Buy car before or after filing 13?

[alicias108]

Hello all:

I think I posted earlier I was going to file a chapter 13 in the next month or so.

However, I'm 27 and about to get my drivers license for the first time. (Yea...I know..a late bloomer.) Obviously, I need a car to drive to get me back and forth to work. I'm about to acquire a second job so I can't have my mom or a friend come get me to drive me 10 minutes to a second job. I need a vehicle of my own.

I have about a 490 FICO and alot of collections accounts. Should I see about getting a car financed myself before I file or should I file and go through the mess of getting approval from the trustee? Can you even get financed with a new chapter 13?

[nc73]

I had no idea you could get a car loan with a 490...you are looking at paying 20% interest.. Anyways I'd buy it before filing.

[alicias108]

Oh god..I don't know if I can get a car loan with a 490. That was actually part of my question. And I'm aware interest will be a nightmare..but it's better then having no vehicle at all. And I have no savings to just buy a junker.

[SinkingFast]

If you're planning to file Ch 13, you'd need to buy the car prior to filing.

In Ch 13, you're only allowed to take on 2 types of new debt. To purchase a car or a home. You have to be in your Plan with on time payments for a year first. And, you have to get permission from the Trustee prior to seeking financing.

Look up an online auto payment calculator and see what your payments will be at 20%-25% interest rate. As NC said, that's probably what you're looking at. Possibly even higher if you purchase from a "Buy Here, Die Here" type lot. One of those places where nobody is refused and anyone can purchase a car.

[nc73]

Oh god..I don't know if I can get a car loan with a 490. That was actually part of my question. And I'm aware interest will be a nightmare..but it's better then having no vehicle at all. And I have no savings to just buy a junker.

If possible buy a used car that you can afford with cash. I've had a 1200 dollar car that ran great. I don't think you will want to pay those high interest rates. It will be killer..

[alicias108]

If possible buy a used car that you can afford with cash. I've had a 1200 dollar car that ran great. I don't think you will want to pay those high interest rates. It will be killer..

In my above post I stated I didn't have any savings to pay cash...which I still don't. So..don't know what I'll do.

[JollyGG]

In my above post I stated I didn't have any savings to pay cash...which I still don't. So..don't know what I'll do.

We used our tax return to buy a 1993 Ford Explorer last year for just under 2k. It had an immaculate maintance record. The old owner wrote everything they did to it in a notebook kept in the vehicle. They even wrote the milage, price, and date whenever they got gas.

However, I would recomemend actually figuring out what you can afford and financing a vehicle in your case. 1. You need something that is going to last you five years. So a newer vehicle is probably in your best interst. 2. The car payments will lower your disposable income so you pay less into your chapter 13 plan. 3. If you are lucky it will lower your disposable income enough to allow you to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy.

[jennordhavn]

Hello all:

I think I posted earlier I was going to file a chapter 13 in the next month or so.

However, I'm 27 and about to get my drivers license for the first time. (Yea...I know..a late bloomer.) Obviously, I need a car to drive to get me back and forth to work. I'm about to acquire a second job so I can't have my mom or a friend come get me to drive me 10 minutes to a second job. I need a vehicle of my own.

I have about a 490 FICO and alot of collections accounts. Should I see about getting a car financed myself before I file or should I file and go through the mess of getting approval from the trustee? Can you even get financed with a new chapter 13?

My score was about 490 when I got financed two years ago for a car. But I had a previous "good" car loan on my record. I got approved with Roadloans and my interest rate is 17%.

[alicias108]

I actually tried Roadloans and they declined me. My father got approved for a few loans but he is wary of financing me. I have no previous car loans, unfortunately.

And to the poster above, the reason I'm filing chapter 13 is because I have private student loans that are simply a mess and this is my way of making good faith payments to them through the plan. I already qualify for chapter 7. It's just not the route I want to go.