Having a car loan and keeping up with your monthly payments is stressful. But what if you have an up-side car loan, which means the amount you owe on your vehicle is higher than its actual value?

The monthly volume of new car loans in the United States is over $60 billion.

It’s possible if you offer a small down payment. Additionally, as the car’s value decreases, the total amount you owe on it rises above its market value. Perhaps you didn’t put any money down when you purchased a different vehicle. Or maybe you settled on low, “simple” regular installments by extending your advance to 72 or even 84 months.

Regardless of how you arrived, now is the time to make your up-side car loan into the right side and avoid difficult situations from now on.

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Sell Your Vehicle

You can also trade your automobile for a lower-cost set of wheels at the dealership. Remember that, like when you sell your vehicle, you’ll still be responsible for paying off the remaining car loan. However, owing $5,000 is far easier to manage than owing $12,000.

Refinance Your Debt

Conceptually it could be challenging to pull off. As a depreciating asset, there isn’t much wiggle space other than extending your payments to a longer period to reduce your monthly payments, adds DeLorenzo.

You’ll have a difficult time refinancing for a lower interest rate. While you would pay more interest fees on car loan, the smaller monthly payments may help you remain afloat.

Make an agreement with your lender

In addition to refinancing your car, consult with your current lender to determine your choices. Ask if they will work with you after describing your financial situation. Christensen states, “Lenders are not in the business of seizing vehicles.” They prefer to avoid the hassle of repossession and vehicle auctions by working out a reasonable repayment schedule for a car loan.

Another piece of advice? You have a better chance of coming to an agreement that is more favorable to you if you are in good standing with the lender, which means you haven’t missed or been late on any car payments.

Find Ways to Stay Timely on Your Payments of Car Loan

Matheson recommends cutting living expenditures or earning more if you have trouble making monthly payments. For example, pick up an extra shift or work overtime in your job.

Also, at your full-time job, consider how you can add value to your employees so that when it comes time for annual reviews, you can make a case for why you deserve a raise.

It happens when your car depreciates faster than your scheduled payments. Now, there are several options for you to consider:

Increase your monthly payment and repay the loan earlier than the scheduled timeline.
Keep the car in excellent condition with regular service records.
Don’t put unnecessary miles on your vehicle (Get rentals for vacation, road trips, etc.)
Once paid off, you can do the trade-in & get a new car, or sell it off and then get a new vehicle from the dealership.
Please don’t forget to negotiate when you’re looking to get your next car.

To save time and money, you may hire a car concierge service company that negotiates to get you the best deal on your overall transaction.

You don’t have to feel trapped by a car installation that’s difficult to keep track of. It is a bad situation. However, determining which option is ideal for you and your ongoing needs necessitates weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each and knowing what is doable for your current situation.

At Car Concierge Pro, we provide a hassle-free and cost-effective car buying experience for our clients in the USA and Canada. We have saved our clients over $550,000 of their hard-earned money. Request a Concierge to learn more!

Derek Koloditch

February 27, 2024.

I recently purchased a used 2017 Subaru Outback Limited via Car Concierge Pro. The experience was definitely a positive one overall. As someone who purchases a car once a decade or so, I simply do not trust dealerships. They have a variety of tactics to hide the truth about pricing and vehicle history to squeeze every penny from you. Services like Carvana and Carmax charge more for negotiation-free purchasing (shouldn't it be the other way around?) and up-sell you on warranties, Either way, you’re at a disadvantage. So I went looking for an alternative and ran across the concierge option. I chose Car Concierge Pro because pricing and payment are straightforward, and they're technologically more up to speed than their competitors. Everyone on the team assigned to me was very friendly, helpful, and accommodating. My experience was more of a collaborative effort with quite a bit of back and forth around searching, researching, and negotiating. The team was with me every step of the way, handling all the legwork or providing guidance and assistance as necessary. You can be as hand-off or hands-on as you like. If you want to handle searching yourself and let them handle negotiations, you can do that too. Here are some helpful learnings if you decide to go the same route. 1) Try to research models and narrow down what you're after ahead of time. Best model years, common failures, expected repair costs (Consumer Reports, CoPilot, and ChatGPT were very helpful), regional pricing trends (see Auto Tempest). This isn't a requirement, but I personally found it to be helpful. Doing so will help your team hit the ground running and alleviate some stress for you early on. Of course, they’re there to help you dial in on your preferences as well. And keep in mind things may evolve and shift as part of the process. As an example, I focused on the 2019 and later model of Subaru Crosstrek PHEV initially before realizing battery replacement would be a huge hidden expense for very limited range. I discussed this with my team and we pivoted accordingly. 2) Keep your eye on the details. Dealerships might say one thing and do another, or they'll inflate the numbers in one area (like optional packages) to give the illusion of a deal. They might even take favorable photos to hide flaws (like a cracked front bumper on one of the listings I picked). Your team will be very vigilant for these tactics, but it doesn't hurt to be redundant if you're inclined to. For obvious reasons, dealerships do not like dealing with concierges, so they might try and sneak things past them if they realize who they’re dealing with. Your team will reiterate this before closing the deal and signing any papers. 3) Use Lemon Squad for pre-purchase inspections. Ordering an inspection from their site is dead simple, especially compared to their competitors. You'll get photos, video, diagnostic scans, a test drive, and a report, which you can share with your team or knowledgeable friends / family for feedback and use to negotiate further. Better pricing might be available via a local mechanic, but for remote inspections, Lemon Squad is the way to go. As of this writing, pricing starts at $220. You probably don't want to pay for more than two inspections (the money adds up quickly, obviously), so use them once you're ready to commit to a vehicle assuming everything looks good. 4) Use a reasonable search area and adjust accordingly. The wider the search area, the better range of pricing and deals. One caveat is that shipping can get pricey and cut into your savings the further out you go. My suggestion is to stick within a 1000 mile range initially. If you find a good deal on the edge of that range, it might be cheaper to fly out to pick up the car and drive it back. A 16 hour drive is much more doable than a 26 hour drive. All in all, I’ll be going this route again in the future when the time comes. The options + savings are better and it alleviates a notable degree of stress from a generally unpleasant experience. And I can’t recommend Neel and his team enough.

Joseph Flint

February 21, 2024.

I had a very good experience with Car Concierge Pro. Shainit and the gang kept me informed every step of the way, found the car I was looking for and helped me sell my car. Everything was smooth and they were always accessible for questions, etc. Very glad for their firm and strongly recommend.

Jacob Palecki

February 5, 2024.

The team was very diligent and responsive, made the process very easy. Thank you!!

Kalp Parikh

January 23, 2024.

I used them for selling my car. They are amazing to work with right from beginning to end. I got a very nice deal for my car all thanks to the staff!

Daniel Brouder

December 10, 2023.

Shainit did a great job. Service was worth it. He found a car for me 100 miles away when multiple dealers told me there were no models available within 400 miles, and my only alternative was to order this model from factory, which would take a few months and the price was not guaranteed. Appreciate Shainit’s assistance. Thanks

What do you do when your car loan is higher than the value of the car?

Sell Your Vehicle

Refinance Your Debt

Make an agreement with your lender

Find Ways to Stay Timely on Your Payments of Car Loan

Neel Mehta

Bhavya Mehta

500+ clients served.
$2,500,000+ saved.

or Call Us at

+1 (480) 418-6390

Serving nationwide across United States and Canada

Our fiduciary responsibility is for our clients. We do not promote any specific cars and negotiate every deal with complete honesty and integrity. We keep clients' preferences at the forefront - cost savings and convenience.

Sell Your Vehicle

Refinance Your Debt

Make an agreement with your lender

Find Ways to Stay Timely on Your Payments of Car Loan

Neel Mehta

Bhavya Mehta

500+ clients served.$2,500,000+ saved.

or Call Us at

+1 (480) 418-6390

Our fiduciary responsibility is for our clients. We do not promote any specific cars and negotiate every deal with complete honesty and integrity. We keep clients' preferences at the forefront - cost savings and convenience.

500+ clients served.
$2,500,000+ saved.