Wife and I have bad credit but need a car. Old car can break at any moment.

[atourlimit111]

We currently own a 2008 Mazda Tribute. It has transmission issues. The transmission has been rebuilt twice. I have been having a weird issue. There's a weird sound. After it's over the traction control symbol lights up on my gauge. Last week I took it in to see if the auto mechanic shop can fix this issue. They sublet the work to a transmission shop.
They couldn't fix the issue but they did find a transmission leak. The transmission shop did replace a seal. But they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They didn't hear a sound. It drove fine.

I finally got the sound and what it does on video. Here's the link

https://vid.me/LK3j

This is what happens when the sound shows up and this is what happens when I tried to shift into park.

It's currently at the transmission shop. I'm very glad it's still under warranty. The transmission shop told me they are driving it and it's still driving fine. They are trying to drive it more to see if it happens to them as well. They told me they will bill me for the for the gasoline they put in my vehicle. Which I am pissed about.

So now my wife and I are currently looking for a vehicle. The transmission warranty will expire on January 9, 2015 or 3,000 more miles.

One car dealership told us they can help us. But it will be around $500 dollars for the monthly payment. It's a Ford dealership by the way. Wife and I don't like Ford's. They did show us a 2010 Nissan Rogue that has 49,000 miles on it. My wife really likes it but I'm not sure yet.

So right now we don't know what to do. We still owe $9,700 dollars on the piece of **** Mazda Tribute. Dealership told us the value is worth $5,000.

What do we do? HELP!

 

[lowendlinux]

I feel for you but you are way to upside down in your car to even ponder trading it in. If you do trade it your going to be VERY upside down in the next used car which may have issues also i.e. you bought someone's problem.

If you decide to trade it try to find cheap and a year old or so with a decent warranty but if I were in your shoes I'd probably keep it and buy a shop manual for the car. Then I'd start making super payments on it trying to get to at least the break even point.

 

[orestes1984]

It sounds like its getting stuck in "limp home" mode and that your gearbox could be shot by the way it's displaying "snow mode" on the dash.

By the sound of the noise it's making it sounds like when you bang an automatic into park without letting the car stop first, that doesn't sound good at all.

 

[Roller]

OP: You say that the transmission has been rebuilt twice, presumably under warranty. Have you looked into whether the lemon law in your state applies to your situation (typically requires three attempts to repair the same problem). Even if not, get higher ups at Mazda involved. All auto manufacturers have regional people who handle this sort of thing and who have a lot of latitude in offering solutions.

BTW, Ford vehicles have a much better reputation that they used to.

 

[richwoodrocket]

OP: You say that the transmission has been rebuilt twice, presumably under warranty. Have you looked into whether the lemon law in your state applies to your situation (typically requires three attempts to repair the same problem). Even if not, get higher ups at Mazda involved. All auto manufacturers have regional people who handle this sort of thing and who have a lot of latitude in offering solutions.



BTW, Ford vehicles have a much better reputation that they used to.

There is nothing wrong with ford. They make the number one selling vehicle in America.
I say contact somebody higher up at Mazda. This sounds like a lemon situation like the other poster said.

 

[yg17]

There is nothing wrong with ford. They make the number one selling vehicle in America.

The 2008 Mazda Tribute is a rebadged Ford Escape. A 2008 vehicle, if properly maintained, should not be having these major issues. 6 years is not old for a car. Can't blame the guy for not wanting to touch another Ford with a 10 foot pole.

 

[richwoodrocket]

Wife and I have bad credit but need a car. Old car can break at any moment.

The 2008 Mazda Tribute is a rebadged Ford Escape. A 2008 vehicle, if properly maintained, should not be having these major issues. 6 years is not old for a car. Can't blame the guy for not wanting to touch another Ford with a 10 foot pole.

I'm aware but look at the rest of my post.
If you hate ford, why buy a Mazda?

 

[Tomorrow]

So right now we don't know what to do. We still owe $9,700 dollars on the piece of **** Mazda Tribute. Dealership told us the value is worth $5,000.

This might be only tangentially relevant, but how in the world did you end up owing nearly 10 grand on a 6-year old vehicle that's only worth half that?

 

[yg17]

I'm aware but look at the rest of my post.
If you hate ford, why buy a Mazda?

Maybe they didn't hate Ford until they bought a car built by Ford.

 

[Septembersrain]

I'll tell you, I had my identity stolen when I was 18 by a family member. My credit is shot and I'm just now building it back up. The only way to get a dealership to take you on is to have a good chunk for a down payment.

Try to sell the Tribute, see if you can make enough to at least pay it off? Only other option is to go upside down on it with a trade in. If you do that, get yourself a car that's economical to minimize the cost. Go for a previous year model in a color no one wants. Sure it's not glamorous but if it's dependable, it's a step up right?

----------

This might be only tangentially relevant, but how in the world did you end up owing nearly 10 grand on a 6-year old vehicle that's only worth half that?

APR/interest. I bet their principal was lower.

 

[Tomorrow]

APR/interest. I bet their principal was lower.

You're suggesting that their interest rate is so high that they actually owe more now than they borrowed? Sorry, I'm not buying it. No bank is going to make that loan for anybody.

 

[Septembersrain]

You're suggesting that their interest rate is so high that they actually owe more now than they borrowed? Sorry, I'm not buying it. No bank is going to make that loan for anybody.

No, what I'm saying is that the interest was high enough that it made the depreciation of the vehicle leave them massively upside down.

It's not uncommon here to see 15-17%.

 

[yg17]

Try to sell the Tribute, see if you can make enough to at least pay it off? Only other option is to go upside down on it with a trade in. If you do that, get yourself a car that's economical to minimize the cost. Go for a previous year model in a color no one wants. Sure it's not glamorous but if it's dependable, it's a step up right?

That is, if a bank would even want to roll the near $5,000 difference between trade in and payoff into a new loan. They might be more willing to do that if the OP had good credit, but they don't. Say they buy a new/used car for $15,000, and add in what's left on their Tribute, they'll have a starting principal of $19,700. If they can't make payments and the bank has to repo the car and sell it at auction, they will never get enough to cover the outstanding balance. It's a huge risk for the bank.

The OP needs to figure out how to break the cycle of being upside down on a car loan, otherwise he's going to find himself in this exact situation again in the next 10 years.

 

[Septembersrain]

That is, if a bank would even want to roll the near $5,000 difference between trade in and payoff into a new loan. They might be more willing to do that if the OP had good credit, but they don't. Say they buy a new/used car for $15,000, and add in what's left on their Tribute, they'll have a starting principal of $19,700. If they can't make payments and the bank has to repo the car and sell it at auction, they will never get enough to cover the outstanding balance. It's a huge risk for the bank.

The OP needs to figure out how to break the cycle of being upside down on a car loan, otherwise he's going to find himself in this exact situation again in the next 10 years.

Yeah, that's true. It's pretty hard to break the cycle when you're upside down and in a state of desperation. =/

 

[Menel]

Your title has no logic and all emotion. ANY car can break at any moment... You need to calm down, have a beer and think through rationally.

More debt is not a solution. $500/mo is ridiculous.
If you had been paying $500/mo on your Escape since it was new 5years ago it'd easily be paid off and not upside down. Soooo I have to assume that is not an option for you... Or you'll be upside down very fast again and or dealing with repo man.

Get transmission fixed. Its not a big deal if it takes them 2 or 3 tries.

Have you been coming to a complete stop before switching D-R? And vise versa? Idiots all over abuse their automatics. Ive watched family members, coworkers, etc etc back out and then slap into D while still rolling the reverse direction. Its ridiculous the way people intentionally try to wreck them. I cringe everytime.

 

[quagmire]

Y
Have you been coming to a complete stop before switching D-R? And vise versa? Idiots all over abuse their automatics. Ive watched family members, coworkers, etc etc back out and then slap into D while still rolling the reverse direction. Its ridiculous the way people intentionally try to wreck them. I cringe everytime.

My dad does that and I always tell him to stop doing that.....

 

[Tomorrow]

No, what I'm saying is that the interest was high enough that it made the depreciation of the vehicle leave them massively upside down.

It's not uncommon here to see 15-17%.

Makes no difference. The car's depreciation is not dependent on the interest rate. Neither is the amount of principal borrowed, or how long it takes to pay it back.

If you have a five year loan, a higher interest rate means a higher payment and nothing more. It doesn't make your principal get paid down any faster or slower (five years is still five years), it doesn't make your car depreciate any faster, it only makes your payment higher (since you're paying more interest).

The amount of principal you pay back each month is more or less the same regardless of your interest rate (providing the length of the note is constant) - the only variable is the amount of interest you pay each month.

 

[2298754]

For those with bad credit... you should go to your local Mitsubishi or Kia showroom. They cater to those with bad credit.

 

[rdowns]

Makes no difference. The car's depreciation is not dependent on the interest rate. Neither is the amount of principal borrowed, or how long it takes to pay it back.

If you have a five year loan, a higher interest rate means a higher payment and nothing more. It doesn't make your principal get paid down any faster or slower (five years is still five years), it doesn't make your car depreciate any faster, it only makes your payment higher (since you're paying more interest).

The amount of principal you pay back each month is more or less the same regardless of your interest rate (providing the length of the note is constant) - the only variable is the amount of interest you pay each month.

I'd bet he refinanced his car loan. Never a good idea to do that.

 

[Menel]

Makes no difference. The car's depreciation is not dependent on the interest rate. Neither is the amount of principal borrowed, or how long it takes to pay it back.



If you have a five year loan, a higher interest rate means a higher payment and nothing more. It doesn't make your principal get paid down any faster or slower (five years is still five years), it doesn't make your car depreciate any faster, it only makes your payment higher (since you're paying more interest).



The amount of principal you pay back each month is more or less the same regardless of your interest rate (providing the length of the note is constant) - the only variable is the amount of interest you pay each month.

A car can depreciate faster than the payoff schedule.

Its sadly very common outside of honda/toyota.

----------

Can you drive around with no traction control?

Friend has a Yukon, traction control fubar, has to disable it every time he cranks engine.

 

[Tomorrow]

A car can depreciate faster than the payoff schedule.

Its sadly very common outside of honda/toyota.

I understand that, but that still doesn't change the fact that he owes $10k on a 2008 vehicle. It doesn't matter what his interest rate is, it doesn't matter how much it depreciates - he borrowed at least $10k for a car that isn't worth anywhere near that.

Suppose he borrowed the $10k when it was actually worth that much. How long ago could that have been?

Did he buy it yesterday? He still owes $9,700 on it, but it depreciated a whole $5,000 in that time? I don't think so.

Did he buy it three years ago? Maybe, but how much would you have paid down your principal in that time - at least a couple of thousand, probably much more, right? So it depreciated from $12,000 (or more) down to $5,000 in three years? Not likely.

Sounds to me like the OP borrowed too much (either by overpaying or trading in an upside-down car), or has missed a bunch of payments. I don't think depreciation or interest rate can explain this.

 

[GoCubsGo]

The lemon law is certainly worth looking into here, especially if you're on transmission issue #3. I would get into that, quick.

I don't know your age, but you mentioned ID theft caused bad credit when you were 18 and you're "just now" starting to rebuild it. What were you doing from 18 until now? If I bought the Mazda and financed it in such a way that resulted in me owing $9,700 on a 2008 vehicle, then it would have been in 2008 where I took a good look at my credit situation and made it better for the future. The tribute was not going to be the last car you ever needed. If someone says that 15%-17% interest is common then I want to know who is charging this. A crooked ******* salesman selling you a used car may get away with that, but on a new car, no one in their right mind should sign on an auto loan with that interest rate. That is criminal.

Did you refinance your car loan? I didn't think people made auto loans that exceeded 6 years. I thought 5 was bad, but when I bought my truck in 2009, I was offered a 6-year loan.

So what do you do? You get your car fixed and look into the possibility of it being a lemon. Regardless of the mechanic you're dealing with saying he isn't finding anything. Why aren't you taking it to a Mazda dealer? Also, I would not buy a 2010 Rogue with 50,000 miles. Although that is low mileage (pretty much), I don't know that I'd pay $500 a month for a 4 year old car.

I'm not exactly trying to tell you what to do, but if you and your wife both have bad credit, it may be time to seriously work on fixing that. Good luck.

 

[Menel]

I understand that, but that still doesn't change the fact that he owes $10k on a 2008 vehicle. It doesn't matter what his interest rate is, it doesn't matter how much it depreciates - he borrowed at least $10k for a car that isn't worth anywhere near that.

Suppose he borrowed the $10k when it was actually worth that much. How long ago could that have been?

Did he buy it yesterday? He still owes $9,700 on it, but it depreciated a whole $5,000 in that time? I don't think so.

Did he buy it three years ago? Maybe, but how much would you have paid down your principal in that time - at least a couple of thousand, probably much more, right? So it depreciated from $12,000 (or more) down to $5,000 in three years? Not likely.

Sounds to me like the OP borrowed too much (either by overpaying or trading in an upside-down car), or has missed a bunch of payments. I don't think depreciation or interest rate can explain this.

It's quite obvious and given he didn't buy it yesterday.

He probably financed 2-3 years ago for $20k, worth $20k or more.
Have only managed to pay the principal down to $10k over those 3 years.

but the kbb value has tanked to a mere $5k.

 

[Menel]

The lemon law is certainly worth looking into here, especially if you're on transmission issue #3. I would get into that, quick.

I don't know your age, but you mentioned ID theft caused bad credit when you were 18 and you're "just now" starting to rebuild it. What were you doing from 18 until now? If I bought the Mazda and financed it in such a way that resulted in me owing $9,700 on a 2008 vehicle, then it would have been in 2008 where I took a good look at my credit situation and made it better for the future. The tribute was not going to be the last car you ever needed. If someone says that 15%-17% interest is common then I want to know who is charging this. A crooked ******* salesman selling you a used car may get away with that, but on a new car, no one in their right mind should sign on an auto loan with that interest rate. That is criminal.

Did you refinance your car loan? I didn't think people made auto loans that exceeded 6 years. I thought 5 was bad, but when I bought my truck in 2009, I was offered a 6-year loan.

So what do you do? You get your car fixed and look into the possibility of it being a lemon. Regardless of the mechanic you're dealing with saying he isn't finding anything. Why aren't you taking it to a Mazda dealer? Also, I would not buy a 2010 Rogue with 50,000 miles. Although that is low mileage (pretty much), I don't know that I'd pay $500 a month for a 4 year old car.

I'm not exactly trying to tell you what to do, but if you and your wife both have bad credit, it may be time to seriously work on fixing that. Good luck.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102049575#.
New debt crisis fear: Subprime auto loans

There has been a fear for a good 2 years maybe of a looming auto market bubble... and mass wave of repo.

 

[Aspasia]

The lemon law is certainly worth looking into here, especially if you're on transmission issue #3. I would get into that, quick.

I don't know your age, but you mentioned ID theft caused bad credit when you were 18 and you're "just now" starting to rebuild it. What were you doing from 18 until now? If I bought the Mazda and financed it in such a way that resulted in me owing $9,700 on a 2008 vehicle, then it would have been in 2008 where I took a good look at my credit situation and made it better for the future. The tribute was not going to be the last car you ever needed. If someone says that 15%-17% interest is common then I want to know who is charging this. A crooked ******* salesman selling you a used car may get away with that, but on a new car, no one in their right mind should sign on an auto loan with that interest rate. That is criminal.

The OP never made the claim about ID theft. Septembersrain made that claim.