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Pros and Cons of co-borrowing auto loan with boyfriend? / Purchasing/financing vehicle with lien?

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Munchkinerin
Established Member

Pros and Cons of co-borrowing auto loan with boyfriend? / Purchasing/financing vehicle with lien?

Hi all!

 

My boyfriend and I are trying to get everything ready for us to start traveling full time in a fifth wheel (RV). I am a travel nurse so we will be going where my job takes us - moving locations about every three months. My boyfriend will try to find jobs when he can but we are making sure we will be able to afford our debts and lifestyle on my income alone in case he is unable to find work. In October we purchased/financed a fifth wheel as co-borrowers/co-owners and I’m now trying to get feedback on if we should go the same route for the truck we will be purchasing very soon.

 

Stats:

My FICO Auto Score 5 on 9/18: 694

My FICO Auto Score 5 on 11/15: 756

My credit history: 1 credit card, 2 store cards both of which had 1-2 30 day late payments (I have since gotten one of the two accounts dropped from all 3 agencies), 1 auto loan (still owe about $13k),  am an authorized user of 2-3 of my moms credit cards and now I of course have the fifth wheel we just financed.

 

Boyfriend's FICO Auto Score 5 on 9/18: 760

Boyfriends credit history: 1 credit card and student loans

 

Because RV’s are recreational use and more risky than your typical auto loan lenders typically have higher standards in regards to credit requirements.  With my credit history and my boyfriends credit score of 760 we were able to land the best rate our bank could offer when we co-borrowed (not co-signed ) an amount of $37k on a 2018 fifth wheel at 3.99% for 94 months. At the time co-borrowing was not a concern as we had planned on doing so anyways.

 

Now we are in the process of purchasing our tow vehicle. We were originally planning on and were approved to co-borrow the loan of $23k for this truck but now I'm wondering if there's any pros or cons to us co-borrowing vs my boyfriend being the only borrower and putting it in his name only that I am not thinking about. We would still rely on making the payments with my income unless of course he happens to land a temp job and can pay off some of it himself. Of course I know that if we break up I would not have legal ties to the truck (ownership rights or financial ties) and would be out of whatever money I put towards it and I would be okay with taking that risk. We have been together for 4 years. We both still currently live in our home town where we have steady well paying jobs that we will be leaving in addition to our family and friends (which we will obviously visit!). We are spending the majority of both of our savings as well. We are doing this because it's MY dream and, although he seems equally as excited as I am and he has never said anything to make me think otherwise, I am sure he has at least thought about how screwed he could be if we had a messy breakup, especially since he will for the most part be relying on my income. He said he is not worried about it and that it does not matter to him if I am a co-borrower or not, but if I were him I would feel at least a little less vulnerable knowing that if things got messy I at least had some sort of collateral in the matter. Plus he has never owned a nice vehicle and he definitely deserves it! Besides having ownership rights- is there any other benefit to being the co-owner or co-borrower (provided that he/we would get the same rate either way)? Currently I have a loan on my current vehicle and now a loan on the fifth wheel which I am a co-borrower of. This truck would be my third loan. I can only assume that it would be better to NOT have a third loan on my credit just in case later on down the road (maybe 2-3 years from now) we want to purchase a house, but I just want to double check that I'm not missing something before I do something I regret.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also has anyone had any experience in purchasing/financing a vehicle that has a lienholder? What was your experience? The seller of this truck owes more than what it is worth. Our two banks are basically arguing and unwilling to meet the other halfway. My bank is requesting proof that the loan has been paid down to $27k (the amount we are purchasing for) yet his bank says they can't provide that information (basically because it will not be paid down to that amount prior to us purchasing it) and they are being rather sketchy about it. What process did you go through? 

3 REPLIES 3
ldkcivilservant
Frequent Contributor

Re: Pros and Cons of co-borrowing auto loan with boyfriend? / Purchasing/financing vehicle with lien

This isn't how a seller usually gets out from under a lien by selling the vehicle. Usually they have to get a personal loan for the differance between what you are buying it for and what is left on the loan so that they can pay off the vehcle in full and you can then be issued the title at a later date when the loan has been closed.

 

I would be running away from this just as fast as I can. If the banks and the owner can't figure it out, I wouldn't be inserting myself in to the middle of that mess.

 

As for signing a loan with anyone other than a spouse, well, I would NEVER EVER commit to something that if you breakup can also ruin your credit for a decade.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

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Message 2 of 4
dunn2500
Established Contributor

Re: Pros and Cons of co-borrowing auto loan with boyfriend? / Purchasing/financing vehicle with lien

 

yeah am not a big fan either of joining loans.......even if it is a spouse (unless long history).......things can change in hurry and fact that your the sole provider is another flag....

Message 3 of 4
805orbust
Valued Contributor

Re: Pros and Cons of co-borrowing auto loan with boyfriend? / Purchasing/financing vehicle with lien

+1 on the above sentiments... do NOT finance anything with someone who is not a spouse. I think what you're planning is awesome. I would postpone the whole thing for 6-18 months, payoff all of your debts, buy the truck with cash, and then embark on your journey. It will alter you and your boyfriends perspective,  enrich the experience,  eliminate stress, and put you both on solid footing for a great future together.  (Or even apart if thats what y'all decide)


 



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