Help please... car totalled and need to purchase a new car within 7 days

[Anonymous]

Firstly, thanks in advance for your input. I am in the process of looking for and buying a home and wham... i was in a auto accident and my car was totalled. I have 7 days from today to purchase a new car and to keep the payment in the current range its currently in. My totalled car is still showing on my credit report as a balance, I have a discharged bk from 2011 and obviously I cant take many hits on my credit report... I was declined from USAA, i presume due to my BK? My FICO is 656, TU 673 and Equifax 660. any suggestions??

[SamsungHDTV]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Firstly, thanks in advance for your input. I am in the process of looking for and buying a home and wham... i was in a auto accident and my car was totalled. I have 7 days from today to purchase a new car and to keep the payment in the current range its currently in. My totalled car is still showing on my credit report as a balance, I have a discharged bk from 2011 and obviously I cant take many hits on my credit report... I was declined from USAA, i presume due to my BK? My FICO is 656, TU 673 and Equifax 660. any suggestions??

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Try credit unions. Also the decline at USAA could be because your BK, or it could be because your current auto loan is still showing a balance. Maybe it causes your DTI to be too high. You should try to find out.

Also, why 7 day timeline?

[Anonymous]

Definitely go to the credit unions is USAA your current loan provider? If not I would try the bank who you currently have an auto loan through as they would more likely than not like to keep you as a customer.

[Anonymous]

Hi Thank you for the input.. My insurance company is only allowing 7 days of rental coverage since my car is a total loss. The USAA rep advised that there would be a letter in the mail. I did tell the rep I have the letter from my insurance carrier advising how much would be paid off. Which is the entire amount. I did reach out to my current lender who advised until they receive the payment in their system they couldn't offer a new loan.. Ugh I'll try another credit union. Thanks again!

[TRC_WA]

Keep us posted OP!  Good luck.

[disdreamin]

This is not something I would try to rush into, personally. If this were me, I would shop around for a good rental car rate and go that route for an additional week or two to get things situated, if at all possible. Going into a dealership desparate to buy a car is never a good position negotiation-wise. You can often find inexpensive rental cars from local places (airport locations are typically higher due to the added concession/location fees).

Once I bought myself a little time, then I would worry about the new car and financing. This would also allow time to get things straight with the current lender. As far as I know, payments are owed on the loan until the financing company has received the check from your insurance for the balance due, so it seems like it might be unwise to get into a new car payment before the details are worked out with the old loan and it is finalized/closed.

[Anonymous]

I am just wondering if you have USAA auto insurance - I have it and I always thought I had 30 day rental coverage.  Of course, changing now would also not be a good tactic.

I also agree with the suggestion of finding a cheaper rental car and taking the heat off of the 7 day timeline.

If a car dealer knew you were on a close timeline they might not have a conscientious approach and could take advantage of you, even more than they usually do.

hth

[Anonymous]

If i werent in the middle of buying a home I could rate shop. Thats not the case though. I was able to speak to my total loss adjuster who advised she'd be willing to work with me on time in the rental should it take longer than the 4 days on her end to pay the car off.  So that is a plus, I premium rental reimbursement with my carrier. However, the loss of use runs out pretty fast after your vehicle is totalled. If it were in the shop, I'd have a $1200 limit.

[disdreamin]

Do you have the new car picked out? Do you have the pricing hammered out? Do you know if there is availability for the trim level, color, etc? That's why I would want time - to do my initial shopping via email and hammer out a good starting point before you set foot in a dealership (assuming you know the exact car you want). That takes time, but can save thousands.

As far as home buying and shopping rates for a car, the CRAs don't take into consideration that when you take out and auto loan you will likely do multiple pulls? I thought they all showed but we're scored as one if done within a certain time frame. Apparently I was mistaken on that.

[Anonymous]

UPDATE:
Well I was approved by JP Morgan Chase with a 6.74% APR. I'm very happy to have this whole ordeal behind me. Thank you all for your input!