Help!!!!

[#1]

Can someone help me please?  I purchased a 2008 GMC Denali truck for my boyfriend-( who recently lost his job). Of course I'm paying for it now and I cant afford it.  I have a 679 credit score and have working to pay of what little credit card debt I have.  I'm afraid now, the longer I keep this truck- the worst my credit will get because I cant afford it.  I was thinking of selling it & taking a huge loss or does anyone have any suggestions?  I worked to long and hard & dont want to screw my credit up now!

[guiness56]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

Even if you sold it and took a huge loss, you would have to put the money you got from the sale on the balance due. Which will still leave a balance due.

Have you considered trading it in for something cheaper? 

[#3]

Hi guiness56-

This is probably gonna sound stupid- but how can I do that?  Maybe that would make more sense though.  I owe 40k on the truck.  (by the way- Im horrible with numbers)

[guiness56]

Well, you said the only option you saw was to sell it at a huge loss.  I assumed you meant to a third party.

If you did that, the money you got would need to put on the loan and if it isn't enough, you are still making payments on a vehicle you do not have.

Doing the above is illegal.  You cannot sell a vehicle you do not hold a clear title to.

Your best option is to see if you can find someone who wants to refinance it in their name.

Or, trade it in for a less expensive vehicle.

[Anonymous]

You can sell a vehicle you don't hold clear title to, people do it every day. Otherwise no new cars would get sold and the big 3 and their competition would be in even worse shape than they are now.

Depending on what the truck is worth, the difference between what you owe and what it's worth either gets paid to you if it's worth more than you owe or paid to the dealership you sell it to (and usually that's by them rolling the difference into a new loan - not ideal but better than your current situation hopefully). Look up the truck's value on KBB. Say it's worth $35k or so and you owe $40k as you said. You buy a much cheaper vehicle, they pay off the current loan, and they add the difference into the new loan. Just one example. YMMV.

Best Wishes.

[Anonymous]

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@guiness56 wrote:

Well, you said the only option you saw was to sell it at a huge loss.  I assumed you meant to a third party.

If you did that, the money you got would need to put on the loan and if it isn't enough, you are still making payments on a vehicle you do not have.

Doing the above is illegal.  You cannot sell a vehicle you do not hold a clear title to.

Your best option is to see if you can find someone who wants to refinance it in their name.

Or, trade it in for a less expensive vehicle.

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Exactly.  Unless the original creditor really screwed up, the title will show the bank as the lien holder and in order to sell the vehicle the loan must be paid in full or, as Guiness56 stated, refinanced.

$40k is a very painful lesson -- even more painful if there is no equity in the vehicle.  However, even if you take a 50% loss on selling the vehicle, $20k is far less painful than $40k though at this point the distinction may not be very clear.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You can sell a vehicle you don't hold clear title to, people do it every day. Otherwise no new cars would get sold and the big 3 and their competition would be in even worse shape than they are now.

Depending on what the truck is worth, the difference between what you owe and what it's worth either gets paid to you if it's worth more than you owe or paid to the dealership you sell it to (and usually that's by them rolling the difference into a new loan - not ideal but better than your current situation hopefully). Look up the truck's value on KBB. Say it's worth $35k or so and you owe $40k as you said. You buy a much cheaper vehicle, they pay off the current loan, and they add the difference into the new loan. Just one example. YMMV.

Best Wishes.

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On a trade-in the dealership pays off the amount to satisfy the lien.  Whether they do so by forking over their own cash or the proceeds of an inflated new loan is immaterial.  If, however, they fail to do so the original debtor is still liable to the lienholder.  In some states selling a vehicle that you do not have clear title to is fraudulent conveyance.

[guiness56]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You can sell a vehicle you don't hold clear title to, people do it every day. Otherwise no new cars would get sold and the big 3 and their competition would be in even worse shape than they are now.

Depending on what the truck is worth, the difference between what you owe and what it's worth either gets paid to you if it's worth more than you owe or paid to the dealership you sell it to (and usually that's by them rolling the difference into a new loan - not ideal but better than your current situation hopefully). Look up the truck's value on KBB. Say it's worth $35k or so and you owe $40k as you said. You buy a much cheaper vehicle, they pay off the current loan, and they add the difference into the new loan. Just one example. YMMV.

Best Wishes.

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I said sell a vehicle, not trade it in.  Big difference.