How to Get Out of an Upside-Down Car Loan?

If you’ve become upside-down on your car loan, you’re in a financially precarious position. To be upside-down on your car loan means that you owe more on your car than it’s actually worth. 

Maybe you opted for low monthly payments that stretched out your loan for too long, bought a car in Portage without making a down payment, or missed some payments that snowballed. But now, it’s time to get right-side up again. Learn how to get out of an upside-down car loan from the finance team at DeNooyer Chevrolet and use our upside-down car loan calculator for assistance. 

Why You Want to Get Right-Side Up

If you have an upside-down car loan, it’s not always a problem. It’s possible to keep up with payments and keep your car until the loan is paid off. However, it does put you at risk if a tricky situation comes up in Galesburg. Some common examples include:

• Your car gets totaled: If you have an accident, your insurer pays out the current value of your car (based on their estimate.) However, if you’re upside down, that value is less than the amount you owe your lender. That means you’ll have to pay the difference, which could be thousands of dollars.&nbsp

• You’re struggling with payments: If you can’t make ends meet and can no longer pay your payments, you probably want to downsize to a cheaper car. However, with an upside-down loan you’ll have to give your car and pay the negative equity. If you’re already short on cash, this could be tough. 

• You need a different vehicle: Let’s say you have a sedan and now you need a truck for your job. If you’re upside-down on your car loan, trading in the sedan will cost extra before you can even get your truck. 

Steps to How to Get Out of an Upside-Down Car Loan

Once you decide you want to get ride-side up on your car loan, just follow these steps: 

1. Contact your lender or check your paperwork to find out your current loan balance and how much you still owe. 
2. Find out the value of your car using websites like Edmunds.com, Kelly Blue Book, or our value-your-trade-in tool.
3. Subtract how much you still owe from the value of your car. If it’s negative, then you’re upside-down, but now you know by how much.
4. Then you can choose to implement one or more of these options:

• Make extra payments to pay your loan down faster. 
• Refinance your loan so that it’s shorter term. This will save you money on interest, although the monthly payments will be higher. 
• “Drive through” the loan, or in other words, continue making on-time payments until you catch up with your car’s value. This option will take time. 

DeNooyer Chevrolet Can Help With Our Upside-Down Car Loan Calculator

If you want more advice on how to get out of an upside-down car loan, feel free to contact us with your questions or visit us in Kalamazoo for a chat with one of our finance experts. You can also use our upside-down car loan calculator for help in determining where you stand on your loan.