run. Our lawyer put down the value of the non-running vehicle at $250 and exempted it. Trustee asked us under oath if it ran, we said no, and he flipped to the next page. Trustee filed our no asset/no distribution report the same day as our 341. Granted our project car is not a classic but I imagine it would be a similiar scenario for you. Now, if you have the parts for a 1959 Ferrari 250 you may be looking at a problem filing BK.

[platter]

On the value of a non-running car, get a mechanic to come over and write a note about it with his name/address/phone number or maybe a friend can do it, someone other than you? That's a form of proof imo. Then you have the value you printed out from the book value site and then you have proof that it's worth even far less, especially if it needs new tires, etc.

Am I wrong? I have 3 vehicles.
One 1988.
One 1995.
One 1997.

She said I can keep the 1997 but have to pay back what it's worth above $1,000.
Said the 1988 if valued at less than $1,000, I'd have to pay back some of that, or half of the value.
(Same on the 1997.)

And if they're in both of our names, it stands this way. If in the spouse's name, then there's no problem but they're all in mine or both our names unfortunately.