Auto loan refinance preparation

[Purplex]

I need some advice on refinancing my auto loan.  I searched the current posts and didn't find this question specifically, so I apologize if there's already a thread on this.  I just got a new car loan at 17% (yeah, I know....ouch!).  My scores right now are mid to high 500's plus a bk 2 1/2 years ago.  I need to refinance this loan no later than a year from now as our household income will be decreasing.

So, my question is would I be better off to pay extra each month on my car payment to try to pay down the loan or save up money to use as a down payment on the refinance?  I realize that my credit score is dependent on much more than just this loan, and I am planning on paying down all my credit cards so they are around 30% to 50% at most.

Thanks for any help or advice anyone can give.

[Anonymous]

It is hard alot of time to refinance a car that you owe more than it is worth . If you pay extra toward the loan that will all go toward your principal (amount owed on loan) therefore reducing the interest on each payment causing more of each payment to go toward principal and lowering interest on next payment. If you have a chunk of money to put toward debt and want to put it to your car loan it will help you by reducing the amount owed and lowering the interest paid on the loan. Also dont know your exact situation but if you get your credit cards reporting less than 10% of the credit limits that will help your score alot to.