Oppo Morning Crew, I need help.

"Vimto" (smudgey) 10/14/2014 at 09:07 • Filed to: None

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Basically, I'm young and dumb and got myself in a bit of a situation.

See, on August 25th of this year, I purchased my brand new 2014 Nissan Versa Note. I'm not quite half way through college, work over 30 hours a week, and get assistance from my parents covering my rent, so I figured that making 1.5x or double payments, plus the occasional tax refund, I'd have the car paid off at time of graduation, or soon after.

It should be noted that I also have a 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis. I LOVE this car to my core and my intention in getting a second car was to have reliable transportation when my Mercury gets old, so that I can make it my project and do all sorts of fun modifications, like engine swaps and Kona blue paint.

Anyway, my folks, who are in their 60s, dropped a bomb on me about a week ago saying that they want to retire when my apartment lease ends next May and if I want to stay in the city I'm in (600 miles from them), I have to do so in a financially independent fashion. I refuse to go home, so I have to figure something out.

I've already started hunting for a second job, but right now my monthly income is conservatively around $900 a month and there is now way I can even afford to live and function (gas, food, insurance, phone, bills at potential room, etc.) with that $225/month coming out of my account for the car.

Unfortunately, I'm thousands of dollars upside down in the car because I financed the fees and of course the car isn't worth near its MSRP despite only having 500 miles. How terrible would it be to sell both of them to Carmax? Carmax requires you to pay off the remainder of your loan (less the value of the car) within a week, my Mercury is worth more than that, then I'd hopefully have enough left over for a cheap runabout.

I'm not even sure what kind of reliable car I could get for that little, but at least I'd be able to afford to live somewhere other than my backseat.

Drifting Grand Marquis for your time.

tl;dr: I can afford my payments, or a room. not both.

adamftw > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:09

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why did you finance a new boringmobile when you have a perfectly reliable, not old at all, panther platform that is paid for? unless the thing has 300k miles, you won't need to worry about anything going wrong...

quarterlifecrisis > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:10

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Quite the conundrum. If you don't mind my asking, what's your student loan situation?

If you aren't opposed to taking on some student debt for a couple years, that may be the easiest way to keep your head above water. I would certainly recommend unloading one of the cars though. Unfortunately, you bought a cheap car (no offense...it just is), and it won't hold it's value for long. So, I'd try to get ahead on it as quickly as you can, then get out of it. Or unload the Panther.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:12

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Is it not possible to eat the cost of what you've paid so far, get rid of the versa, and daily the Mercury? Just feels to me that it's best to keep the car that's fully paid off and well known to be reliable, hence them being used as taxis and cop cars so often.

Vimto > adamftw 10/14/2014 at 09:13

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Because I'm stupid, and my thought was that by the time the Nissan is paid off, the Mercury will be 10 years old and have over 150k on it. Which, yeah, really isn't that much for Panther.

Vimto > quarterlifecrisis 10/14/2014 at 09:14

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I don't have any student loans, and I really don't want any. I haven't really come up with a solution other than selling both of them.

E92M3 > adamftw 10/14/2014 at 09:16

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^This. Have you considered waiting tables at nice restaurant? Should net you more than $15 an hour with tips. Also, what about a roomate?

Party-vi > adamftw 10/14/2014 at 09:17

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Probably expensive insurance and crappy gas consumption.

Ducky > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:18

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Sell the Versa privately or trade it in on something used at the end of the month. Maybe youll catch a desperate dealer trying to make numbers for the month.

Sell the Merc privately. It'll do well on CL.

quarterlifecrisis > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:20

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I'd say they both need to go in that case. This will have been a very expensive 7 week learning experience.

505Turbeaux > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:20

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well, good thing this article isnt going to be coming in handy. :)

theuserformerlyknownasaluminumfoil > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:20

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Sell the Versa privately.. I don't think I would sell the Grand Marquis though.. the Versa is worth more.

ly2v8-Brian > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:21

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Would selling the Merc cover the remainder of your versa loan?

JBurd67 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:22

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What's the interest rate on your car loan? Student loans (I have several) are much more forgiving immediately and are pretty fair on interest rates. I'd consider looking into it if you're not completely against it.

What are you going to school for? If you'll be making decent money when you graduate, $10k in student loans can be paid off in a few years. I know you don't want to go that way, but it's not a bad out if you want to keep both cars...

Vimto > Ducky 10/14/2014 at 09:22

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How much would you ask for the Mercury? It's a 2007 LS with most of the options except air suspension and sunroof, 90k miles, leather is in very good shape, but its got a lot of rock chips up front and scars from the previous owner on both front corners.

BJ > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:23

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What about being a roommate? Find somebody that's renting a room and save money on everything - you'll split the cost of rent, internet, power, water, etc.

Vimto > ly2v8-Brian 10/14/2014 at 09:23

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Not even close, but it would allow me to sell the Versa without being upside down in it.

Vimto > 505Turbeaux 10/14/2014 at 09:25

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It still might if I can't get out of the loan in time. Slept in the Mercury's backseat the other night when my apartment's A/C was out...I was quite comfortable.

ly2v8-Brian > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:26

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That's too bad. Because I feel the new car is better in the long term.

Vimto > BJ 10/14/2014 at 09:28

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At the moment I end up earning just over $50 a month if you subtract my monthly payment, car insurance (required $500 deductible for NMAC financed cars, could be raised on something cheap), gas, food, phone, cable, and power. I am looking for a second job, but can't count on one happening, so at this point there is no way I'll get a room for less than $100/month.

Vimto > ly2v8-Brian 10/14/2014 at 09:29

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I drive a lot and the Versa would save me $100 a month in gas, if not more, but I haven't been using it much because I had a feeling a couple of weeks ago this would happen, hence why it only has 500 miles.

Ducky > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:29

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I honestly dont know man, i dont know the market

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:30

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I'm kinda confused as to why you added the Nissan to begin with. How many miles on the clock of the Mercury?

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:32

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Trade-in both, buy P71.

jovimon7 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:34

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Sell the Versa, get a small title loan on the Merc to cover the difference owed. Lesson learned.

Vimto > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 10/14/2014 at 09:34

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The Mercury has 90k on it, which is nothing for a Panther. I ran the numbers a hundred times using conservative estimates, and found that I could pay it off around graduation. It'd save me a lot of money on gas (almost half the payment's worth), and would allow me to make the Mercury my project once I was in the right place to do so.

PS9 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:39

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Get away from the Sentra Immediately. Like, right now. Write an ad for someone to come take over the payments. Get out of that ASAP.

Keep the panther and see how you do with it in terms of gas, insurance, etc. If that panther life if too pricey for you as well, craigslist it and use the cash to get something with 4 cylinders (or less) and half the displacement.

adamftw > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:43

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meh, we've all (most?) been there. imho, dump it.

adamftw > Party-vi 10/14/2014 at 09:44

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so paying for insurance on two cars, and adding a new car payment is cheaper than just paying for gas on one car?

BJ > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:44

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Hmm, in that case it looks like you'll have to sell the Nissan and eat the loss. Talk to your parents and see if they can't help you out with a no-interest loan to cover your loss while you're finishing school. This will likely cost them much less than an apartment rental for the remainder of your current degree program.

Party-vi > adamftw 10/14/2014 at 09:45

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When I have my head up my ass because I haven't had any coffee, yes.

adamftw > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:45

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so you are saving 100 a month in gas, but paying what? 200 a month for the payment+ insurance? now you are loosing 100 a month compared to just driving the grand marq

jariten1781 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:45

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See if you can get someone to take over the loan on the Nissan. If you list it as 'XXX per month' you can likely find someone who will not research and find out it's upside down...especially on campus. Hang up one of those tear phone number things and list on the college's message boards. Then you'd only be out the down payment and the couple of payments you made.

ly2v8-Brian > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:46

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maybe a good call. Sucks it depreciated so fast.

Vimto > PS9 10/14/2014 at 09:48

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How does someone take over the payments?

Without a car payment and being able to adjust my deductibles a bit, or even better managing to get a second job, I'm sure I can afford a room with the Panther.

PS9 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 09:53

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Your going to have to read the finance agreement to see if they allow for assumption of obligation. If they do, find out what the procedure is for transferring the loan to someone else by calling them.

If they DON'T...well you're kinda screwed.

sellphones2493 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 10:14

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I'm a former Carmax Employee. You'll get around $9,000 for the Note and maybe $4-5,000 for the Grandma.

Sell the Mercury on Craigslist, and use the cash made on that to cover the negative equity on the Note. Or just keep the Note and sell the Mercury.

Luckily both cars are a dime a dozen, so it's not like you're parting with something rare.

bob and john > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 10:25

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no offense, but you derped hard

as for what you can do: Sell the note, eat the loss. consider it an expensive lesson. Ask you parents for a loan that you pay back ASAP (i mean eating ramen ASAP) and keep it going.

if you dont mind me asking but how far under water are you on the note?

Shift24 > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 10:52

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You have until May correct? Start paying as much as possible on the Nissan ASAP no matter what. This will help when you get down to crunch time. Also what ever car cost the most insurance and gas combined, park it and get it off your insurance. But most likely it will have to be the Mercury (cant take off insurance of a car with a loan) But that will give you 6+ months of just one car insurance. KBB says 5k trade and 6.5K private party on the Panther but it sounds like you would prefer to keep it. If you start saving now and putting it on the Nissan and work your butt off you might be able to keep it. The other option is try to work with who ever has the loan. They would rather you pay more a month and sell it than repo it.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 10:58

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Remember, you do NOT own the car. Look at the title, in the space that says "Lien Holder" is the entity that owns the car. You don't have the right to assign the loan to anybody, only the lien holder can do that.

As a 46 year old, who is married with two children and all the attendant things that go with it, I am still trying to understand why a kid in college who still need financial support from his 'rents thought owning two cars, one purchased through financing, was a sound idea.

Love ya dude, but you were gambling on this one from the jump. Good luck and god bless. You have an expensive lesson you are in the process of learning.

NaturallyAspirated > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 12:03

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I'm not much of a financial whiz, but my first instinct would be to get out of debt as soon as possible, even if I had to eat a loss.

As "that guy" who has never paid more than $3200 for a car, I might be able to help find a decent runabout though.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 13:50

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what's your insurance status on either/both? because if something was to happen to your vehicle...

RockRam > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 14:32

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Don't beat a man when he's already down. I was in college with 2 cars as well. Does not end well.

From experience, do some market research and find out which one will yield less of a value loss to you. Both are reliable and will last a while. If it was me, I would keep which ever one made me the happiest. It's not easy getting rid of a car under lien, but it's also not impossible.

Can also sell both, get an older panther or a japano-mobile for less than $2k. Or........ keep both and cut other costs like cable and/or cell plan.

Just don't tackle this alone. Get some reliable financial planning from guidance counselor, or from those people at the bank.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:02

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what cash do you predict yourself to have after trading in the Versa and the Merc at CarMax? you said you didn't know what you could buy with that but didn't say what that was.

Just want to help you with your options.

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:07

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I would guess somewhere between $3-4k, but I'm not entirely sure. That much could get me a 2004 Grand Marquis with 160k miles, or there's even a 1995 Grand Marquis with less miles than my 2007 for $3k near me.

Outside of the Panther world I don't know a great deal.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:11

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there's nothing wrong with that. You're looking for cheap and low on maintenance costs. panther is a good direction to look. Especially when you only have 3-4k.

Id go for the older one with less miles, but that's just me.

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:17

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One thing that worries me on the '95 is that it sort of look like it's dragging its butt, as if the air suspension might be failing. The '04 is a GS and doesn't have as many electronics to break, but I don't know how its been treated for that 160k.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:21

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That thing has air ride in it back in 95?

You sure it doesn't just need a set of rear shocks?

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:24

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I believe the Town Car and Mark VIII had air ride from '92, but you could be right.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:29

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http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/monroe-monro…

conversion kit.

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:36

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Awesome, looks like it isn't too difficult to execute either.

There's a P71 or two in that price range, but as reliable as Panthers are I'm sure most of them are beat to hell.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:39

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This is probably true.

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:42

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I like this one, although its a bit weird that it has steel wheels and hubcaps because it's an LS (leather seats + automatic climate control)

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/…

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:43

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damn that's nice.

go get this one lol

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:46

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Wish I could just go and get it and say goodbye, loan! haha. I just noticed it even has the same Kenwood headunit mine has.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:53

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Nice. Make it happen!

And honestly those things get pretty good mileage. My V6 Milan FWD only gets 27-28 on the highway, this is rated at 25 with a V8 and RWD. you win

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:55

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You're acting like I haven't had a Grand Marquis for the better part of a year haha. I can get almost 30 mpg out of mine without much effort, it usually gets 20 around town.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Vimto 10/14/2014 at 16:57

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see. this is what i'm saying. that's nutty gas mileage out of a v8 rwd full size

Vimto > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 10/14/2014 at 16:58

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The wonders of being at 1600 RPM at 65 mph lol.