Bankruptcy and Vehicle Financing
mazdaprofour
Member Posts: 202
Hello all, I am about to file bankruptcy. Mitsubishi, Kia, toyota and Hyudai have told me that I can get approved as long as I have a 1000 to 2000 dollar downpayment and have a discharge letter. Is this true? They have told me this without looking at my credit. I have been at my job for over 4 years and have a good income. Can this happen or are they wasting my time. I am willing to pay a high interest rate if it will get me into the car.
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Is this some kind of sick joke? If you have the cash to buy a new car, pay it to the people you ALREADY owe instead of discharging your old debts and then going back in the hole again.
How about a little personal responsibility? Don't file BK, go for credit counseling and get the payment terms stretched out. Filing BK is just taking the coward's way out, except in extreme circumstances. This doesn't sound like one of them.
And if you don't have a car, but need one, how about getting a $2k car (your downpayment) instead of a new one?
Get a clue. The harm you are doing to yourself, your credit rating, your family (assuming any will associate with you) and the society as a whole is just not worth the fleeting pleasure of that new car smell in some econobox.
So, what'll be: you gonna do the right thing or continue to be a loser?
HiC
You obviously didn't lose your job (you've had it for 4 years), so it seems to me like you just ran up more debt than you could handle and decided to take the easy way out instead of sacking up and paying for it. Sure, it would suck, but you spent the money in the first place.
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Mazdaprofour, I think you may be missing what the dealers have told you. They have told you they require a discharge letter first. This is the letter from the bankruptcy judge that certifies that your bankruptcy is finished, not beginning. If you are just now about to file bankruptcy, then you will not have a discharge letter to work with.
kcram
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HiC
If you wish to take issue with the statements of other Town Hall members or Edmunds.com staff, please engage in healthy, mature debate and not immature behavior or name-calling.
That's the bottom line, guys.
kcram
Host
Smart Shopper and FWI Message Boards
2. Can anyone explain just what was so wrong about the concept of debtors prison?
The famous beacon score will be shot for a long time. This means that whatever you do there will be consequences, like higher down payments, requirements of security deposits, secured credit cards, much higher interest rates and is most evidenced when buying a house. That can be really difficult, if not impossible without significant equity.
In order to get her first car loan, I actually had to open a savings account with fixed term CDs for the length of the loan in both of our names and put a significant deposit into it. It's been over 9 years and she still struggles with credit today.
The legal theory is that since your are discharged of your debts you are now a better credit risk. After her experience I am more inclined to see this advertising as a ploy -- preying upon the weak.
The only reason I think that dealers are willing to finance these is because of the higher interest rate which equals higher profits. If dealers don't make too much on new cars they can make a bundle on financing. These loans are almost always recourse loans, and are ultimately the dealers responsibility on default. They quite often require a cosigner like I had to do with my relative. And if dishonest the loan will only be made out in the cosigners name. If you miss a payment there will not be much of a grace period before repossession.
Good luck whatever your choice.
With 4 years on the job, good income, $2000 down and (this is the big one) total flexibility on which car he gets, I could even get Satan financed as long as the BK is discharged and there are no defaults on child support.
What would such financing look like? Well, that all depends. The best case (for the customer, not me) would be for Toyota to pick them up at 15.25%. If not, I'd send him to a drek bank at 23.99%. Here's the other catch: I can't force this customer to buy an extended warranty, pre-paid maintenance, credit life and disability and GAP, but I can't be forced to process the deal either. If the bank limits our front end (meaning we may have to sell at a loss on the car), I must make it up on the back. If I can't talk them into extra product, we blow the deal.
How many of you have ever seen a $15,000 car drive out at a $600 per month payment for 5 years? None of you? Well, I can tell you one participant here who is about to see one.
I have seen people get cars with decent payments even after bankruptcy. Ford even has a plan that is made for people that are buying after filing.
"Without looking at a customer's credit, I wouldn't say Toyota would finance them, but I do know I could find somebody to pick him up."
Well you just did sir. I have owned many cars and have always been on time.
As for the financing guys....I make it clear at the start that I am aware of the process and do not waste my time. I am not mean about it but hey, I have too feet and I have walked in the past. A fool will come in and play the "up to how much game".
Will I buy a car and pay 20% interset...yes to rebuild credit. Will I pay 600.00 a month heck no!
A Kia spectra can be had for 13K out the door
even at 20% interest and 2 to 3 k down, we are talking under 300.00 a month. That is in comparison to 430.00 a month.
I will let you all know what happens at the end even if you do not care. It hurts guys...to get treated so badly for posting a question. But no big deal. Thanks any ways.
Is a dealership going to sell a high demand car for $1000 back of invoice? Sure, but only if they are making it all up and then some on the back. Some banks will cap us on the price of the car, but then allow us to add as much financial product as we can. So, if you agree to the warranty, GAP, LA&H and a maintenance package and are willing to pay 20% interest, you just started the credit re building process.
By the time all the financial products are added, you are no longer financing $12000, but closer to $17000 and payments are in the $450 range.
If you are willing to accept this as penance for your sins, jump right in.
First of all I know that the new corolla is in demand so that is what can get you to get away with that. I know this so why do you think that I am not dealing with a high demand car at a over priced dealership.
We bought my wives toyota celica back in 2000 and yes we paid sticker. She wanted that car and she wanted it right away. At that time and somewhat now, the celica GT was hot and selling real quick. The dealerships would almost sell one car to like three people by mistake.
But the KIA, mitsubishi and Hyundai are not in the same boat. Yes they do have a few cars like the kia sedona that sell well but hey what about the accents and rios of the world. 20 to 30 sitting on a lot is never a good thing.
Even the echo is not a hot demand car. Infact it may be almost on its way out the door.
So please lets talk reality. The dealerships and cars that i am dealing with are not in the same game as you. A company like hyundai knows that they are trying to make a name so what they get they will take. If I am placing 20% - 30% of the car down and the car is under 13k. It can happen.
Toyota has always been hard to deal with and hrad to finance. We moved my cars car loan to my credit union as soon as we could. Toyota dealerships have always had over priced cars, parts and services.
You are buying the name.
I can get a Kia or hyundai for much less, get more of a car, pay less on insurance, longer warrnty and will not have to deal with the vulture mentality (no harm intended).
I have had friends like myself that have owned the toyota and honda cars and have made the move towards the other options.
Just check out NHTSA website. The kias and hyundai's of the world are not doing so bad.
I know that the worst people IMHO work in the finance room. They are the ones that wear the ties and drive the nice cars. You know how they do it? by ripping people off just like you said I am ripping them off. They try to tell you the cars are great but want to sell you a enhanced warrnty. They try to sell you under coating, over coating, gap protection, lojack, highjack and anything else that you can think of.
Hey how many people do you think the dealerships have RIPPED OFF by selling them 75.00
pin-striping or 80.00 floor matts?
So who is really ripping who off?
so once again please step out of the TOYOTA world and join me in the real world. Where some dealerships do not sell 80 cars a day. And may need to cust prices to make a deal.
Good day sir.
Have you tried one (or more) of those services that claim to negotiate with your creditors to reduce your debt and arrange a pay back schedule without bankruptcy?
You will have more disposable income, and a better standard of living for the next five years if you can avoid bankruptcy. BK should only be a last resort, for your sake, not for your creditors.
Harry
I know my financial situation and I am way too much in debt. I have a 20,000 dollar car loan on a car that is worth 11,000. I also have a 14,000 credit card debt.
Now to some that is not a lot, but to me it hurts when I have nothing left each month after paying the bills. Call me lazy, call me a jerk, a cheat or whatever. But I am not going to sit back and risk getting sued after the job market sees more layoffs and the bankruptcy laws have changed.
I am going to protect myself. It will take me a few years to build back my credit but hey it would also take me a lot longer to pay back what I cant. Please no more "you charged it you pay it". The credit card companies have been targeting people that they know can not pay the back just so they can charge them higher interest rates and late fees. Get them while in school and they are in debt for life.
Did you know that most credit card companies will give you a card if you make 18,000 or more a year. Who can live on 18,000 a year? You can not even make rent for that.
My original post was not about morals. I did not ask "am I doing the right thing". I asked about financing and that is what I need help with.
I would also consider a used car but lets see.. if I can get a new car for around 10-11k, why buy used and risk it.
The other thing is, your credit will take much longer to reestablish with a car loan on a BK. Depending on how the finance company reports it, it could show up as a repossession. With a repo, it gets exponentially harder to ever get a car loan.
I know you've blasted me before, but this latest tid bit of information changes the advise. Keep making the car payments. Talk to the bank and let them know what is happening and that you intend to keep the car and the payments. You have no idea how much better things will be a few years from now if you do this.
Cliffy, how are you getting these numbers?
Here is ho the financing will work.
12,000 car
2,000 down payment
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10,000 financed at 23%= $281.91 a month.
That is a lot better than 430.00 a month.
I seriously doubt if any bank will make that 23% loan in the first place but I could be wrong.
Forget the moral aspect of this (which to me is VERY important) but consider the long lasting ramifications of taking this drastic step.
Did your BK lawyer go over any of this with you?
Have you considered repayment programs?
Take your 2000.00 and buy a decent beater!
Are you saying that no bank will finance me and charge me a 23% interest rate? If so, you are mistaken. People buy cars every day after a bankruptcy.
"but consider the long lasting ramifications of taking this drastic step"
I do not fear the ramifications of this due to the fact that a bankruptcy can be fixed over time. 1-5 years depending on your income and how you re-establish credit. I have known a lot of people that have done this and are doing fine. Lets see 5-8 years of killing myself to pay back or 1-5 years of repairing my credit. I would be risking a lot by not getting rid of the car and credit cards. If I follow some of the advice here, and I loose my job, and the bankruptcy laws change, I will be a lot worst off.
Filing bankruptcy labels you as a maximum credit risk. The judge will go through your assets when you file and will require you to sell or liquidate some of them - this can include the car you already own. Regardless of your income, your credit will not be re-established in any short order. In fact, if you are making that much income, your creditors may demand more of what you owe from the judge - this will keep you in the hole that much longer.
The one question that still remains unanswered from your opening post is, since you say you have yet to actually file BK, are you trying to buy this car now, or after your BK is discharged (which could be 5 years away), at which point this conversation is meaningless.
kcram
Host
Smart Shopper and FWI Message Boards
Trying to pull my punch here...but...doesn't it bother you just a little bit that you are skipping out on your obligations by taking the easy way out? Just curious...
Maybe I'm just old fashioned or something...
And, listen to our host. His last post is DEAD ON!
Credit card companies will start sending offers right after the discahrge. I am even geting card offers now even though I am 90+ days late.
Cliffy has yet to show me how I can not get another car and get a lower payment. Do you guys understand that I am paying 430.00 a month on a mazda protege? I have alredy shown him how the numbers can and will work.
I will be filing this friday and should have a court date soon. Do I feel guilty, yes for some bad financial choices I made. Am I going to let the credit companies eat my salary up? Heck NO!
I will let you guys know what kind of car I will buy and what my payment will be. The moral stand point really is a non issue for me. You know why?cause we live in a dog eats dog world.
Do you think that when discover card was charging me 20+ interest rate and they would not even budge, even though I had a account with them for 5 plus years, they where using morals.They think about the pocket and I am going to think about my pocket.They would not help me out at all.
So the MORAL of the story is...MORALS will get you so far, the LAWYERS will do the rest.
If you don't accept responsibility for your own debts, and learn to solve your own problems and avoid them in the future, then the lesson you will receive will be lost on you any way. You obviously learned nothing from past mistakes - that's the only way you get $8k upside down on a '93 car!
A couple years from now, when you're whining about the social injustices and government conspiracies that messed up your life, you'll know somewhere deep inside that you caused it yourself, not society.
First, moral decisions are your own. You may choose to repay some or all creditors after your Chapter 7 is discharged but have no obligation legally to do so.
Chapter 7 cases for consumers are normally "no asset" cases since many items for household use are exempt. If a vehicle or home has more owed on it than it's worth, you will have the opportunity to keep the item by reaffirming the debt and continuing to pay. You may also give the asset to the lender and walk away.
Based on your income, etc, you can probably get a new car loan not too long after discharge (most cases are completed within 90 days). You will not, of course, get preferred rates.
In 1992, after filing in 1989, Ford Credit financed a new car for me at 14%. The rates later dropped as I rebuilt my credit and traded cars.
Your credit report will show the bankruptcy for 10 years. All other items will stay for 7. You can have all other bad data changed to "included in bankruptcy" to show that you no longer are legally obligated on the debt. Most creditors will do this when they charge off the debt.
A good attorney will go over this with you before you file. You will then make your choice.
If you can get out of debt w/o bankruptcy, you may want to contact a true non-profit consumer credit counseling service. See www.clarkhoward.com for info. Many thieves out there so beware.
Hope you make the best decision and things improve for you in the future.
Be a man and pay off your debts. YOU ran them up. Not Discover, not Mazda, YOU did it. Now you're trying to blame them for your own lack of self control? Pathetic.
The MORAL of the story is that you don't have any MORALS. You're happy to stiff others because you don't want to pay off the debts you ran up. You're determined to make yourself out to be the victim here, aren't you? You still have your job. Cut up the CC's and pay them off.
Do people really think like this?
I, for one, believe he is dead serious and he has deluded himself into thinking that he's the victim in all this.
Maybe I'm too old.
Maybe I'm too like my parents.
Get a second job !!!
I get so tired of paying for somebody elses irresponsibilities.
And we all pay for people like Mazda's irresponsibilities. And they don't care, either.
I thought he had a 20K car loan for a car worth $11k That ain't no '93 Merc. His wife's car maybe? What's her credit like? What state does he live in? In CA (and many others I'm sure), their credit is now a comingled affair. He's going to take his own wife down with him. What a guy.
My favorite part is that he thinks he can "wipe the slate clean" and get more credit! What the heck for! To run up more debt that he cannot afford to pay, that's what.
Oh, and he thinks the lawyers are there to "help" him! Now THAT'S funny!
I wonder if he realizes that the reason that the bankruptcy laws are changing is because of just the type of abuse he is planning. BK should be for people who have had serious and unpredictable things happen to them: Loss of a job, serious medical conditions, true disability, etc. There but for the grace of God go all of us.. Living beyond one's means was never intended to be a valid reason for BK. As a result of abusers like Mazda, Congress (with lots of campaign contributions from financial institutions) will be making BK harder for even the truly deserving.
"Immoral" is the nicest thing I can say about Mazda.
HiC
Yeah, they did it. Stuffed money in your pockets, forced all those signatures, and now their screwing you again. ROFLMFAO!!
Hey, you messed around and lost. Can happen to anybody. It's what you do now that matters. You can learn from your mistakes, fix your credit and go forward ahead of the game, or you can repeat your mistakes and go forward a loser. You choose.
Regardless of the spin you're trying to put on it, YOU ran up the charges and now you don't want to pay them. You said yourself that you COULD pay them, you just choose not to because it would take too long. Maybe you should have thought of that when you were out partying at the bar, running up big tabs on your card, buying drinks for everyone. Maybe it makes you feel better if you can try and blame others for your own lack of fiscal discipline, I don't know.
Why should the CC companies lower your interest rate? You signed up for the card knowing full well what the rate was. They didn't make you use the card and they didn't make you choose their card. You did it all by yourself. Same goes for your auto loan. You signed on the dotted line saying you were going to pay the credit union $X dollars at X% over X years. Why should they change the deal now? You haven't lost your job, you're trying to get something for nothing. It's not their fault you bit off more than you can chew - that's YOUR OWN FAULT.
I hope you have a long, painful, and terribly difficult time with any kind of credit or financing after you file this BK. I can tell you with 100% certainty that it won't be as easy as you think it will be. I hope it's miserable for you and that you're reminded every day how stupid it was for you to file BK instead of just paying off your debts.
Don't worry about me - I don't have any CC debt because I actually have the self-control to not buy things I can't afford. Thanks for the concern, though.
Actually, I can refer you to a few Loan Sharks from back home...They will happily loan you any money you want. Of course they charge 50% interest, and filing bankruptcy with them is analagous to being asked for a bullet in the head.
This has nothing to do with being kind or forgiving - nice attempt at trying to lay blame on others once again. It has to do with you skipping out on debts you legitimately charged up. If you had lost your job or had some unfortunate medical condition befall you, etc, I would have compassion for you, and I would wish you the best. BK is supposed to be for those who NEED it, not just those like you who don't want to pay their debts. I don't begrudge anyone who, by some unfortunate circumstances (lost job, divorce, big medical bills, etc.) HAS to file BK. You're doing it because you don't want to pay your bills. There is a big difference between the two. Unfortunately, you apparently don't see it.
For once in your life, why don't you quit playing the victim? Go to CCCS, get your debts restructured, and pay them off.
So how does your wife feel that you're about to ruin her credit, too?