Auto Advice

[dsw283]

I currently own a 2011 Mazda 3 with 40,000 miles on it  that out of need/desperate choice I bought 2 years ago.  I owe about $14,500, and my current mileage is right at 103000.  I drive about 30,000 miles a year, and my payments are at $429.60 until August of 2018.  My interest rate is about 18% which is absurd, so I would obviously like to do something about it.  I'm currenlty in school and am trying to get out of school without any student loans, so most of my extra cash goes towards that.  I've spoke to Penfed and they would refinance the car with about $4,000 down which is probably about as good as it's going to get on refinancing. 

It's out of warranty as well, and I don't like that feeling as I need a car especially since I work and go to school full time.  I've had some concerns about leasing and I've had some people tell me that it can be beneficial to lease even with the amount of miles I'm driving.   Either way I need to refinance, but I need some advice on getting out from under it.  Anything helps, thanks.

[CreditDunce]

I have never tried to lease, but in general it requires a higher credit score than buying.   I would check to see if they are willing to lease to you before spending too much time weighing the pros and cons of leasing.

I certainly understand your desire to not have any student loans when you graduate.  However, money is fungible.  I would pay the higher interest rate loan first.   You will end up with the smallest amount of debt after graduating school that way. 

Edit: Penfed is an excellent credit union to refinance through if they are offering you a loan

[Anonymous]

I agree, I would take care of the auto loan before worrying about student loans. Unfortunately to refi will be tough due to the fact NADA value (I'm assuming 4D sport trim here) is just under $11k. If you put down that $4k and refi have you worked out how much you save in interest?

Leasing can be great, I have some friends who do and I just got my first lease as well. I know the most Ford offered for annual miles was 15k though, and its pretty expensive to go over. The payment is considerably less though, my lease payment is $360, my loan payment would have been over $500 with Fords promo rate at the time. I forget the exact amount with tax and title but it would have been around $35k. I hardly drive (live in Chicago) so staying under the miles isn't an issue for me.