We need a car

[NaturalMindedMomma]

UGH well a van actually. we need a 7 passenger vehicle. We are a full time family of four and possibly may get Jose's kids back full time which would make us a family of 6. Right now we have a Honda Civic, 2 door.

We are having a really hard time getiing someone to finance us because ofour poor credit. Anyone else have a negative credit situation and find a way to buy a vehicle?

[Jilian]

We recently bought a Kia Sedona because they are offering a $5,000 instant rebate off their new 2008's that are still on the lot. Our credit isn't horrendous but we did have to deed our home back to the mortgage company last year because of financial issues surrounding DS2's medical issues. So we have a voluntary foreclosure on our credit report along with a few mos of late mortgage payments leading up to it. Other than that our credit was good, I believe H is in the high 600's and my score is in the low 700's. Kia motors financed us and gave us 11% interest. We're going to refi in a few mos if we can get a lower rate.

[NaturalMindedMomma]

Your credit score is WAYYYY better than mine. Mine is in the mid 5's and DP's is in the high 4's...

Not sure if any good dealership would finance us. I would take a high interest rate, too. I mean I would pay weekly if they wanted... Anyway.. I will have to head over to the local KIA place and see if they can do anything for us. DP has a vehicle repo and he has most of the income. Most dealerships would actually finance ME, but I need more of an income and my unemployment doesn't count HMPH.

[famille_huggins]

DH and I have good credit and could finance again, we just don't want to after seeing how quickly our '06 Honda depreciated in this wonderful economy. Since we also need a van, we've been looking on Craig's List. There are some good deals to be had from other people in financial distress just looking to unload. If you don't have a substantial savings to buy something newer right now, you could potentially buy a $1000-2000 van with higher miles until your credit improves or until you put a "monthly car payment" into savings to cover any immediate repairs and to buy something newer outright later. Here locally, I've seen 2003 Kia vans with 90,000 mi. for $2000-2500.

If that's not an option, my younger brother has had fairly good luck with some of those "buy-here, pay-here" lots, and his credit has always been spotty. Maybe something like that would work for you?

[annettemarie]

Moving to Finances since you're asking for financial advice

[LeighB]

Is there any way you can buy a van outright? Something like an older Honda or Toyota (they tend to last the longest). Dh and I have always had great luck buying older vehicles and I'm always glad we choose to do that because there would have been many times when we couldn't make payments.
Good luck!

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by NaturalMindedMomma

Your credit score is WAYYYY better than mine. Mine is in the mid 5's and DP's is in the high 4's...

Not sure if any good dealership would finance us. I would take a high interest rate, too. I mean I would pay weekly if they wanted... Anyway.. I will have to head over to the local KIA place and see if they can do anything for us. DP has a vehicle repo and he has most of the income. Most dealerships would actually finance ME, but I need more of an income and my unemployment doesn't count HMPH.

As a card carrying member of that bad credit club, you really only have 2 options. Buy a car in cash or go to one of those buy here pay here lots that generally have high interest rates. They tend to work with folks with bad credit but the rates are crazy. Personally I would scrape any and all cash and buy in cash.

I know a girlfriend of mine who just divorced, she had great credit but not enough income (cs and alimony) so her mom signed for her to get a car...if you have someone willing to do that, it might be another option.

[Kim Allen]

I would second the craigslist! My Dh buys everything from there. Just make sure you know what your looking for and you can offer them less then what there asking price is because they usually post it for more in case someone does offer less.
Example: Dh and I just bought a 2006 g6 off there from a guy looking at getting it repo'd for a $1,800 title loan. We paid off his loan and gave him $1,200 because he asked $3,000. So we only have 3,000 in this car and it had nothing wrong except a few scratches from an Ice storm that a broken tree limb fell on it. BTW he first started asking 4,500 but when the time got close he just really needed the loan paid off before it got repo'd. Look for a little while and dont jump into something quick so you can get a good deal.