Advise Please - Finance

defiant12

Hey there,

A little advice if yis don't mind:D

My wifey got herself a 06 Focus 1.4LX from AutoX in Sep '08. Can't remember the price but it was way too much and she financed it through TSB.
She's no longer working and did not take out payment protection so the repayments of €348 p/m are a bit of a problem now.

The settlement on the finance is €14,000:eek: so i can't clear the loan or sell the car privately as i would not be able to clear it for the new owner.
All i can think to do is trade it in and refinance for something else to reduce payments.
I've been ringing around and could probably get a trade in value of €7,000 - €7,500 for the Focus. This would still leave €7,000 owing to TSB so a realistic max budget for a replacement car of another €7,000. Obviously this would mean going back in years but i can't see any dealer taking an 06 car in against and 04/05??

Is changing the Focus really an option now or do we just have to stick with it and keep up the repayments??

Thanks in advance for any replies...

mickdw

So you want to trade in the car and get 7k for it. Then buy another car for 7k. This is not helping your situation. You will be losing out by the amount of profit the dealer has out of this deal.
To save, you need to buy a car much cheaper than you are trading in.

On the other hand, if you continued to pay for the car until the half way stage of the finance repayment, DEpending on whether she got a personal loan or proper car finance you could then hand it back to the bank with no penalty whatsoever even if the car is worth alot less than amount owed.

If that route isnt an option, all you can do is buy a €500 car, get a credit union loan to clear the car off and then clear half of that loan off when you sell the focus leaving you with repayments on 7k instead of 14k.

alexmcred

Your other option would be get a loan to the amount you need to bring you up to the half rule and then hand back the car to the finance company as mickdw said above heres a link to the thread on that

TouchingVirus

I'd advise you to try get a personal loan for the amount needed to bring you up to the halfway point of repayments for the '06 and then turn in the car under the half rule. You might even be able to get a little extra on that personal loan to finance an older car if your wife needs to have one. Say €10k max, leaving 3k or so for that other car.

Obviously you could try your best to negotiate a longer term for this loan so the repayments aren't crippling too.

Another thing you could do is to contact TSB and see about renegotiating your current car loan. They might not play ball but it should be your first option IMO.

defiant12

Thanks guys, that half rule is interesting.
I reckon i need €5k to reach the half way stage but don't think i can get it.
Our finances are stretched as it is. I can't see anyone lending to us, especially with the missus out of work.

I guess i'll talk to them about renegotiating terms, that was a stupid idea about trading it in:o

dellas1979

Sorry defiant - but what? 14,000K outstanding on a 06 focus? What was the original debt? Are you sure? As in, are you sure they have it calculated correctly? My sister last year went to buy a new car and before signing the finance deal realised that the dealership had added 2k on for nothing. When pointed out it was "ohhh oopps" needless to say she walked out of the place immediately.

First questions, can she do without a car (as she is out of work?).

I would either sell the car and pay off half the loan (and not buy another car) or sell the car (buy a 1k car) and pay back 6k of the loan. Do you have a credit union account/any other funds to pay back anymore of the remaining balance?

colm_mcm

Autoexchange are/were crooks, this is old news.


OP, check out the "half rule" thread on this forum.

defiant12

dellas1979 wrote: »

Sorry defiant - but what? 14,000K outstanding on a 06 focus?
First questions, can she do without a car (as she is out of work?).
I would either sell the car and pay off half the loan (and not buy another car) or sell the car (buy a 1k car) and pay back 6k of the loan. Do you have a credit union account/any other funds to pay back anymore of the remaining balance?

Yip, the purchase price was over €16K, + interest brings the HP amount to €20K, madness:mad:
Need a car, baby due and i only got a motorbike (it's not worth selling).
I can't sell the car with finance outstanding so borrowing for enough to reach the half way point seems to be the way to go but i dunno how i'm gonna come up with the money...