I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Here%26#039;s the thing . . . PLEASE do not respond with some one-liner. I have a Saturn Vue and I%26#039;m paying about $465/mo. Due to some hardships I%26#039;m having, I can%26#039;t afford the payments right now. The problem is this: According to Kelly Blue Book my car is worth about $15k but I still owe about 23k on the car. So, obviously if I trade it in, I%26#039;m losing about 8k right? I%26#039;d be happy to have the 8k added on to some crappy used car as long as I can get my payments lower. Is that the way it works? Oh, and another thing . . . I have 0% financing right now because when I bought the car my credit was immaculate. But, due to the same hardships, my credit is now horrible. If I trade it in for some crappy used car, will I still get my 0%? NO!! Right? So, I would get a high rate and owe 8k on top of whatever car I%26#039;m trying to buy? Blech! I feel sick!

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Your in a tough situation. You can%26#039;t sell it unless you can get someone to pay way more than it is worth since you need to pay off the car loan when you sell the car (unless you get a personal loan for 8K and pay the difference).

You can%26#039;t trade it since 8K is too much to roll into a car that only costs 5-8K (any more than that and your payment won%26#039;t be much lower than your current payment).

It is a VERY BAD idea to let someone you don%26#039;t know take over the loan payments (and might be illegal and is against your loan agreement). You are still responsible for the loan payment and if they stop paying you will have to. Plus, if they disappear or wreck the car without insurance you will be in a much worse position (after all, what type of person would buy a car for 8K more than it is worth? Someone who can%26#039;t get financed anywhere or someone who doesn%26#039;t plan to pay then entire note.)

Your best chance, if you are in a short term situation is to borrow from your parents.

GMAC (since it is a GM car and 0% I assume they are the finance company) isn%26#039;t the type of finance company that will negotiate with a customer. Since they stand to lose a lot of money they might be willing to work out some payment plans. Unless this situation is very short term, a few months at most, they will probably just tell you to pay or surrender. If your credit is already ruined and you don%26#039;t have a house; maybe that would be the best for you. If you are getting deeper in a hole, this might be the best way to get out from under.

Call GMAC and tell them you can%26#039;t afford the car anymore and can%26#039;t sell it for what you owe, see what they can do.

If you want to pay the deficiency instead of giving them the big F - U, they will often settle for a fraction of what you owe and allow you to make very low payments after surrender. Plus a voluntary surrender with a paid deficiency looks better than a repo, which looks like where you are headed.

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Why don%26#039;t you try to sell it out right on your own.

You pay off the car and you are out of the payment.

If that is not a option, then see if you can work out a deal with the bank that holds the note on the car.

Banks lose money on repossessed vehicles so they may be willing to work out some kind of deal with you.

Good Luck I really hope you can get this worked out for your benefit

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Go to the dealership and talk things over with the car manager... depending on the year of your car he may be able to get you into something a little easier money wise.

But take a man with you......women pay more on every deal

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Your best option is to try to sell your car to an individual. That always brings the highest price. You could try advertising a %26quot;free car%26quot; being sure to indicate you are willing to give the car to whoever will take up the note. That would leave you free to try and find something cheaper without the 8k hanging over your head. Best wishes.

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Hey, sorry to hear about your current situation. If I were in your shoes, I would try to sell the car to an individual vs selling it to a dealership. The dealers will never give you full value for your vehicle as some Joe who is really interested in your car. Try to sell it yourself! Put an ad, ebay, theres many ways to try. The other option you may have is to refinance your car. Yes it can be done but it is not the smartest of choices since you will be paying lots in the long run.

Good luck and hope I provided some help!!!

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

i work at a dealership. i see this everyday. best chance you have is to sell your car on your own. it will be hard to roll the negative equity into a new car and have a payment go down. almost impossible. and its hard to get a older car that is harder to get financed because the older car isnt worth what you would try to finance if you roll that 7-8000 into a older used car. ex: a 8,000 car...with your neg equit of 7000 will be 15,000. a bank wont finance that much on it because the car will only be worth say...10,000

sorry to say... you are in a bad spot. but you are not alone. try to sell it on your own. its your best chance.

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

You have a problem, but don%26#039;t despair you can fix it. Can you get a part time job and use that money to pay the car loan down? Another idea is go to a reputable place that will help you with all of your bills. You have to be careful not to become involved with a rip off place. Ask your bank where the best place is. Don%26#039;t pay someone to help you that is a RIP OFF.

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

You are right.You will end up oweing alot more on a car that is not as good,assuming someone would finance you and the car.You would probably have to buy a new car at a higher interest for longer terms and still pay way more than what it is worth.Not to mention you are going by Kelly Blue Book....the dealers will not give you Kelly Blue Book for your trade.You are looking at alot more than 8k.You might see if you could have someone take over payments.Just make sure it%26#039;ll be completely out of your name.If nothing else and you can%26#039;t get out of it and your credit is bad you could just tell them to come get it.If you volunteer to give it up its not as bad on your credit ...if they sell it for almost what is owed on it.If not you may have to pay the rest of the balance. Good luck

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Wow. You seem to be between the proverbial rock and hard place. This situation is what%26#039;s called an %26quot;upside down%26quot; loan, and it%26#039;s a rotten place to be. With an 8K difference, even if you buy a cheap used car, you have to have fabulous credit to get a loan of that much more than the car is worth and your payments wouldn%26#039;t be that much lower. Here are a few ideas. I don%26#039;t know if you own a home or land, but if the home is worth more than what you owe on it, you can get a home equity loan and pay off the Vue. The payments will be lower AND you can deduct the interest on the equity loan on your income taxes. Talk to a good banker about this. There are usually some costs involved but it%26#039;s usually worth it. A second idea is that if you can%26#039;t lower the expenses, increase the income side of the equation. Get a second job or sell other stuff you own to pay off the car. Second jobs don%26#039;t have to be the night shift at 7-11 either. If you have any skills that people will pay you for, find someone who will. Perhaps you know carpentry, electronics, copy writing. Even mowing lawns will bring in some cash AND keep your schedule flexible. It%26#039;s just temporary to get you through the pinch. As a third option, talk to the company or bank that has the loan on the Vue, explain your situation and see what options you have. My bank offers a one-time, 90-day payment break during hardships. Perhaps you could sell the Vue and the lender would let you put up other collateral until you pay off the 8K. There are some creative options, but the key is to talk to the lender before you get way behind on your payments. Whatever you do, don%26#039;t be tempted to accept credit card offers or get yourself further in debt. You think it%26#039;s bad now! Just see what happens if you borrow more to manage the payments on the Vue! Good luck.

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

Sometimes dealers will give better than blue book value on newer trade-ins, so it%26#039;s worth it to investigate the trade-in option. When you%26#039;re looking at a replacement car, think older and cheaper. Even with higher interest, a significantly cheaper car should still translate into a lower monthly payment.

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

First do a full detailing on the car to get looking as good as possible,

not just a wsh and wax but the interior and under the hood, then sell

it to an individual, tryng to find someone who is willing to assume the note sounds like a real good idea.

I need to lower my car payment - advice please?

tough situation, and the short answer is yes. Luckily you%26#039;ve paid so far on a 0% plan, so its just the depreciation that youre getting hit with.

Your best option is to pay off the loan with selling the car, and pay off the remainder $8k as fast as you can before the contract lapses into the interest period (if it was an intro or teaser rate). then go for a gently used (under 5 years) car with low depreciation (usually a Japanese make) paid through a side channel secured loan if possible (this may mean asking to borrow from your parent%26#039;s home equity line at a 0% or low rate if at all possible). there is a new startup financing industry that caters to small unsecured loans (up to around $50k) with less interest than commercial lenders. Look them up online. Although I think these are more for investment purposes, they may issue for people in your situation as well. Some of their charters call for philanthropy lending for people down on their luck.

Couple of notes here:

- Taking out another line of credit when its already bad is just going to dig your hole further. Its far far better, if you are really stuck for cash, to just buy an older used car of a good make for like $2k and make do until your cash flow and credit improves. Unsexy option, but the most practical.

- Stay away from other 0% financing offers from automaker lending companies, even if you get it with bad credit. These kinds of loans are typically issued for cars that can%26#039;t sell themselves- either they are very unpopular, generally shitty makes, or ones with very low re-sale values.

- Go for private sale vehicles of a good make AND semi-fully depreciated already. Just pay a mechanic $50 to inspect it before you buy and run a carfax report. This gives you the best bang for the buck. In real terms, its usually a 5 year old or less Japanese car.

Hope this helps.