Voluntary Reposession?

[electronics_scrounger]

OK I've lost my job, small biz failed actually, and I owe more on my 05 Prius than it's worth, and don't have the bux to fill in the gap. It's somewhere in the $3k-$5k region depending on whether I sell it back to a dealer or find a private party rich enough to buy it cash. I don't have the $3k - $5k, so I am thinking I'm pretty much forced into taking it to the local Toyota dealer, and turning it in.

Any ideas, anyone?

And, if anyone's knowledgeable on this subject, does the car have to turned in to the dealer it was bought from, or can it be any Toyota dealer?

Thanks in advance, get used to this kind of question because a lot more people are going to be losing their shirts in the coming months.

[TonyPSchaefer]

Hey, ES. Sorry to hear about your business.
You can post the Prius for sale in the Private Sales section of PriusChat. I do know a couple who are interested in purchasing a Prius. However, there are a few considerations such as cost, mileage, and location.

When you post in the Private Sales forum, be sure to include those items.

[Bob Allen]

My congratulations on having the courage, energy and creativity to start your own business. I'm sorry to hear that it failed, but I hope you aren't being unnecessarily hard on yourself. I admire you for trying.

As for unloading your Prius, you should have no trouble selling it even though you will take some loss as you already noted. A dealer will not give you as much for the car as you'd get selling it privately. You're fortunate in that you are trying to sell a very popular car and that you're not stuck with a brontosaur.

Good luck. I hope your fortunes improve.

[jhinton]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(electronics_scrounger @ Aug 6 2007, 11:44 AM) [snapback]491307[/snapback]</div>

OK I've lost my job, small biz failed actually, and I owe more on my 05 Prius than it's worth, and don't have the bux to fill in the gap. It's somewhere in the $3k-$5k region depending on whether I sell it back to a dealer or find a private party rich enough to buy it cash. I don't have the $3k - $5k, so I am thinking I'm pretty much forced into taking it to the local Toyota dealer, and turning it in.

Any ideas, anyone?

And, if anyone's knowledgeable on this subject, does the car have to turned in to the dealer it was bought from, or can it be any Toyota dealer?

Thanks in advance, get used to this kind of question because a lot more people are going to be losing their shirts in the coming months.
[/b]

First off you can't just take it back to the dealer. Even if you financed through the dealer, the dealer was just a broker for a bank or finance company. You own the bank not the dealer the outstanding balance. You probably already know that though.

What you could do is take it back to the dealer, accept a low trade in value, purchase a CHEAP used car, and have the dealer role difference into the loan for the new car. The problem is that he have no job or income so if you do find someone willing to finance you, the rate will be outrageous.

My advice would be to sell the car privately and find some way to pay the difference. Unless you rolled a lot of debt from your previous vehicle into your Prius loan I just can't see how you would be that much upside down on a 2005 Prius at least the way they have been holding there value here.

It is time to start hitting Ebay or Craig's list with anything you have of value that you can get rid of and raise some cash. (TV, DVD, Stereo, clothes, furniture, etc) It goes without saying that you've already called to cancel the cable, phone and anything else that you can so do to reduce your expenses right? (This from a guy that went for 3 years with only 4 fuzzy channels when my wife was is grad school) Beans and rice and rice and beans for awhile and a budget and you'll get through this OK.

[Godiva]

I also advocate a private sale. Depending on where you are and the demand you might do well.

I also recommend selling on eBay and Craig's list. I'd recommend eBay for everything first except for items too large and heavy to ship. Unless it's furniture. Some things can ship on Greyhound. Of course the buyer pays for the shipping so not your concern, but it's easier to sell with shipping costs down. Don't underrate eBay. I made almost $1,000 in one month and was only selling some jewelry and other small items. Be sure to post your one free picture as auctions with pictures do a lot better. Provide a detailed description with measurements if applicable.

I'd cancel the cell phone and go with a land line cheapest package. Cancel the cable. If you can cancel the DSL and use a modem it's slow but it's a lot cheaper.

If you've got a driveway, have a garage sale for what doesn't sell on eBay or Craig's list. Your selling order should be: eBay first, then Craig's list for what doesn't sell on eBay or is too large or heavy, Garage Sale for what's left, donate to charity what's still left. If you have anything of worth being donated to charity be sure to get a receipt for the value. If you itemize your tax return you might be able to use that for charitible donation.

Macaroni and Cheese when it's on sale.

I have a great recipe for lentil soup.

If you have dirt, plant vegetables from seed and you can eat well in season. Buy fruit and vegetables in season, they're cheaper than what's imported.

You can go a long way with the shoes and clothes you have if you repair instead of replace. You can also do well in the second hand shops. If you shop well no one will know where you got anything.

There are a lot of websites about coupons, recycling and living really cheap. You'd be surprised on how little you can spend.

Recycle as much as you can. Drink tap water. Koolaid is cheap and you can often find it on sale. Check the bargain shelf in your local supermarket. When I was young our local bakery used to sell day old bread for half off. They're gone now but you might see if there's a bakery local to you that will sell day old at a discount. You can also try baking your own bread. You might get really good at it. And it's probably cheaper than $2.50 a loaf.

You'd be surprised what you can either make/repair yourself or do without.

I think it's great you had your own business. I know things look tight now but it takes a special kind of vision to do that. Don't let it deter you from trying again.

[galaxee]

a repo is going to look horrible on your credit report- you do not want that right now. absolutely try to sell before anything, even if you're left with a few bucks in payments.

i'm not going to lecture you on how to spend your money, but i will tell you that in the last year we had times where the medical expenses well exceeded our income- we had a very hard time but made a lot of adjustments and got through it. you will be tougher for the experience, trust me, but you can get through this.

best of luck to ya.

[mhawkin1]

I think there are quite a few people around that can/would pay cash for a Prius.

[thfrancis]

This is one of those chicken or the egg situations. You can't sell the car unless you have the pink slip (which the lender currently has in their possesion). The lender won't give you the pink slip until you pay in full. Sorry about your situation.

[tedb]

You have gotten lots of good advice on the practical aspects of reducing your cash drains and attempting to deal with the car. Let me add just two more. First, you ought to sit down a bankruptcy attorney and realistically review your options. They will vary to some extent by the state of your residence. You want to have a good handle on what will happen if you should decide to file a bankruptcy and what debts, if any, will survive any bankruptcy filing. Second, regardless of what you do about bankruptcy, if/when the phone calls start coming from your creditors avoid the temptation to make any promises just to get them off of the phone. Until you know what you are going to do, you are generally better off just telling them that you are trying to figure out what you are going to do and that until you do you are not going to make any commitments.

Good luck.

Ted