Car totaled, when can I finance another vehicle?

Anonymous · ‎12-11-2018

Hi, yesterday I got in a car accident in which I was hit by an unisured driver running a red light. It was a hit and run, but they later found the driver who hit me. Anyhow, although it isn't official yet, the insurance adjuster said that she is 99% sure my car is a total loss. I got the car a little over 3 months ago, I put $1000 down and financed the remainder, approximately $12,500. My credit is horrible, so my interes rate on this loan is about 20%. Anyhow, luckily I did get GAP insurance. But as of now, I'm paying out of pocket for a rental (I didn't get rental coverage with my Progressive policy) and I'd like to purchase another vehicle ASAP. My FICO is terrible, 527. My income is pretty good, I gross $4500 a month. The insurance adjuster told me that she should have the fair market value they are going to pay by the end of the day tomorrow. Once they have that, she said payment would be issued to the lender. The lender is working on a GAP claim, but one of the documents they need from me is the police report. The police department said the police report may not be ready for a couple of weeks, So my question is, will the lender possibly allow me to finance another car before GAP insurance pays out, since they have proof that I do have the GAP insurance? And I'm also wondering, will I have to come up with another down payment? Any input is greatly appreciated!

Kree · ‎12-12-2018

You can probably get a 2015 Chevy spark with under 60k miles for 6-7000.

Don't worry about your rate, just throw money at the loan. When your credit improves you can trade in for a better vehicle.

I rarely suggest not worrying about interest, but assumably getting you out of a rental will save you 2-300 a week, so taking the higher interest now could actually save you money compared to waiting a few more weeks.

mavric · ‎12-12-2018

I don't kown about your state. You should get credit for the sale tax on your next car. Like if you paid $10,000 for your car and had 6% tax, you pay $600 in tax. On your old car In's gave you $7000 for it . 6 % of 7000 is $420 . So you will only have to pay $180 sales tax on the new car .

I don't know what your state sale tax is . Check in to it, IT might save you some money.

Anonymous · ‎12-14-2018

I just had to go through this myself. My financed car through Nissan finance was totalled after only 5 months of ownership. You should see if you could get an attorney. You may be really upside down on your loan, and even with the GAP coverage, and you will need someone to fight for you. The uninsured motors may have some assets that you can sue them for, so that is one option. If your insurance has concluded thier investigation, and they said that they will pay your finance company 100% of the remaining auto loan, this is what you will need to do.

1. Contact your finance company, and let them know about the acident. They will then start the process of contacting your insurance company. DO NOT discuss the accident on a recorded line, until you got all your facts together. You never know what the other person may say, and then the insurance company will say that you are a percentage at fault, and you do not want that recoring to come back at you.

2. Have your insurance company give you a Total Loss Settlement Letter. This letter is telling the dealership, when you go look for a replacment vehicle, that you would like to have the same terms, with the same finance company. If you don't, they will shotgun your credit report to everyone, and you will be denied. Since they shotgunned it to get you your current loan 3 months ago, they will tear up your credit. With mine, I told them i still wanted NMAC. And that I did NOT want them to run my credit anywhere else. NMAC did just a soft pull, since I was current at the time of the accident. My model of car was hard to come by in the 2018's, and the closest one was 138 miles away. So NMAC compromised, and I was able to get a 2019 instead. You will lose your original downpayment. There is no way to get that back, unless you sue the other party. So you will need another down payment unfortunately.

3. As far as a replacment on taxes that you paid on the car, the only way you can get that back is, (a) the other person had insurance and (b) the car must be replaced within 30 days. Since i had a rolled over loan onto my totalled vehicle, my GAP was denied, and I couldn't get the taxes reimbursed for the new car, because the taxes on the new car was less because they never count a rolled over loan, or trade in value on these claims. So i had to pay $1700 bucks.

That is why I said ask an attorney. they do free consults all the time. The insurance company is not your best friend, and never take markewt value on your car. Do some of your own research on similar cars that sold in your area, as well in the past couple of months.

Good luck!

Anonymous · ‎12-17-2018

Do you mind providing some data points on whats holding you at 526? If its just UTI , I would reccomend using any extra monies to zero out as close as possible . Your going to be 50/50 on if the closure of your loan is going to help or hurt you . I do reccomend Carmax as your next place if you can get a decent price etc until you can trade in later down the line .

Anonymous · ‎12-18-2018

This was extremely helpful, I got the total loss settelment breakdown letter, and took that to the dealership. I was able to finance another car with the same lender, same rate, very close to the same payment amount and you were right, I did need anothe rdownpayment. BUT, I'm getting refunded on the warranty of the totaled vehicle, which will makr the downpayment combined with the refund a wash, actually I should get a little bit of cash back. Thanks for your help!