I am no longer able to make the payments on my auto loan due to medical bills. What are my options?

I currently have a 6 year auto loan with my credit union. Due to recent medical issues and bills piling up, I can no longer afford to make the monthly payments on the loan. I have had the car for only about a year. What are my options at this time? I know a repossesion will ruin my credit. I need to know what I can do to fix the situation before it gets worse. Please help.

I am no longer able to make the payments on my auto loan due to medical bills. What are my options?
I am a 10 yr mgr of a credit/collection/repo company. You are correct in saying a repo will not look good on your credit. However just so you know it usually does get noted that its a voluntary if you give it up as a voluntary surrender.





A comparison to whats available is good too..





http://www.surveyland.org/jump.php?link=...





All the best to you.
Reply:Talk to your credit union. They may be able to help you with a bridge loan, or wave a month's payment. Or you may have to sell the car and take the bus. Or there might be some other option. Do you have possessions you can sell to make the payments?





Try www.debtorsanonymous.org for help, too. You should try attending meetings and learn what to do.
Reply:Have you talked to an expert? Maybe even one of those debt free agencies you see on the commercials? This is a hard situation, sorry to say you might need a bit more guidance then yahoo answers lol.
Reply:Talk to the credit union and see if they have any options. You may have been enrolled in a credit insurance that pays your minimum monthly payment if you lose your job. Some credit unions have this coverage and some don't; most do not automatically assign it, but some CUs and Banks require it as part of a loan.


Medical bills are not secured but you also don't want a doctor cutting you off. Cars are usually the last items that someone misses a payment on. Cars and Rent. Why not homes? Homes are 2nd because most people (or their attorneys) know foreclosure is a lot slower of a process than eviction proceedings and it can be stalled and stopped.





A repo will definitely do bad things to your credit but a voluntary reposession will save you the repo fees and will show as a voluntary repo (still not good for the credit). The CU can legally collect the difference between what is owed and what the vehicle is sold/auctioned for plus the auction fees. If you owe 20k on the car don't be surprised when you get a bill for $12k on a car you don't own anymore. The used car market sucks eggs through a swizzle stick right now. If the car is popped expect it to get 50% of blue book at auction; that's the bad news. If you have paid 1/6th of it then you would likely have a deficiency up to 65% of the car's original value, possibly more.





You could try to sell it to a private party for more than what it would auction for and see if the Credit Union would allow you to carry the deficincy (not likely).





A car loses 30% of it's value when it is driven off the lot. It's an unfortunate fact for most normal consumer vehicles except for Honda and maybe Saturn. There are several reasons for this. Hybrids and expensive sports cars are an exception. I have seen a Viper go off the lot at $60k and be resold for $80k. I have seen a PT Cruiser (about 10 years ago) go off the lot for $16k and be resold for $18k in Savannah. The latter is a long story and has to deal with the community that purchased PT Cruisers at the time and the limited supply for that community of individuals. Many traveled to Macon or Atlanta but some bought them from private sellers at a marked up price.





You may be able to pay on your car, pay your medical bills on a payment agreement, and prevent a reposession.





Cut any unnecessary expenses such as cable (it's not a necessity), go from Cablemodem to NetZero or something cheaper for Internet, change eating patterns (the $1.29 bread is almost as good as the $2.49 Golden Meal), the 25% of brown hamburger is almost as good as the new ground burger and when cooked properly as part of a dish with spices it covers the 'old' flavor. Cut out fast food and carry some things like Kashi bars or Granola bars (check with your doc if you are on a restricted diet).




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