Can I trade in my financed car with negative equity for a lease?

Ask the Hackrs
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So… in 2016 I was in desperate need of a car. My credit was not good, and I financed a 2016 kia rio hatchback. Because of my credit, the rate was terrible (14%)

I owe 10k on it still, and it’s worth roughly 6k on a good day… so I’m under about 4k with a monthly payment of $384.

I’ve seen other people say a lease is a way to get into a new vehicle and dig yourself out of you’re negative equity within a few years. Is this true or possible in my situation?

I have a 6 year old and my daughter is going to be here next month… I know it’s going to be awful hauling them both around along with all the rest of supplies, stroller, etc.

Can a lease help me?
My credit is much better now(733 fico)
Been looking at the 4 door tacomas and would love to get into one of those…

Do I have any options?

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You can but not a good idea.

Where did you get your car appraised? Carmax or local dealer? You should get a quote from Carvana or Vroom. They offer competitive buyouts.

From reading around, FL dealers don’t offer good prices. I forgot his name around here…Jrouleau23? He has some good prices on Toyotas.

Also, are you sure you had “terrible credit”? They might have just marked up your rate to maximize profits.

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You have a hatch, so you have that going for you, which is nice.

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Getting my estimates from the internet… truecar, kbb, etc. The car is in good shape with 51,000 miles. Have not brought it anywhere in person to get it actually appraised.

I know I had bad credit back then because I stay ontop and monitor it monthly. I was at 588 when I bought the Kia, and since then worked it up to 733.

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Are you sure you want a Tacoma? It’d be difficult to get into and where would you put the stroller and supplies? Contact @RockyStadiumToyota for any Toyota vehicles.

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Def try carvana and vroom. They offered like $2000 more than KBB estimate.

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You have an entire bed to throw diapers in.

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Lol, I’m pretty tall… and I figured a bed cover would take care of storage needs.

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Here is some no BS advice = DON’T get into a new car. If your credit has improved since you got the car, have you thought about refinancing your loan?

With a 733 credit score, you should be able to get a much lower rate. Good luck.

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short answer is yes. but just realize a 4k flip on top of 36 months is going to add over $110 to whatever payment you already work out.

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I’ve seen ads on my local toyota site for tacomas for 199/month for 36 months… so I’d be looking at 320ish a month best case scenario? That’s better than the 384 I’m paying now and would he done and free in 3 yrs?

I’m a noob with this sorry lol

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yeah just figure 4k/36 is 111. not including tax/fees
but completely doable as long as you don’t throw out loan to value.

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Those ads don’t mean much w/o the details.

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THIS, too ^^^^

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Don’t forget you’re paying rent charge and taxes on your negative too.

That $4k will cost about $5k in the new lease if you go with a vehicle with a relatively high MF like a Tacoma.

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Very few bed covers are going to be 100% watertight, or very secure, or very convenient when trying to grab stuff in and out while simultaneously wrangling a baby and small child… I’m all for driving what you want, you only live once … but I’d maybe try a dry run with someone else’s pickup w/ bed cover first if you haven’t already. Good luck with whatever you end up with!

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Tacoma driver with toddler here… Hard tonneau cover keeps stroller dry. And with the easy-drop tailgate, getting it in and out is a cinch.

Drawback: rear seat is too tight if you have rear facing car seats

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That’s a good point. We had a first gen TSX when our daughter was rear facing and I had to drive with the seat moved up to squeeze it in and I’m only 5 8. OP said he’s tall.

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@johns525 curious when you say not a good idea. Specific to this one example or always? I traded in a 2107 Mazda 6 with about 30 months left of payments, and came out ahead of Carvana, etc. Ended up with negligible negative equity. Why would I buy if I trade in so quickly? Simply put- used to have to buy b/c of long commutes (which in the past went as high as 25k/year), now leasing @ 12k/year.

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How much was the negligible negative equity?