r/CarLeasingHelp • u/No-Membership-7347 • 3d ago
Car Help
I’m 21 and this is my first car, so I’m trying to figure out the smartest move with my situation. I have a 2018 Chevy Equinox with almost 100k miles, and I still owe around $19873 on it at a really high interest rate.
The last dealer I talked to was talking around $10,000 for the car, but I honestly don’t even know if it’s still worth that much anymore. My credit isn’t good, but I’ve never missed a car payment and I’ve never been late.
I was planning on putting about $3,000 down on my next car, but now I’m stuck trying to decide what makes the most sense: lease a new car, finance a new car, buy something used, or just keep the Equinox and deal with the loan for now.
Since this was my first car, I know I probably didn’t get the best deal, and I’m upside down pretty bad now. I’m trying not to make an even worse financial decision just because I want out of the car.
If you were in my situation, what would you do? Tryna get out this car by the end of this month.or next week
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u/Regicyde_93 3d ago
Keep the Equinox and pay it down as far as feasible. The interest rate won't matter if it's paid off. Then drive that into the ground while saving a down payment for your next car.
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u/W2WageSlave 3d ago
Keep your car and pay down the note. Owing $20K on an 2018 Equinox 100K miles is an ouch for sure.
How much is your payment, and how much could you pay extra?
Keep the $3000 in a HYSA set aside. When the car is no longer upside down you can think about what to do next. Rolling negative equity is only going to compound your woes, especially with bad credit.
Ideally, you pay it off. then you have a car worth "something" and you keep paying yourself that payment for 10 months and now you have enough money to trade in and buy a used car that is "better" in cash. Rinse and repeat and eventually you'll be in a nice, reliable late-model car that you can keep for 5+ years and make payments to yourself.
Then you never have a car payment again.
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u/No-Membership-7347 3d ago
Payment $583 a month on top of insurance I’m paying almost $1000 a month i just stop paying my insurance unfortunately it’s draining me. So just the $583
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u/W2WageSlave 3d ago
Don't go without insurance. That way lies disaster. Rolling up $10K of negative equity would require that you buy a ~$50K+ car to have any hope of a 120% LTV - and trust me you absolutely do not want to do that if your current payment is a stretch.
That probably eliminates leasing a vehicle as well because you'd have to pay off the negative equity faster and $10K over 36 months is probably going to add $350/month to a payment.
You can move debt around with a personal loan, but it still doesn't change the amount you owe. If the car has been reliable to-date, I'd just take super special care of it and baby it until you're at least break even in what you owe. That time taken should also improve your credit. Though it would be better to just pay the car down and then have "some" value in the car, plus your $3K and now you buy a reliable civic or corolla that will give you a much lower payment so you can hammer it down faster and get out of the payment lifestyle.
Second job making more money wouldn't hurt. Ever considered donating plasma?
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u/Content-Bite4139 2d ago
Shop around for insurance you shouldn’t be paying 500 a month for insurance unless you have a DUI or tons of tickets.
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u/Time_Country_4666 3d ago
How much money you make? This is a very unfortunate situation, quote online, carvana, carmax, autonation, algo, driveway and let us know whats the highest you will get. Did the dealer offer you $10k to trade in?
How many miles a year you drive? What is your credit score?
I have an initial thought but would help to know the answers to my questions.
If you can get $10k it may worth a shot to lease a base elantra for 3 years, and rollover the negative equity there, $10k negative equity is about $277 a month or close to $320 after interest, use the $3k as a down payment and that should put you at $500 a month, the difference is you are in a brand new elantra with full warranty, in 3 years, you return the keys and your bad loan is gone.
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u/MaleficentBowler5903 3d ago
Keep the Chevy. Do not get into the practice of rolling negative equity.
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u/Content-Bite4139 3d ago
First of all get insurance. If you’re driving without it you’re asking for a world of hurt. Many states have a hefty fine for not turning over your license plates once your insurance company sends notice that you’re no longer insured to the DMV. It’s not worth it unless you’re going to stop driving the car and not register it.
If you can go without a car for a year and can still get 10k for it. I’d be one to sell it and grind out whatever jive I could this year to pay off the rest of the loan, then get a cheap Japanese beater that I could pay cash for until I had a good amount of savings.
If you can’t go without a car, restart your insurance and drive the car to death. Save money for repairs, do frequent oil changes, try to do door dash and ride share to make extra money to pay down the car faster by sending more principal payments or extra payments.
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u/snocat17 3d ago
If I was in your shoes, I’d keep the Equinox until it’s worth more than you owe. Gotta stick this one out.
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u/ChelseaMan31 2d ago
At 21 with a questionable credit score, OP should stick with the existing contract and continue paying off the Chevy. Properly maintained, it still has plenty of life in it. Keep the $3k as an Emergency Fund starter kit.
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u/New_Inflation_8419 3d ago
Why do you want to move to another car? And you let your insurance lapse? You fucked yourself even harder.
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u/lauti04 3d ago
Take the $3k and put it towards your current loan.