Any advice on getting car financing with crappy credit?

Ya know, 'Rex, I was trained as a surgeon. Surgeons are like that. It is probably a chicken and egg thing. Do people with that personality gravitate to surgery or does becoming a surgeon make you that way? Based on observations, I'll go with the former with a touch of the later. Now, if you want "touchey feeley" then go with a Family Practice doctor. They are FANTASTIC at bedside manner, holding your hand and saying "There, there." Unfortunately, that is frequently all they are capable of doing. The surgeon, on the other hand, comes in, says "That's gotta come out, deal with it," and leaves.

As for a better approach for medical debt, I really don't want to discuss how to play hard ball on a public forum such as this.

First off, many will work with you. Many will be reasonable in adjusting the bill. I mean, $15 for a twenty cent pill. They have some room to negotiate there. And easy monthly payments are easy to negotiate. A hundred bucks a month forever with no interest? They'll probably go for it.

However, if negotiations go bad, I'll just say that they are playing hardball and if you don't want to be butt-berkeleyed, you have to play hardball too. This may involve debt collectors and being sued, but such is life in our modern society. Know your rights in your state and fight them every inch of the way. berkeley them. Also, don't be living in New Jersey. Pick a state that has some debtor protections. Worst case, a bankruptcy stays on your credit for 10 years. Not paying the bill stays on for 7, I think, but I ain't a lawyer. And if it has gone on long enough to get to that point, then you are probably 2 or 3 years into it already, which means you have 4 or 5 years to go just waiting them out, versus adding an instant 10 years with the BK. Plus, as I said, medical debt is such a well known game that even the credit reporting agencies are ignoring it or severely downplaying it in their credit reports.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

It wasn't intended as an insult- just an observation.

Personally, I much prefer people who shoot straight with me. If I am an ass, I want someone to say, "Don't be an ass". From Southerners I will accept, "Bless your heart", which basically means, "Don't be an ass", but only when they say it to me directly, instead of to all their friends behind my back.

If you could get her comfortable with driving something less than new for a while, you could get on the track to do better down the road. I'm a big Dave Ramsey fan (thanks to a GRMer whose contributed to this thread already). Anytime someone brings up car payments, I think of Ramsey's "drive a car for free for life" video.

Check it out here: Drive a car for free

In reply to SVreX:

Listen, I didn't make this thread expecting someone to coddle me and tell me everything will be ok. I made it half expecting that it would be bad news for myself, but I did expect to get advice from people here because they come from all walks of life and I know some folks have gone through bankruptcies here as well.

What I wasn't expecting was that a couple people made a point to give me E36 M3 about my wife and our bankruptcy. I certainly did not make this thread for that reason. E36 M3 happens, Life happens, and yeah my wife can be a pain in the ass sometimes and I wish that I didn't need to file for bankruptcy, but it was necessary whether people think it was or not. Maybe one day we can all sit down and have some beers and I can tell you guys more details, but that wasn't the point of this thread.

I appreciate that Dr Hess was trying to give advice in his own, brash way, but I just didn't care for how he presented it. He apologized and I accept that. If what I said in response to what he originally said came off as butthurt, so be it, because I felt it needed to be said.

As I've said already, I thank everyone for their advice. There's a couple different paths to take, some that aren't favorable, but it may have to go that route.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

FWIW, I said nothing about your bankruptcy, your marriage, nor your buying preferences.

I am just here for the shrimp dip and salsa.

In reply to SVreX:

Well I wasn't saying you did.

So let me get some of that shrimp dip!

SBF

Maybe I missed it, but what is her current car and what is wrong with it?

Durango and needs another engine IIRC.

Datsun1500 wrote:

The_Jed wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Thanks for everyone's input, but this thread kind of went the way I thought it would.

Rather than denigrating a guy for his lack of a stepford wife and perfect credit score, why not realize that he lives in the real world and offer some helpful advice or empathy?

We do realize he lives in the real world. Everyone on this board lives in the real world. In the real world there are consequences to your decisions. If you decide to file bankruptcy, one of the consequences is people don't want to lend you money anymore. Life after bankruptcy sucks, as it should. It should be a lesson to not do whatever you did to end up there, so it does not happen again. We are trying to offer advice on how to not go down the same road, not judging him. Helpful advice like "get a car you can afford" I find it interesting that you say:

We were in the same situation, having filed the big B after '09 gave it to us dry

like it was not your fault. 09 sucked for most people, but they managed to get through it without BK. Many were prepared "just in case" but you were not prepared. That is 100% your fault, at least own it. Being on welfare, filing bankruptcy, etc. are signs you berkeleyed up. It should suck, it should be embarrassing, it should hurt for awhile. That way you don't want to do it again.

Wow. Bless your little heart.

So, I was thinking. I may have been drunk, it was fancy beer day. Wife wants swaggerific, sbf wants reliable. Tom says, buy a millenia. Make sure its not the supercharged. A kl millenia will run for decades, and as it was part of mazdas aborted amati line, is loaded to the balls with good smelling leather and buttons. Get a facelift car and you even get boss as berkeley chrome wheels with it. Then wifey gets buttons, you get reliable, and you both get a dope ass bippu sedan that won't have the Lexus tax on it. I don't know what sorta coin you have, but I'd bet at least one of my turbo mazdas you could have a sweet one in cash.

In reply to Datsun1500:

I believe it's the second time it's needed and engine in a pretty short amount of time.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

look I wasnt trying to cast judgement on you or her when I was making a different point, I was just worried you may not be correctly defining the problem, and therefore not getting any solution/advice that would help.

Just another angle...

I had a coworker who had just moved from South Africa. It wasn't that he had BAD credit, but that he had none at all (in the US).

He found a place that rented him a car for $500/mo, including insurance. It was a couple year old Camry. That might be worth looking in to.

Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock wrote: Durango and needs another engine IIRC.

Ouch. I worked for Chrysler and Dodge dealers for years.

I'd drop that thing like a hot potato, go for something Oriental. Sell it to a recycling yard for scrap value, put that with the $2k you already have and go find an Xterra in the $4-$5k range, borrow the difference from a credit union. I paid $4200 for mine (2003 XE V6 2wd) with 160k miles, everything works, nothing leaks, it looks and drives like new.

If you borrow $2k from a CU for 12 months at 5%, that's about $171 a month for a year. I guarantee that you can't find a new car that cheap.

Personally, I'd avoid a car loan of any kind mainly due to the insurance. Assuming you have bare-minimum insurance on her current car, adding a newer and more valuable car that needs full coverage will likely increase your insurance substantially. When in doubt, contact your agent before buying anything.

Good luck and be patient. It'll work out eventually, but it'll take time.

Datsun1500 wrote: In the real world there are consequences to your decisions. If you decide to file bankruptcy, one of the consequences is people don't want to lend you money anymore.

When my parents had to file for bankruptcy, one of the first effects was they were given all SORTS of credit offers.

People who file for bankruptcy tend to need money, and will probably be desperate enough to take loans at usurious interest rates. Another friend's dad bought a new car at 29.9% APR, probably because Ohio doesn't allow higher than that.

Knurled wrote:

Datsun1500 wrote: In the real world there are consequences to your decisions. If you decide to file bankruptcy, one of the consequences is people don't want to lend you money anymore.

When my parents had to file for bankruptcy, one of the first effects was they were given all SORTS of credit offers. People who file for bankruptcy tend to need money, and will probably be desperate enough to take loans at usurious interest rates. Another friend's dad bought a new car at 29.9% APR, probably because Ohio doesn't allow higher than that.

THIS. After my experience, the offers were ridiculous and no doubt aimed at keeping people in mounting debt and repeating past mistakes. I waited a good while but also needed a car for work, so I bought used with cash. Eventually I opened a low limit card that had insane interest, but I only charged a very low recurring payment(ie netflix) and made sure that the credit card payment was also automated from my bank, ensuring no missed payments. I waited a good 2+ years with that used car and that 1 credit card, and eventually I was able to get some normal offers again, and also interest rates on a car loan that were reasonable, though I did have to put close to $6,000 down in order to get a loan (I believe it was with Wells Fargo). The 2 years of living on cash only and no credit was equal parts stressful (having to watch my cash) and also so gratifying (no creditors or bills to watch for). As I mentioned previously, find something that holds its value and has largely bottomed out. I did a Wrangler and they will sell for what you bought them for, all day long. They also sell quick if you ever need the cash. Others that come to mind are Xterras, Civics, etc. Always a market for them, and fairly reliable rides. Hope your luck turns around for you!

Curmudgeon wrote:

Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock wrote: Durango and needs another engine IIRC.

Ouch. I worked for Chrysler and Dodge dealers for years. I'd drop that thing like a hot potato, go for something Oriental. Sell it to a recycling yard for scrap value, put that with the $2k you already have and go find an Xterra in the $4-$5k range, borrow the difference from a credit union..

Further pro-tip, don't buy another Chrysler product.

In reply to redhookfern:

I've got kind of the opposite problem. I'm 37 and through various circumstance, I've never HAD credit. Nobody wants to lend me money even though I have a decent-paying stable job and residence. I've lived my entire life on cash up front, with some very minor personal borrowing here and there.

Mom joked that the easiest way for me to get a credit card would be to file for bankruptcy. Sad thing is, she's right.

In reply to Datsun1500:

The two problems with that are that banks aren't open at convenient hours for me, and to be honest, I don't really MIND not having credit most of the time. The only time it bugs me is when I want to make a large impulse purchase, which is precisely the sort of thing one should not do.

Or as the comedian said, I'm not broke, I'm even.

In reply to Datsun1500:

PM sent. I would like to step outside of Margie's party to discuss your assumptions about me.

@ Datsun1500:

I know people shouldn't expect to borrow money cheaply after a bankruptcy, if you go back and re-read my post you will see that I said the same thing. I'm trying to inform you without risking the ban hammer.

I do care what most people think of me. I try to be honest, upfront and communicate in a courteous manner and I hope people think of me in that way.

@SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

I apologize for the role I played in the muddying up and derailing of your thread.

You know what amazes me? If you have several outstanding credit accounts but they are all current that shows a better score than having just one or two. Meaning they think it's better to live on the precipice where you'd drown instantly rather than to live intelligently. SMH.

Curmudgeon wrote: You know what amazes me? If you have several outstanding credit accounts but they are all current that shows a better score than having just one or two. Meaning they think it's better to live on the precipice where you'd drown instantly rather than to live intelligently. SMH.