Looking for advice - voluntary surrender

[Anonymous]

I just need a little insight on this bad deal I made with Chrysler Capital 2 years ago. I had a cash car back in 2014 that was out of my price range for repairs. I sold the 2002 suburban and financed my first car, a 2005 Acura TL with. I had the car for about a year and it started giving me problems. I was in desperate need for a newer car so I went out to a dealership that had been advertising on my local radio station. So eager to get into a new car I signed the worse deal of my life. I purchased a 2016 Chrysler 200 in Nov. of 2015. The notes are extremely high ($760). The finance person at the company informed me that after about 6 months of good payment history I would be able to refinance the loan and get a lower payment. Negative. Negative. Negative. I cannot find a company that is willing to refinance me with my payment history and the whopping 35,000 that I still owe on this vehicle. There was the 10,000 acura tl loan that was rolled into this, along with my APR and new car cost. My husband had an accident back in Feb of 2016 and we have been a one income household up until last month, causing me to get behind on the 760 car loan. I am currently only 30 days behind but its been this way for the past few months, like I can never catch up.

I have been working so hard to clean up my credit report, paying bills on time, cleaning up old accounts that were still reporting, etc... so that we could purchase a home by next year. Unfortunately, I believe that dream is going to have to be placed on hold. I am debating letting this car go back or else I will be indebted to it for the next 4 years of my life and looking at the value of it I could literally break down in tears. This was the worst decision of my life and I feel like I am stuck and cannot make any progress with this holding me back. I know that if I let the car go back it will be on my credit for 7 years or so with me still owing the remaining debt but if I continue to pay this car loan I will be barely making it, literally paycheck to paycheck. 

What is the best route to take, in your opinion? I feel so double minded when I try to make a decision.Thanks for reading and in advance for the advice. 

[fishbjc]

Bad decision is right.  However, you have 'learned' and it's time to let the bad feelings go.  Most likely, you can turn in the auto and walk away.  There will be consequences and that's something you have to decide.  They are going to come after you for the balance when the car is sold at auction.  No doubt about that.  So your credit is going to be trashed.

What is the ACTUAL balance remaining on the loan and what is the car worth, if you sold it yourself? 

I think I would consult a bk attorney to see what my options are. 

I hope you can get yourself straightened out.  People make poor decisions, but we're all human.  We're not perfect.  I wish you well in your decision.

[Anonymous]

As someone who once had a repo on the credit report, I would advise doing anything to keep that from happening. Maybe find a second job, or do stuff like babysitting or dog walking or lawn mowing in your spare time. Put all of your extra earnings toward paying this car down to a point that you can get it refinanced at a lower rate or sell it for what you owe.
The repo will follow you for a long time and chances are after they sell the car for much less than you owe and tack on fees you will end up paying a lot more than what you're paying now.