Advice needed in paying of cc debt

[neatdesign]

Wether I like it or not, the car is staying. If I sell it right now, I will be lose way too much money.

Can you explain what you mean when you say you'll be losing "way too much money" if you sell the car? I've reread that sentence now several times and I honestly can't figure out how you could LOSE money by selling your car for $72k.

[dczech09]

Can you explain what you mean when you say you'll be losing "way too much money" if you sell the car? I've reread that sentence now several times and I honestly can't figure out how you could LOSE money by selling your car for $72k.

I am assuming needhelp is implying that the car will sell for less than the loan balance. Which would not surprise me at all. A $70,000 or $80,000 car will drop in value SHARPLY upon being driven off of the lot. More expensive cars tend to not hold their value too well.

Again, I am assuming (and could be wrong) but it would not surprise me if this is the case.

But even so, selling the car for say $65,000 and having $7,000 on a note left over after the sale would be better than having a $72,000 guillotine hanging over one's head.

[needhelp]

I am assuming needhelp is implying that the car will sell for less than the loan balance. Which would not surprise me at all. A $70,000 or $80,000 car will drop in value SHARPLY upon being driven off of the lot. More expensive cars tend to not hold their value too well.

Again, I am assuming (and could be wrong) but it would not surprise me if this is the case.

You are right.....

[dczech09]

You are right.....

Okay, so how much is the car worth?

[mgkimsal]

I'm reading quite a lot of hostility for this guy's (assuming it's a guy) decision on the car.

I'm assuming he already understands it wasn't the best decision to make, but the decision's made. Can we stop beating people up if they don't follow everyone's advice 100% to the letter?

"You keep saying that the car loan isn't hurting you, as if you're trying to convince yourself of this as much as you're trying to convince us."

No, I think the OP is repeating it because people keep bringing it up. In the short term, he's not selling the car.

If the car could sell for $70k, it might make sense. If the car could only sell for, say $45k, that's a loss of $27k. Having to then get another car... let's say for another $20k - this is a $47k hit to deal with a $72k problem, which will likely be gone in a couple years anyway. Yes, money is money, but the OP has more pressing issues that can be dealt with more easily (kill $8600 card altogether, and roll those payments towards next card).

As much as I'm not a huge fan of 'flashy lifestyle' purchases, I'm imagining it's significantly easier for the OP to earn those $30k commission checks driving clients around in a $80k upscale car than a $20k used Toyota, however nice and economical that Toyota might be. OP - if I'm wrong, tell me. One question springs to mind - if you work fulltime for a company, do they pay you a car allowance, or reimburse you for part of that car payment in any way?

Perhaps after 6 months, the OP may see the car issue differently, or may have a smaller delta between car balance and value, but will *probably* still need a more expensive car than most of us here would be comfortable with under any circumstances.

[dczech09]

[QUOTE=mgkimsal;327743]If the car could sell for $70k, it might make sense. If the car could only sell for, say $45k, that's a loss of $27k. Having to then get another car... let's say for another $20k - this is a $47k hit to deal with a $72k problem, which will likely be gone in a couple years anyway. Yes, money is money, but the OP has more pressing issues that can be dealt with more easily (kill $8600 card altogether, and roll those payments towards next card).
[QUOTE]

If the car sells for $45k, then that is a loss of $27k ($72,000 - $45,000).

So the OP would have $27k left on a loan for a car they no longer own.

They go out and buy a car for $10k or less (let's assume $10,000)

So that is a debt of $37k ($27,000 + $10,000)

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't $37k in debt better than $70k?

All I am saying is that selling the car will quickly improve the OP's situation. They do not need to buy a $20,000+ car. A $10,000 car can be just as reliable and "fashionable" if that is truly a concern.

And I do not have any hostility to the OP's decision. I have a hard time understanding how they can justify holding onto that large of a car loan. Period. As I said before, that is too large of a car loan for ANYBODY.

[papa_squat]

Taking out a loan that large on a depreciating asset is just plain reckless. Even without the CC debt, I think OP should sell the car.

Can your in-laws repay any of the debt you took to help them out? Having them help with the payments would make a difference in how quickly you pay the cards off.

Keep about $1,000 of the bonus for emergencies and then throw the rest at the debt first thing. If you are still leaning toward taking the personal loan to pay off the rest of the CCs, constantly remind yourself that that's not getting rid of the debt, it's just taking new debt with a lower interest rate. If you really want to pay down the debt, sell the car, pay off the debt and then buy a car in cash or at least with a payment you can afford. If you decide you'd rather keep the car and take the personal loan, you have to take measures to make sure a lesson is learned and this kind of crisis doesn't happen again. As long as you have the car loan, it's going make any emergency you have to handle that much more stressful.

And if you in fact had to take on the CC debt because of your in-laws, let them know it. Don't let them think you could afford to bail them out, because you couldn't. It's great that you were able to help them in their time of need, but you really are paying the price now because of it.