If paying off the car's negative equity in one fell swoop isn't on the table, pay a little more each month toward the principal. For example, if your monthly car payment is $351, round up to $400 each month, with $49 going toward the principal. The more you can pay, the faster you'll get rid of the negative equity.
To get rid of your auto loan's negative equity, you could pay it off all at once, out of your own pocket. For example, if you owe $12,000 on your vehicle and the dealer offers $10,000 for the trade-in, you would make up the $2,000 difference to your lender.
This means that your vehicle's loan shouldn't exceed more than 125% of its value. Since rolling over negative equity means adding to the total balance of your next auto loan, depending on how much negative equity your current car has, it could exceed this limit.
Refinancing Your Upside Down Auto Loan
If you have been suckered into a car loan in which you owe more money to the lender than the car you bought with the loan is worth, otherwise known as an upside down car loan, a good way to get yourself out of this hole is to refinance your upside down auto loan.
Selling with negative equity
You will not only have to pay the lender all the proceeds from the sale, but then you'll have to pay more money to cover the negative equity amount. There are several options for selling the car and paying the loan debt in full when you're dealing with negative equity.
When you hear about being “upside-down” or “underwater” on a car loan, that's in reference to negative equity. Negative equity on an auto loan means that the buyer owes more than the vehicle is worth.
You'll most likely have to make loan payments on whatever the car is upside-down on, or come up with a special arrangement with the person buying the car. Before you put the car up for sale, talk to your lender and see what arrangements are possible.
Will CarMax Buy an Upside Down Car? Yes, CarMax will buy your car even without you buying any car from them. If your loan is upside down, it's much more difficult to catch up on your repayments because your car's value continues to decline over time.
Answer provided by. “There's no limit to how much balance you can roll over into a new car loan. However, as a general rule, you shouldn't exceed more than 125% of the value of your car in a loan. Even at 125%, you're going to be upside down on the loan for almost the entire duration of the term.
If your payoff amount is more than the offer for your car, the difference is called "negative equity." In some cases, the negative equity can be included in your financing when you buy a CarMax car. If not, we'll calculate the difference between your pay-off and our offer to you and you can pay CarMax directly.
In almost every case, it's best to pay down or pay off your auto loan before selling it or trading it in. The main concern is whether you have positive or negative equity on your loan. With negative equity, you will want to pay off your auto loan before you trade in your car.
Unfortunately, most lenders won't refinance a car with negative equity without a credit score of 750 or higher—but you still have some options if not! Instead of trying to refinance immediately, start to pay your loan down more efficiently.
You can trade in a car with an outstanding auto loan, but it's important to consider how much the vehicle is worth and how much you still owe. If the loan balance is more than your car's appraised value, you have negative equity – which also means you're underwater, or upside down.
If you financed your car with a Personal Contract Purchase loan and you've already paid off at least 50% of the amount owing, you can hand it back to the lender. Keep in mind that this 50% figure also includes fees and interest.
You can sell your car to a dealership even if it's on finance from another dealership or lender. It doesn't matter if it's a HP or PCP agreement either, as the process for selling your car is the same for both.
When trading in a car with negative equity, you'll have to pay the difference between the loan balance and the trade-in value. You can pay it with cash, another loan or — and this isn't recommended — rolling what you owe into a new car loan.
If you have a loan balance on the trade-in on top of the Carvana offer, we can help you pay off your new car loan by up to $2,500. Any additional negative equity will be added to your new car down payment.
You can sell a financed car, but you must settle the outstanding finance with your finance company first. This means you have to first pay off the total finance amount (including interest), minus the deposit and any repayments you've already made. This amount is known as the settlement figure.
Trading in a Car That is Not Paid Off: Is it Possible? Yes, it's possible. If you're considering trading in a car that is not paid off, you're in one of two situations: the car is worth more than the amount you owe on your loan (positive equity) or the car is worth less than what's owed (negative equity).
While you can't swap a finance agreement from one car to another, there may still be the option to change your car if you have finance outstanding. To do so, you could pay off the remaining balance, then sell your car and buy a new one. Or you could part-exchange through your dealership.
Third milestone: Under 100,000 miles
Because depreciation is constant, it's best to sell or trade in your vehicle before it hits the 100,000-mile mark. At this point, you won't get nearly as much for it because dealers generally see these cars as wholesale-only vehicles to be sold at auction.
Yes! CarMax will buy a car with a loan on it in most cases. Unless you're way too far upside down on the loan, CarMax is likely to purchase the car from you. If you want to sell a vehicle to CarMax that still has a car loan on it, schedule a meeting or walk into a branch near you.