May have to sell the car....need suggestions

[husker boxster]

Sorry to hear about your situation.

I suppose you only had a verbal agreement with your mom? If you've been upholding your part of the agreement, technically she shouldn't be able to break the deal.

However, if that's not possible, then I would look for a modest foreclosure that you can afford. Your $300 car payment isn't that bad, so unless you downgrade to a Hyundai I would keep it.

But, I wouldn't throw it onto the mortgage. That would mean you're paying for your ten yr old car for the next 15 or 30 yrs. Not a good idea. Here are some numbers to consider:

Don't know your current loan %, so I'll assume 7%. At that rate, the interest on $10K for 36 mo is $1115.

5% for 180 mo is $4234.
5% for 360 mo is $9326

You may need to get a real part time job to help get you through this rough patch, but it sounds like you're already doing that.

Good luck.

[eightsandaces]

How bout asking mom to buyout the boxster loan, it's not like 10k is doing that great invested anywhere else at the moment, you pay her simple interest and you both make out instead of the bank.. Can you still get the side gig with your mom's ex or is that too touchy? As sickening as it must be in the pit of your stomach, the best move if you are going to get a foreclosure is to strap in at her house and stockpile cash to pay down debt or to enlarge the down payment, good luck..

PS Don't ever let the kids at school find out, god this reads like the old mike meyer's middle aged man, skit....I'm old...

[vipola]

Just keep in mind that if you are currently tight, what will you do when something will break or need maintenance?.. Do you currently have another car or you'll just sell this one to pay another one and get back in the same situation?

[schoir]

Jake:

PM Sent.

Regards, Maurice.

[HDManny]

I'm sorry to hear about your job and possibly having to sell your Boxster, believe me when I say that I know how you feel. I lost my job over 2 moths ago and I will finally start working again next week, but my pay will be more than 35% less. After thinking about it for the past 2 months I traded my Boxster today on something more affordable based on what my salary will be. I will have to work my way back up and save money so that I can buy another one again in the future because I really enjoyed the car. Good luck.

[fatmike]

Bummer.

Forget the Lawyer. Move on.



/

[davemon]

At will means you only have recourse if there was discrimination or whistle blower type reasons for firing you. Don't waste your time with an attorney. A good attorney will quickly tell you to move on absent those 2 items I mentioned. A bad attorney will string you along with false hopes and you'll be worse for it.

These things always work out for the best. You don't want to work for an employer with no sense of loyalty anyway. You are in a fortunate position to be able to get things on the right track. I got laid off and within 3 months found a job, and 3 months after that found a job that paid twice as much. Now instead of cruising the Toyota forums I'm cruising the Porsche forums.

No offense but it didn't sound like you were in a good position to begin with, probably good to have a catalyst to get some positive changes going. Things always work out for those that work through the tough times. There is nothing wrong with working at Target or Wal Mart to get through it. Tutor on the side, do whatever it takes. Teach abroad for a year.

[riv38672]

My advice is as follows:

Put your car up for sale. Live with your mom for a couple of months until you find a Job. Once your car sells, lets say you get 15K out of the sale. That will leave you with approximately 5K to work with. (As has already been stated). At this point, a mode of transportation is all that is necessary, it really doesn't matter what it looks like. 5k will buy several different four cylinder, highly reliable, vehicles. Basically, buy something that can get you to and from work, once you find a job. Since you will have paid cash for the vehicle, you no longer have to deal with the $80+ full coverage insurance, or the 300 dollar car payment.

Once you have a job, find a roommate, and move in with him/her. Focus on paying off your student loans, and getting another job at another school.

It will hurt to lose the Boxster, but at least you will be able to get another one in the future.

I'm 26, and I've been paying back student loans as well. I was lucky enough to have a college friend to live with. Good luck sir.

[SeanZ4]

You're very young and still at the beginning of this journey of life. You have lots of time to bounce back. Things have a way of working themselves out. When I was 28 (early 90s) I went through a nasty divorce and property dispute. I thought it was the end of the world and my life would never be the same. Now I look back on those years and wonder what it was exactly that I was so upset about. Can't remember now! Sounds like you had a sweet deal at your Mom's house. This may be a good thing as it will give you incentive to get your own place. Otherwise you wouldn't have bothered, just by human nature. It's very rare that you gain anything by trading down or selling your car with a loan on it to get something cheaper. I've been there when I was younger and it never really turned out to be a good idea. I'd try to hold on to the Boxster, within reason, as long as I could. Hang in there!

sean

[Bruce Wayne]

as a thought.... your mom is also going through bit of a tough time, maybe you could stay on till some dust settles, she'll probably need a bit of support from her number 1 son.

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

as a thought.... your mom is also going through bit of a tough time, maybe you could stay on till some dust settles, she'll probably need a bit of support from her number 1 son.

+ 1 timing is everything in life, later you'll know that you did the right thing..

[Perfectlap]

dude...

RENT a place. If you can't afford your $300 car you definitely can't afford a much bigger liability like a house (insurance, maintenance, utilities, taxes, etc.)

I like the idea of a foreclosure I'm actually doing the same in Florida. I started out helping out a relative who got in over their head on investment properties but only because the house will rent for the mortgage payment and they put down a pretty big down pament so the balance is manageable. Still an equity loser for the next 10 years (at least) but for now there's no mileage in screwing the bank if the renter can pay the montly nut. All that got me looking at listings and I've been to central and south florida and it is not unheard to see cash buyers walking away with homes at 10% of their 2006-2007 selling prices. BUT you have to be a cash buyer and I really don't recommend buying into a falling real estate market with borrowed money. Warren Buffet made a similar statement about taking risks with other peoples money, the surest way to go broke. This real estate market still has 12 to 18 months of down side and it could be the steepest yet. Banks are sitting on homes that are even listed yet for fear of flooding the market with more inventory. And that doesn't include the millions of homes that are inevitable foreclosures where the buyer can pay but the underwater math will never work for them. The house would have to double in value just to break even over the next 20-30 years. Jingle mail. People will just take out another loan for a bigger cheaper house with a different bank and screw over bank #1.

To be quite honest with you unless you are buying homes to rent them out (income property) I don't see the advantages of owning your own place right now. You have your whole life to buy property but your cash has this thing called "time value".
it's a special advantage that most 25 year olds piss away and has a limited time frame. The global economy is taking off with raw material production in Brazil, Chile and China surging. Think oil, steel, copper, iron ore you name it. Small (that's all it takes) EARLY investments now could pay huge rewards down the line.
Like buying Microsoft in the 80's.

1-Pay off your car while putting some away to invest.
2-take a second job bartending
3-pay your mom rent (find a girlfriend who has her own place, it's called a recession).
4-make a goal to stash away 8K a year while making payments on your car (good for your credit).
5-rethink your situation in 18 months. The govt is out of the mortgage backed securities racket for now and the home buyer's tax credit is history. There are more layoffs and bank closings coming in 2010 and 2011. Housing is only going to get cheaper while your bank account swells. Houses can't go up in value or even hold their current prices if people's incomes are not rising. Nobody and I mean nobody is betting on people earning more any time soon.

[al83s]

+1 on keeping the car.
I work at the car dealership and see people "downsize" all the time. They sell us their originally expensive cars that were half-way paid off and buy chevy aveos for similar money just to get the payment down. But guess what, now you have to pay this lower payments for another 4-6 years.
better option for them would be to just refinance their existing cars, raising their payment period back to 4 years granted you did not get a crap-load of student loans that have killed your credit.
That way - your payments are more affordable and if you have some left-over money - you can make an extra payment every now and then.
Yes, the parts for your boxster are more expensive than parts for a Yaris, but at least you have had your car for awhile and already know whats wrong/goes wrong where you can get a new car that will crap out on you too.
Also, it may seem wrong to install a set of Cheap tires, Autozone brake pads or have a tape covering the crack on the plastic window but those are the things you can live with untill your financial situation improves.

There is nothing wrong with having to stay at your moms till the rough patch is over. Times are tough and everybody has to deal with it one way or another.
Just my $.02

[Jake D]

Thanks for the replys everyone.. I also agree with most of your comments on my payment isnt very much and I haven't had any problems paying it and I probably wouldn't be much more ahead if I were to sell it and buy a beater. So far the car hasn't caused me any problems other than a few tires and a CEL that comes on occasionally.

I guess until things change I should just start trying to save and pay down some debt and hopefully make a move by spring/summer whether that be to buy a place or sell the car/other things.

I knew when I was buying the car it wasn't the most practical or cost effective, but I'm young and dumb and had/have that you're only young once mentality.

Hopefully everything will start looking up here in the near future.

[davemon]

$300/mo for a car payment seems to be rather conservative. You'll have a hard time beating that by much... at best you'll have a $190/month car payment for a used something rather. Depends on your priorities but maybe taking an odd shift or 2 on the weekend for the $110 might be worth it. For me, the real question here is can you afford the odds and ends that Porsche ownership requires as opposed to the maintenance free experience Toyota or Honda offers? IMS/RMS/AOS, more expensive tires/brakes, canvas repairs, top cables, 9qts of syntec +$18filter all come to mind.

My Toyota has required 1) gas and 2) oil in order to run down the road. Yes brakes and tires to keep it on the road safely, but that is all. All of which are cheaper than the Boxster. (89octane for 32mpg, $5 oil filter, tires cheaper and last longer) Honestly it may be worth considering getting a cheap Toyota, running it for 5 years while you sock away money for a Porsche and don't have to worry about the ownership costs so much. OR decide you only are young once and definitely want the experience of Porsche ownership, at the cost of logging pt job hours. I drove the Toyota as long as I could before deciding I need my convertible before I'm too old to really have fun with it. (Admittedly I feel like I stole my uncle's car sometimes)

GL!

[fatmike]

I fail to see how selling the car will help you. What are you realistically going to get for an '00 S with 30K+ miles on it??? $15K? I highly doubt you'd actually get much more.


So then what? Pay off your $10K loan and end up with $5K? What kind of car areyou going to get that is more reliable than the car you have now (the devil you know). I just don't see how that helps.


I suspect you already realize that this is a car you shouldn't have bought in the first place.


I'd suggest you wait until you find a COMPELLING deal on a property. They are out there if your patient. In the meantime -- live with mom for a while.


Have you considered wrenching part-time? Folks will pay for a mechanic.





/

[urban_legend]

a) Picking up a girl in your Boxster and then going home with mom in the house?
Or b) trying to pick up a girl in a beater beige camry?

Seriously, I would try to make it till spring with mom, save all you can and then pick up a foreclosure. Good time to buy esp if you are handy.

There are a ton of foreclosure in the pipeline - so be choosy.