Long story short, hubby's credit isn't the best. He's in rebuilding mode but taking much smaller steps than I have been so his scores are still very low.
Last July, we went to the dealer and he financed a used car with very low 500s score. As a result of a combination of shady dealer practices, no previous auto loan, and his low credit score, he drove away in my "new" car with 21% APR. We were desperate and felt we had no choice but to accept the terms. Our van's transmission was going out and we had no extra money to replace or rebuild it. I am not on the loan or named on the car.
even after 6 months of perfect payments, hubby's score isn't high enough for better rates. My FICO 8 score isn't all that great but my auto enhanced FICO is rated at very good, probably because of a previous, never late auto loan.
Questions:
1. Can I legally buy my car from him (live in oklahoma)?
2. Is it possible a bank/CU will approve me for financing based on his income?
3. Can I include my social security in the income?
We we want to do this so we can get a lower rate and smaller monthly payments. The current $421 a month is doable but I'm tired of giving the finance company so much money.
thanks for any insight 
@SamsungHDTV wrote:Answers to your questions:
1. Yes you can legally purchase the vehicle from him. (90% sure, and I'm in TX, FYI)
2. The only way possible to use his income, is if he is on the loan as well (unless the lender does not verify income). If he is on the loan, then it would be a refi adding a joint applicant which is you.
3. Yes you can include your social security as after tax income.
Concerns:
1. If he was ripped off so hard on the loan, he likely got really ripped off on the price of the vehicle as well. Dealers know when your desparate (some buyers even make the mistake of letting them know they are desparate). I'm still fuming over the scams the finance dept pulled, one of which was spot delivery. They called two weeks later to bring more cash because the bank required it. Yes, I did say two weeks. Little did they know, the bank already sent the welcome packet so I told them, not so nicely, to pound red dirt because they weren't getting another dime from us. Being new in the area, we had no clue about the horrible reputation of this particular dealer. Oh well, lesson learned and we will definitely be more educated next time around.
On the other hand, I love my car, which NADA actually has trade in value listed at 9000. Current loan balance is 11,000 so we aren't too underwater. Starting the second month, I divided the payment amount by 4 and pay that amount plus $50 each week, all extra directly to principal. Confirmed there is no early pay penalty.
2. Which brings me to, he is likely underwater on the loan and depending on where the LTV is, could be an auto decline reason.
3. Usually takes a lot more than 6 on time payments to significantly improve credit. Make sure you are working on his credit in other ways as well. I'm sure you've visited the rebuilding credit section of the forums. Rebuilding sub forum is my second home lol
Thank you very much Samsung