Buy new car as third car then relinquish oldest car

[coolhand123]

There are so many posts about cars to check and it's hard to look through them all, so hopefully this isn't redundant. We expect to do ch.7 next year maybe in 4 months or so. We have two cars currently: 1) an owned compact worth about 12k in todays overpriced used car market that we would want keep, and 2) an 8 year old compact in bad shape with 180k miles that unfortunately is worth about $800 but that we still owe several thousand on.

We will absolutely need two cars and the our second one will not last long. We would rather get a new car loan now while my credit score is still fair. Things will be tight enough in the future, and I don't want to roll 3K into a new car loan by trading it in. Will we create trouble for ourselves if we get a new car now without trading in the old one, then stop paying on the clunker and let it get repossessed before filing or as part of filing?

[flashoflight]

It's very common for folks to get an auto loan while credit is decent before stopping payment on the credit cards in preparation to file bankruptcy.

If you're using California's renters exemption (703), you should have no problems protecting the $12k car. The 704 exemption would not have enough room to completely exempt your $12k car. You should try to buy cars that can last well over 180k miles in the future like Toyotas. Stop messing with car brands known to die in 10 years just because they look cooler than boring Corollas. 8 year old cars (2014) should not be in bad shape except due to an accident or deferred maintenance. I also don't like the idea of buying new because you will likely be forced to keep a crushing monthly payment that wouldn't be much of a fresh start after chapter 7.