Paying for a hatemobile, what should I do?

[dpodblood]

Hey guys; my car has put me into a bit of a bad spot and I am trying to consider the best way out of it:

I bought a used car back in 2008 for about $6000. With the extended engine warranty, interest, and unemployment insurance it cost about twice that. Anyway... my payments are about $320 per month, but the problem is the car is a total piece of garbage. Since buying it I have had to put about $7000 worth of repairs into it just to keep it driveable. I haven't gotten rid of it yet because I still have another 18 months of payments to make on it. But, the car already has more problems which I can't afford to fix, and frankly I don't want to sink any more money into the thing so what can I do??

My current thought is that maybe I can get a line of credit to pay off the car, then use the car as a trade in on something new (something with a damn good warranty). Then spend the next few years making small monthly payments against the line of credit, while at the same time making car payments (can't be any worse than what I'm shelling out for repairs).

Has anyone else ever been in this situation, and what would you all do in my situation? (For those wondering it's a 2000 Nissan Maxima - usually a reliable car, but it has 240,000 KM on it).

Thanks in advance!

 

[DesiPower]

You can begin with posting in the right forum

 

[Gibson486]

$320 a month on, what was at the time, an 8 year old car?

 

[spidey07]

No. Don't do it. That's the same as trading in the car even though you owe more than it's worth and rolling that into another car loan. It's a practice you never want to start, it's a terrible, terrible idea.

If it really is that terribly bad on maintenance which I can't believe it is that high then get rid of it. But only if you can prove that the maintenance is costing more than the remaining balance of the loan minus what the car is worth. You're upside down, get rightside up.

 

[KeithTalent]

Damn, that sucks man. I have a 1997 Maxima that is still running pretty well (only has just over 100K KMs on it though). I've only had to put one largeish amount of dough into it (~1K on brakes last month).

If you can get a line of credit with a much lower rate than your car loan to pay it off, then yeah, do it. Otherwise there is no real point.

KT

 

[DougK62]

I would tough it out and payoff the car early or on schedule. Take it as a learning lesson for some mistakes you made, like overpaying on a car with high miles and getting silly warranty/insurance on an old car.

 

[dpodblood]

You can begin with posting in the right forum

I figured the garage was more of a mechanical area, while this is more of a general interest/financial thing.

 

[Via]

That situation sounds so bad it's hard to believe.

 

[dpodblood]

No. Don't do it. That's the same as trading in the car even though you owe more than it's worth and rolling that into another car loan. It's a practice you never want to start, it's a terrible, terrible idea.

If it really is that terribly bad on maintenance which I can't believe it is that high then get rid of it. But only if you can prove that the maintenance is costing more than the remaining balance of the loan minus what the car is worth. You're upside down, get rightside up.

Trust me the maintenance *is* that bad. $7000 in 2.5 years... I would have been better off getting a brand new BMW 325i with the amount of money I've sunk into it.

 

[Gibson486]

Trust me the maintenance *is* that bad. $7000 in 2.5 years... I would have been better off getting a brand new BMW 325i with the amount of money I've sunk into it.

What maintenance are we talking about here?

 

[dpodblood]

I would tough it out and payoff the car early or on schedule. Take it as a learning lesson for some mistakes you made, like overpaying on a car with high miles and getting silly warranty/insurance on an old car.

Right now I am paying off all the credit card debt accumulated by my repair bills. Hoping to have that payed off by the end of the year, but paying off the car anytime soon isn't a real option.

 

[Pantlegz]

Let me get this straight you're paying $320 a month for a $6000 car. And you've had the car for ~2 years, which would mean you've paid ~$7680 for it so far, and have another 18 months, which would be an additional $5760. How fucking stupid are you? paying ~$13440 over 4 years for a 10 year old car worth less than 1/2 that. This can't be real...

 

[Slew Foot]

Some salesman is vacationing in Hawaii for a couple weeks because of you.

 

[Blackjack200]

I figured the garage was more of a mechanical area, while this is more of a general interest/financial thing.

I think it's in the right forum, if the post was about what a piece of junk the Maxima is, then it would belong in the garage.

I would get the car paid off asap. How much principal do you have remaining?

 

[trmiv]

Maxima? Sell it to Skoorb

 

[Bignate603]

Let me get this straight you're paying $320 a month for a $6000 car. And you've had the car for ~2 years, which would mean you've paid ~$7680 for it so far, and have another 18 months, which would be an additional $5760. How fucking stupid are you? paying ~$13440 over 4 years for a 10 year old car worth less than 1/2 that. This can't be real...

Sounds like the OP went to one of those 'We finance everybody' dealerships that basically is a front for a loan shark. Very stupid on his part.

 

[dpodblood]

Let me get this straight you're paying $320 a month for a $6000 car. And you've had the car for ~2 years, which would mean you've paid ~$7680 for it so far, and have another 18 months, which would be an additional $5760. How fucking stupid are you? paying ~$13440 over 4 years for a 10 year old car worth less than 1/2 that. This can't be real...

Thanks, but this post really isn't helpful. The reason I'm in this situation is because this is the first car I have ever bought, and I had no idea what I was doing, or what to look for when I was shopping. I just bought something I liked, and that fit my budget monthly payment wise.

 

[dpodblood]

What maintenance are we talking about here?

As it just so happens I have the exact breakdown!

Oil Change/Exhaust Patch $121.97
Battery + Installation $107.33
Rear Brakes $795.92
Spark Plugs $67.77
AC Compressor $1,385.05
Exaust Patch $169.19
Spark Plug Installation $99.61
CV Boots/Sway Bar Links $569.95
Left Lower Control Arm $142.26
Left Lower Control Arm Installation $189.44
Tokico HR2 Struts $513.83
Shock/Strut Install and Alignment $393.24
Brembo Blank Breaks $475.65
Rad support + Front Exhaust $2,311.47
Right Front Axel + Install $350.75
Tow + Starter motor & install $451.29

I'm not a mechanical guy so I have to pay out the ass for labor.

 

[Blackjack200]

Let me get this straight you're paying $320 a month for a $6000 car. And you've had the car for ~2 years, which would mean you've paid ~$7680 for it so far, and have another 18 months, which would be an additional $5760. How fucking stupid are you? paying ~$13440 over 4 years for a 10 year old car worth less than 1/2 that. This can't be real...

Some people just don't have good instincts for that shit. They look at the price and they look at the payments and they don't think about the fact that they're virtually certain to get horribly upside-down on the loan and how that will handcuff them.

I'd like to say I was smarter because I made a sizeable down payment on my car, insisted on a 3 year loan instead of a 5 year loan, and have made extra payments, all to make sure I stayed right side up. On the other hand, I'm probably $10k to $15k upside down on my house, so I'm obviously not as smart as I thought.

 

[spidey07]

Thanks, but this post really isn't helpful. The reason I'm in this situation is because this is the first car I have ever bought, and I had no idea what I was doing, or what to look for when I was shopping. I just bought something I liked, and that fit my budget monthly payment wise.

Well learn from it. NEVER buy a car based on monthly payment. That's probably how you got screwed so bad in the first place. You have two options:

1) Continue to aggressively pay down loan until it equals what the car is worth, then get rid of it
2) Trade it in and roll remaining debt into other car loan, this still leaves you owing more than the next car is worth so you really didn't change the situation. The only way this should even be considered is if you think maintenance is going to override being upside down again AND you are disciplined enough to pay more each month to stop being upside down. With all the work you did, there can't be much more to be done to the car. 7000 bucks would get you a new motor and transmission.

I'll let you in on a little secret. I work with professionals that make a ton of money. Guess what car they drive? 8 year old beaters they bought for 5000 bucks. Don't buy a car to project an image, nobody cares what you drive.

 

[bignateyk]

As it just so happens I have the exact breakdown!

Oil Change/Exhaust Patch $121.97
Battery + Installation $107.33
Rear Brakes $795.92
Spark Plugs $67.77
AC Compressor $1,385.05
Exaust Patch $169.19
Spark Plug Installation $99.61
CV Boots/Sway Bar Links $569.95
Left Lower Control Arm $142.26
Left Lower Control Arm Installation $189.44
Tokico HR2 Struts $513.83
Shock/Strut Install and Alignment $393.24
Brembo Blank Breaks $475.65
Rad support + Front Exhaust $2,311.47
Right Front Axel + Install $350.75
Tow + Starter motor & install $451.29

I'm not a mechanical guy so I have to pay out the ass for labor.

You paid $1400 to get the AC fixed? Isn't it cold in canada?

 

[Blackjack200]

Rad support + Front Exhaust $2,311.47

What's this?

 

[dpodblood]

Some people just don't have good instincts for that shit. They look at the price and they look at the payments and they don't think about the fact that they're virtually certain to get horribly upside-down on the loan and how that will handcuff them.

I'd like to say I was smarter because I made a sizeable down payment on my car, insisted on a 3 year loan instead of a 5 year loan, and have made extra payments, all to make sure I stayed right side up. On the other hand, I'm probably $10k to $15k upside down on my house, so I'm obviously not as smart as I thought.

Believe me I've learned my lesson on this one, and will never make the same error again, but this is still the situation I need to deal with.

 

[DougK62]

As it just so happens I have the exact breakdown!

Oil Change/Exhaust Patch $121.97
Battery + Installation $107.33
Rear Brakes $795.92
Spark Plugs $67.77
AC Compressor $1,385.05
Exaust Patch $169.19
Spark Plug Installation $99.61
CV Boots/Sway Bar Links $569.95
Left Lower Control Arm $142.26
Left Lower Control Arm Installation $189.44
Tokico HR2 Struts $513.83
Shock/Strut Install and Alignment $393.24
Brembo Blank Breaks $475.65
Rad support + Front Exhaust $2,311.47
Right Front Axel + Install $350.75
Tow + Starter motor & install $451.29

I'm not a mechanical guy so I have to pay out the ass for labor.

To be honest, you are getting taken for a ride. As I said earlier, you will end up in the best financial place if you just stick with the car until it's paid off. I would look in to switching to another mechanic - ask your friends and family who they use. It was a very bad move on your part to buy a vehicle without knowing what you're doing. You needed to either do a lot of research beforehand or have someone knowledgeable help you out. It's a hard lesson to learn, just don't do it again with another car, house, or worse.

 

[dpodblood]

You paid $1400 to get the AC fixed? Isn't it cold in canada?

I didn't need the AC, but the way the belts serpentine through the engine it needed to be replaced.