BenK91

Being underwater on a car isn't fun at all. My FiL is currently about $9000 underwater on his truck as he rolled in a ton of negative from a previous vehicle.

You could potentially look at a personal loan (to pay off the balance of the car) and see if the interest rate and monthly payment are better suited to you but again, not ideal. Throw any spare income you have at paying down that principal. If you buy a Starbucks every morning, make your own etc and straight away you've saved $5 which can all be added up at the end of the month and thrown onto the principal.

SpoogleDrummer

On top of all this the dealership are very unlikely to offer you 8K for the car in trade, you have to use the option to get an instant offer from KBB to be closer to what they'd actually give you. A new Fiesta around here costs just over 14K, did you buy a bunch of pre-paid maintenance and some kind of extended warranty or something?

Giantaxe

I'm aware of that... hence my general comment on the risks of financing a large percentage of a depreciating asset.

Pulaski

That would depend what you trade it for as much as what the true resale/ market value actually is - trade it for a loaded Expedition and the dealer might give you $10k or more as a trade-in value, but by then you'd up to your neck in the BS of "discounts", "rebates", "incentives", and what "trade in value" even means.

BenK91

I was going to say, if you're going for a serious serious upgrade (think fully loaded $40/50k+ model) and they may give you more for the trade in, but you're just moving the negative money over and the payments are going to jump. If you're unable to pay the principle down on a current model you're trying to be rid of, then jumping into a more expensive model would be ridiculous.

I'd honestly look at the personal loan but again, you're really just moving the money from one place to another.

scrubbedexpat097

And sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.
The OP is in Texas so reliable transport is a must. I'm sure she looked at her new car purchase as an assett, lots of us have done the same thing. It's tough when it seems you owe money on it forever.

Sarasota Chic , I would do as you said and give it another year. Try and pay extra when you can. Keep it looking good and running well and hopefully next year you can trade in. Good luck mate!

vikingsail

Sarasota - if you are paying a high interest rate you may be able to shop around now with your bank or credit union and lower that rate by taking out a loan to pay off the balance. Make sure the new loan is at a lower interest rate and does not come with any fees to set up. For example, I have done this when purchasing a vehicle to get the best deal with the the car Dealer, and then converted the entire amount to another loan.

ddsrph

TexanScot

I can't wait until I can get out of my lease next year and drop the insurance coverage a little.

I plan to run this thing into the ground and even after putting money aside each month to eventually replace it, I'm going to have so much extra money a month it's not even funny!

ddsrph