I bought a used 2017 Chevy Bolt EV earlier this year, and now need to get rid of it. Long story short… I moved from a walkable city to a car-requiring city to be with a partner, and she has since betrayed every aspect of our relationship, and now I’m in a terrible individual financial position where I have a car I don’t want or need. It’s truly been the worst year of my life, and I need to get rid of this car before I can move on, both financially and emotionally. You know how sometimes guys will say whatever the woman wants to hear in order to be with her, and then not follow through on any of it once the woman is committed? Imagine the opposite of that… so before you judge me for being in this hole, please understand that I was completely blindsided.
KBB says it’s worth $14,000, while I have $24,000 left on the loan. My savings were used to move here, and so I’m trying to get the absolute most money for it. I’m thinking that I should sell the car and then refinance the loan, and pay off the loan monthly with the car-sale money, and then hopefully when that runs out, I’ll be in a more stable financial position to afford the payment regardless (I’m 26 right now). I’m currently located in TN. Do you have any tips for how I can get the absolute maximum dollar amount for my EV/if there’s a better time to sell than not?
Thank you so much in advance.
Lots of lessons learned the hard way here. I think you need to keep the car and work on your income. A $500 payment isn’t terrible. As soon as you start a new job you may qualify to refinance if your credit is ok. If not you’ve got a reliable car for a somewhat reasonable payment and you’re too underwater to sell. You may call your creditor and ask if they can defer some payments since you’re between jobs. This happened plenty during covid. I don’t know what they’ll say but I don’t think it can hurt to ask. I think you have more of an income problem than an expense one. You may need to work 2 jobs for a bit to recover. Do you own anything outright you can sell?
Thank you for your advice—I really appreciate it. I have some things I can sell and so I’m not on the verge of homelessness fortunately. I think you’re right that the best option is to just keep it, find a stable job, and refinance it as soon as I do. And then just ride it out as the consequence of this dark period of life caused by trusting someone too much. It’s really difficult right now to not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I appreciate your positivity, it’s motivating; I’m going to figure out a way to work multiple jobs and figure out the income problem. I’m just hoping I have something left of my 20s by the time I’m up and stable again.