Negative Equity

[Anonymous]

Hi! I am currently considering trading in my car for a new one, probably a lease. My car loan still owes about $12,000 and the value of it at the dealership was $9,500. That puts me in a $2,500 negative equity. My current situation is that my vehicle needs about $2,000 worth of work (tires, breaks, spark plugs, etc.), so I don't know what option is better for me. Should I:

- Use the 2k to pay off some more of the loan and have less of a negative coming into the lease?

- Use half of it towards the old loan half towards the down payment of the new one?

- Or, forget about it and just use it as the down payment for the new lease?

I have decent credit, around the low 700's, and the vehicle I would like to lease is around $37k

[Anonymous]

Go to a different dealership and see if they'll make up the difference. Try going at the end of the month and maybe wait until the end of the year if you're able. There's somebody out there who will eat that negative equity to make the sale on a new car lease.