Should I help my family with New Car loan ?

[drkaje]

@ Hauling,

I remember that thread. Just sad.

I also recall ones where ex-GF/BF/Wife/Hubby refused to pay, left the state, or allowed a repo.

I wouldn't co-sign unless able to pay (alone) with no hard feelings. 

[stema8701]

Quite honestly, I wouldn't do it.I'm glad you know your credit.. I wish I was that knowledgeable at your age.. I cosigned for my brother at 19 and that was the worst decision I ever made and I am still paying for it 6 years down the road.. 20% interest on my current auto loan because of a repo.. I would advise against it but in the end, its your decision to make..

[CS800]

The two extremes:

This could be either very good for your credit as they said or very bad if there are lates or defaults.

It's a gamble. Although we dont know your family, I would stay clear but who knows you can make this decisions since you know your family better than all of us. Its all about trust.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not!  You never know what the future holds. When in doubt you can review they're previous history with credit. Based upon your assessment they have a history of maxing out credit cards and missing payments (negative behaviors which will cost you extra literally). You also wouldn't help her learn that she needs to rebuild her credit and it starts with her. She doesn't need an Acura. She can reapply for something in her range (nissan,honda,toyota etc.) and still get a family car and you can continue to build your credit separately. Forget about you're love or relationship with them. Think of what could happen out of their control : layoffs or even something much worse. Stay on track and keep up the good work

[MissExcellentCredit]

No sweetie. Given what you shared, helping your family with a new car loan is NOT A GOOD IDEA.

Just say, "Mom, I love you with all my heart, but I'm not in a position to help you with this."

If that's too hard for you to say, print out this thread and share it with her so you have back up.

You're young. Too young to screw up your credit with someone else's mess - family or not.

Mom needs to save her money, get out of debt and calm the itch for a new car.  It will pass.

We are all a work in progress. We're all striving to save money and get out of debt. Don't sacrifice your life on the altar of someone elses happiness.

[Chris123nTx]

I would watch Judge Judy for a couple weeks. Family suing family over cosigning of loans is sadly, a very common occurance.

My 22 year old daughter needed a car after she was in an accident q few months back. I helped her by researching cars and pricing for her, talking to salesmen with her, even gave her a thousand towards her car but I told her I love her way way too much to ever cosign a loan with her.

Your folks are putting you in a tough spot by laying the guilt on you. You would not go buy yourself a 35,000 car so sure as heck don't do it for them.

Not to mention that if somehow it was all done and you, they, actually got the loan and the car, that would be on your credit report. That means anything you ever applied for yourself would likley me denied.

Good luck but do not under any circumstances do that!

[nomoore]

The subject of this thread reveals that you are looking at this from the wrong angle. You would not be "helping" your family by co-signing for a $35,000 loan. Seriously! By co-signing on this loan you would only be setting yourself up for disaster and hard feelings. The best case scenario is that your parents are suddenly financially responsible and that they will pay the bill on time every month, benefitting both your parents credit and yours. Your description of your parents credit tells us that the chances of that are near zero. Numerous experiences of people on this forum shows that familial ties do not cause financial responsibilty. That leaves the other possibilty of your parents messing up your credit. If this happens then you most likely WILL resent them, even if you blame yourself. If you do not say no now then it is highly likely that your relationship with your parents will be hurt in the future.

The way to help your parents is by convincing them to live with a modestly priced used car, whether they can finance one on their own or they have to save up and pay cash.

P.S. Keep in mind that public transportation may be a pain but it is way cheaper than owning a car. I own a car and sometimes I wish i had the option to save on gas by using public transportation.

[Anonymous]

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@lmhenry1 wrote:

 I am 19 years old and began building my credit last year

My score is currently 673 via creditkarma.com. 

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Actually. Rereading this. I'm not sure you could get a loan for a 35k car, or help her as a co-signer? Are you even employed? This all might be rather moot.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Actually. Rereading this. I'm not sure you could get a loan for a 35k car, or help her as a co-signer? Are you even employed? This all might be rather moot.

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+1

It wouldn't be possible for you to get financing so just tell your beloved family member that your credit would not help the situation. Auto financiers like to see at least 24 steady months on the job... given your age that will not apply.

[stan_the_man]

No. Learn to say it nicely and politely.

FWIW -- I'd check your reports to see if there is credit accounts that you didn't open. Frequently people who run into these situations find out several years later that all kinds of credit has been opened in their name.