I have VERY bad credit. Should I even consider trying to get another car?

[tjdee]

My car is a jerk, and I'm in a bad mood every day because I have to drive it. They "can't find" anything really wrong with it, but it creaks badly (IMO) when I come to a stop and start moving again, when I go over bumps, and randomly from time to time. It's a 97 minivan with about 114K miles. I have to keep the radio on so I don't hear all the creak noises.

But I use my car for work many times (driving a town over, driving all over my town, sometimes about 50 miles). This month and next I am driving upwards of 5 hours a weekend. I'm somewhat concerned it won't even last two months (it may, as the engine / battery/brakes / transmission are good, it's really just these @*! creaking noises).

I need a new car (and by new, I mean newer/less miles) but my credit sucks. What can I even do? I'm going to have about 2-3,000 bucks because of my refund and some other things... but I don't know whether to fix the old car (even though "they can't find" anything really wrong) or to try to get financing (BWAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) for another car. I don't want to keep putting money into this POS, but if no one's going to give me a loan (or INSURANCE, which is my bigger problem).... what to do? I'd love a program car (old rental cars with about 30Kmiles) but same problem.

I'm going to be away from the computer for a few hours, but I'll be back. Thanks, anyone who wants to weigh in.

[MadHound]

1. Your van "creaks" all the time?

Sounds like you need to get a good lube job, grease up the joints and stuff. I would do that before I did anything else.

[tjdee]

4. Would that be something they do at an oil change?

I just had my oil changed, they supposedly "greased up everything real good"...the van creaked on the way out of their driveway. :eyes:

I know nothing about cars (another problem for another day), and it would make me feel a lot better to know that it's just creaking because it's old and not because the wheels or the idling pulley is about to drop off in the middle of the road. :scared:

Thanks for the reply, maybe I can take it in somewhere else especially for "lubing"?

[LeftyMom]

2. Car loans= bad idea

You could get something reliable and newer for your return + what you could get out of the van (or less, I love my car and it set me back less than 3K,) but I don't see why you shouldn't drive the van until it croaks if you can't get much out of it when you sell it.

If your credit sucks you'll get hosed on financing and the only cars they'll want to sell to you are the ones that aren't worth buying.

[tjdee]

7. I have no problem driving it until it croaks...

except I don't want to be stranded on the highway, etc., and if the car goes, I have to get something else anyway because I use my car for work (I couldn't get a ride with a friend/take a bus,etc.)

What car do you have, that you love and cost less than 3K? I want me one of those, LOL!

I know they're going to hose me. I have no doubt. But then I get in the car and hear those *(&#!!! sounds every day. It's driving me insane I think. I don't go anywhere on the weekends because I don't want to hear the car. Not good.

But I think you're right. Thanks!

[LeftyMom]

11. I have a Saturn SW1.

It's got 130K miles on it with no problems. I :loveya: it. Saturns are great because they're american so they're cheap used, but they're really reliable. Not the most fun car in the world, but it's reliable and does everything I need it to do.

[skygazer]

3. I don't know what to tell you

Except that sucks and I'm sorry. I was in the same situation essentially but I fortunately have a friend who works at a dealership and he got me into a new car. I live in California and he works in Vermont but I was out there visiting and he worked for 3 days calling connections and trying to get me financed which he finally did. I'm so grateful to him but if you don't have someone like that you can trust and who will go out on a limb for you, I don't know what you can do.

Do you have anyone who might co-sign a loan with you? That's the only thing I can think of.

[tjdee]

12. Aww crap, I forgot about the co-signing.

I have someone who could co-sign (she actually just bought a new car) but she had a good co-signer.

It's times like this I wish I had a boyfriend/husband/guy friend who could help out with connections/knowing when someone is bullshitting, etc. Sigh. Thanks for the reply!

[derby378]

5. Do you have someone like Carmax in town?

I'd give them a peek. They set up their own loans, so they're willing to sell to people who have bad credit. And they tend to have great cars available. Just mention the down payment and your situation and they should be able to work with you on the interest rate, payments, etc.

[tjdee]

9. Oh...I don't know.

I actually live in what is kind of the sticks (another reason I can't be carless). But I will look.

Thanks!

[GOPisEvil]

15. Carmax was willing to finance me in my bad credit days.

Tune the tune of fucking usury. I think it was 18% interest.

[lizziegrace]

6. My car creaked terribly in the front end and it was worse when cold out

The left ball joint was bad and the coil spring was broken. The repairs weren't cheap, but I have a 1994 Accord with 142k on it, bad credit and no way to make a payment, so it lives on.

:hug:

I know how you feel.

[tjdee]

8. So it's still working though?

As long as it works I guess I could live with the sounds... I guess... I get afraid that a wheel is going to pop off or something. :(

Oh wait, I just reread. You got it fixed. Hmm. Maybe I'll ask them to check that. I hate them, they can't find anything when they look, and I'm like, why don't you drive it for 30 seconds, you'll hear it. :eyes:

[lizziegrace]

10. You need to have it checked to see if that's the problem

I drove on mine too long. If the ball joint fails, you can lose control of the vehicle. I parked mine for a weekend when I found out how bad and dangerous it really was.

[lizziegrace]

14. The check for a ball joint is

putting the car up on the rack and pushing up on the wheel. If there's no play in it, the ball joint's okay and could be some other part. If it pushes up a couple inches (like mine), it's shot.

[tjdee]

16. Would they find that in an oil change?

I mean, that sounds dumb, but they said they'd check the front end for the sound I was describing, as part of the oil change process they check the belts/hoses/etc....

I'm just wondering why they would NOT check that. Maybe they did, and just didn't find anything wrong.

[xmas74]

17. Get a different mechanic.

Ask around for referrals from friends, family and coworkers.
And, do you have a male friend, father, brother, uncle, male cousin, etc near you? If so, ask them if they will take the car to the shop for you. I've noticed a quote will be much less if I have my father or my brother take the car to the shop (yep, some mechanics still try to screw over women).
Take the car to two different shops, both w/ good reputations, and get a quote from each place. And have them do a complete tuneup-the kind you can only get at a good shop(not at a Jiffy Lube). A good mechanic would take your car out and drive it around if you hear the problem when you're driving.
Chances are it would be much cheaper to repair your vehicle than it would be to buy a newer one.

[Zech Marquis]

13. one word

NO. take care of that bad credit first and foremost.

[tjdee]

18. I'm trying to do that....but what if the car breaks down on the highway?

I'm in credit counseling, haven't used a credit card for two years...etc. I don't want the headache of payments, etc. but I need a car for my job or else I wouldn't even care. Sigh.

You're probably right though--I guess I have to have my entire credit all cleaned up for 7 years before they even look at me. Ridiculous.

[Left Is Write]

19. No, that's not true - I'm sure many lenders would consider you.

The problem is, they will stick you with very high interest rates.

[crispini]

20. Well.

I don't agree with that. My little brother, who has bad credit, was able to get a car loan. Yes, they are hosing him on the interest. However, he also sees this as an opportunity to make car payments on time and start to build a GOOD credit rating. So I think you probably COULD get a car loan, albeit you will be paying for the privledge.

Now, SHOULD you? It sounds like this thing is really driving you nuts if it puts you in a bad mood every day. That's not good, and it's not worth it. BUT, objectively, if the car has been well cared for (Has it?) then you should be able to get a few more years out of it.

I'm going to be the contrarian on this thread (again) and say that I think you should explore the possibility of a new ride. See what's out there, see what kind of note you can get. :shrug:

[Cathyclysmic]

21. My two cents

here's what I did if your interested. Drive the piece of crap car until it breaks down. While your doing that, go to AAA.com and they have a calculator that determines how much of a car loan you can afford. Getting a car you can't afford will not help your credit. So from aaa.com , I figured out I could afford no more then a $6000 used car(keep in mind your insurance will probably go up). So, did some research to find out what was the most reliable car in this range.


At that point, my crappy car needed another $800 brake job. So, I started walking around used car lots on Sundays, finding the make and price I wanted. On Monday, I had the list of dealers who had the cars I wanted, called them with my info(Hi, My name is Cathy, I have bad credit, I want such and such car with no down payment.Call me back if I get approved.)Also,take the car to your favorite mechanic and have them look the car over.

One came through. Terrible interest rate, but no penalty for early pay-off. Make your payments plus any extra. Any windfalls go towards the payment. Call the loan place periodically and ask for a lower rate.

So, my credit rating went up about 70 points in the last two years. Got an offer for a 0% interest rate card and I transferred the loan to that card.

Good Luck!

[Shakespeare]

22. Two more cents...

It sounds like you need a new car (or a new used car), and I disagree with those who are telling you to keep driving the old one. Between repair bills and what you're paying for (presumably bad) gas mileage, you're not doing yourself any favors.

That refund money will give you a little leverage when you go looking for something. Some of the big lenders will likely give you a loan, but will, as others have said, charge you an obscene interest rate. Here's where your leverage comes in: GO to one of the dealerships running a "we finance anybody" promo (usually sponsored by lenders like Capital One), test drive and PICK OUT a car, and then negotiate with the finance manager to get you a better interest rate if and ONLY if you use that cash towards the down payment. You'll still probably end up with a high rate, but you can also try to refinance within the year if you improve your credit a little and end up with a better rate.

My husband went through something similar to this a few years ago, and ended up with a (now refinanced at a reasonable rate) brand-new Hyundai (inexpensive!) that gets terrific mileage and has been a dream maintenance-wise. What you save on gas and repair bills will help balance out the nasty interest rate you'll likely be stuck with. But I'll bet you'll be MUCH happier, and much more secure knowing you don't have to constantly worry about your car breaking down. Good luck!

[ET Awful]

23. I'm going to agree with Shakespeare on this one.

I already PM'ed you (tjdee) with a little info that I used.

You most likely CAN get a loan, but the rate will be high. I bought my new Honda just last week and have pretty nasty credit, but interestingly, even at the sub-prime rate I got, I'm paying a lower interest rate now than I was when I had much better credit and bought my first new car in 1990. Hell, I'm paying 2% less in interest now than I did back then.

[tjdee]

24. Thanks everyone.

I'm on my way out, but I wanted to thank everyone for their opinions.

:toast:

[cleofus1]

25. would a loan officer turn down this face?

hey is this you? i forgot to label it and now i sit red faced...