Well, I bought the car in May...and I'm ready to sell it. I've been thinking about it since early November. I have monthly payments of $486 and insurance of $186, not to mention gas, repairs, upkeep, etc. It's not worth it, not right now.
So...I'm going to get rid of it, what are my options...
- Sell it back to the dealership, take a loss of about $3,500.
- Hold onto it until the spring and list it myself and do a private sale, try and break even.
- Sell it to another dealership, see if they'll give me a better deal.
If I do the dealership thing I have to look at a) how to remove the lean from the loan off the car before the dealership will give me the money for the car. b) have to refinance the loss of the purchase from the loan...I'm thinking a weekly payment of about $100, less that what I'm paying a month now and it will be done by the end of the year. Plus I save the insurance money I'm putting out, as well as the regular costs associated.
If I hold it until the spring I could in theory make a profit. However, I risk loosing up to the same amount as the dealership, plus I'll be carrying the car for three months of at least $700. I could not drive the car and reduce the insurance to just theft...but that will just frustrate me by having to carry the car and not get any use out of it.
So, I'm going to sit down with the bank where the loan resides and check with them, what is the process to remove the lean off the car for the day when I want to hand it over to the dealer. Then look at refinancing through them the remainder of the loan. What is the rate they can give me? Can I do weekly payments? How long a term, etc. Can I pay down the principal as I have extra money available.
The other thing, I work for part of a bank and could possibly get a better short term loan through them. If they can give me a better rate, what is the procedure to pay off the one loan in full, with the money for the sale of the car and then the loan at my bank paying off the remainder. Is this possible, will they give me a better deal, is it even worth the hassle. I hate having all my money spread out everywhere, I'd rather just keep it in one place.
Next, I've got two meetings set up. One with the guy that repairs my car, he owns a dealership North of the city. I'll give him my car Friday morning and pick it up after work. During the day he'll send it North and get an appraisal on it, see what he'll give me for it. Then on Saturday early, I have another appointment with the dealership I bought it from...they've already said they'd give me 13,500 - 14,000. I want the top end of course...but I can see what the mechanic will give me. I need to get $17,000 to pay off my debt in full. I'd rather sell it to the mechanic either way. He's a great guy and has always been awesome whenever I've taken my car in.
The last option is of course to keep it. See if the bank can refinance my loan. It's a 48 month loan, 40 to go yet. Maybe I should spread it out longer and pay it down faster (weekly rather than monthly). It would take off some of the excess every month. I can also try and refigure the insurance too...I drive it even less in the winter, I could put my dad's cottage address on the insurance, that'll drop it a bit too. Hmmmmm...I'd love to keep it, but the money I'll save $700+ a month is worth more to me than anything else...even if it means taking a loss on the car. If I lose $3,500, I'll still be saving about $300 a month for a year, and then it goes away completely.
I keep learning about cars. I've now learned that in the future I'd rather lease as there are all sorts of re-leasing programs and they're shorter/easier to get out of. But I do know that I LOVE my convertible...and I'll never own another car that's not a convertible. Mini-van or SUV...well that's different. And I'm guessing at this point...that the next car I buy will be in 20 years (ie. once I'm married with kids and they're grown)...so I'll get me a 2027 convertible! :) Oh dear, let's hope we're not driving flying cars then... ;)
Questions for the bank
- how do I remove the lean from the car in order to sell it to pay off the loan
- what's my loan account number
- what's the procedure for paying off the loan
- what are my refinancing options if I keep the car
- what are my refinancing options if I sell the car, on the remaining loan value
- if I want to cover the remaining loan value with the bank where I work, can I? what is the procedure?
- do you have any other options/suggestions for my predicament.
