How do I calculate value for refi?

[Juniper117]

I have a Chrysler that is financed thru Cap1. I want to refi it in order to lower my DTI to get a mortgage, but I don't wanna waste an inq until I know how much I would need to pay down. I have a VERY high interest rate and just bought it a year ago, so I am quite a bit upside down. How do I figure it?

[Revelate]

Probably just look at the blue book value.  Assuming you put anything down for a downpayment, you'll likely have some breathing room.  It might not even matter to some lenders, but to refinance you have to pay off the balance of the prior loan.

If you have extra cash floating around, I would've recommended paying extra each month to help drive down the principal faster on an ugly APR loan .  As is just see what you can do regarding it.  Just do all your auto-refi shopping in a short time period and from a scoring perspective you won't be wasting an inquiry.

[webhopper]

Refi is sometimes hard to do since you don't pay much principle on a high interest subprime loan. Maybe call your lender of
Choice and ask what their minimum loan amount is?

Here is what I did with my car:
2008 Volvo s40 purchased for 19500 in feb 09 at 18% financed through Volvo financial.
in 2010 may, I contacted chase bank and found the minimum loan amount that they would allow. Everyone has a minimum loan amount and minimum model year. I borrowed funds from my 401k and paid the principle down to 7800 remaining loan balance. Refi with chase 7800 for 36 months, 5.5% interest.

I was unsuccessful with refi attempts until I brought the loan balance down.

[webhopper]

Also, I had had prior auto loans through chase always PIF no lates. I had a repo on my credit from a vehicle I had cosigned on. I'll never co sign again!