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

It added +576.00 to my lease. I went with a 2020 Acura TLX base, at $323/month with zero money down for 36 months/12k.

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Not bad. You lucked out.

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Doing the math on your numbers, you only ~26 more payments on your Rio. Then you’d own it free and clear. At the end of the Tacoma 36-mo lease you’ll have no vehicle. Plus, figure you’re probably looking at another $2k in drive offs.

I think the advice to refinance your loan is best. Plus take the $2k you would have used as drive offs to lower the amount you owe on the Rio. A good paid off (eventually) car with low fuel costs may be your best bet with a little one on the way.

FWIW, an uppababy Mesa rear facing infant seat fits fine in our ‘15 Elantra as does the uppababy vista stroller in the trunk.

The Tacoma would be a good truck to roll it into. Get a bed cover for the stroller. You could try selling the Kia yourself and cover the difference if possible.

Oh. I just meant dont trade in to dealer w/o seeing carvana or vroom first.

I think this point has been overlooked. Granted anything is better than the loan shark rate you’re currently at, but as Chrishs mentioned, Tacoma is at standard rate, equivalent of ~5.5%. Meanwhile there’s plenty of other cars with 1-2% MF.

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Do not get a Tacoma with a rear facing car seat, especially if you’re tall. The back seats are not roomy and with car seats its even worse.

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Also for anyone else reading this in a similar position - this loan should have been refinanced previously. The Rio is underwater because so much of that $384 is going to finance charge instead of principal. Not sure OP’s history but I’m sure he didn’t go from subprime to 734 fico overnight.

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Certainly not overnight and you’re probably right I should have refinanced earlier.
Since I bought the rio and realized how bad of shape my credit was in I’ve worked hard to get my credit in good shape, and at 733 now.
It seems my only option is to keep the rio and deal with hauling two children around in it :frowning:

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Definitely not stuck, your credit is now good. You always have options. You should either refinance the Rio or get rid of it ASAP. I’d be crying spending $150+ a month just in finance charges on a Rio.

What vehicles do you like? How many miles do you drive a year? Many OEM’s offer 0% or close to it financing on purchase new or CPO. That’s a good way to deal with the negative, as long as you roll it into a car that has very high real world residual.

@chrishs2000 I would like to get into a toyota - a 4 door tacoma would be great. My work commute is about 8 miles each way, roughly 5-6,000 miles a year on work commute. I put 8.5k on the rio last year.

I think Toyota offers 0% financing. I’d do the math but I bet it’s cheaper to buy than to lease in this instance (large amount of negative/high lease rent cost and driving fewer miles than minimum lease term).

Can you pay off the negative in cash?

I could probably pay 2k cash at time of deal - this would offset my 4k negative to 2k.

At a minimum, refinance your loan. If you want to try and stick it out at least another year, put some money down. If you aren’t certain: refinance now and revisit when the baby is 3 months old and you know for sure how good/bad the rio is at hauling the kids and what you really NEED (not just want) in the next one.

You worked hard to fix your credit, don’t pay any more interest than you need to.