I'm 17. My 1991 Ford Explorer crapped out on me, and we went shopping for another car. Somehow, my dad got convinced that getting a new car was the right idea. His reasoning was that the payments would be about the same because of the way the financing worked out. I got a 2004 Dodge Neon SXT, with a sunroof and cruise control as options. I am paying $230/month for it on a (stupid) 72 month period. I am not sure whether the rate is fixed (probably not).
I'm in big trouble. I can pay for the car, but the insurance people changed their tune AFTER the car was bought. We got a quote ahead of time, and it looked like it wouldn't be that bad. Now that I have the car, everything is going haywire. The insurance is costing around $250/MONTH. There is no way that I can afford this. $240 for the car is already steep for me. I'm just a teenager. I'm not like the little rich kids at school that have everything handed to them. I have enough to pay for my car, but the insurance is outrageous and it looks like there is no way out of it.
The loan is in my mom's name, who lives in a different state. I got insurance with State Farm for the time being, which is pretty high. I tried talking to Geico and Progressive, but they can't beat the rate State Farm is giving me (even though I have TONS of discounts).
I think I'm stuck with selling the car. My parents are stupid and I have to do everything myself. My friend's parents are helping me and it looks like I am going to have to get rid of it before its value depreciates any more.
My question is, how much money am I going to lose? How does this process work? I've put just over 2000 miles on the car. The car is still in absolute mint condition. Not one scratch anywhere. I haven't even gotten the oil changed yet (I was told to at 3000 miles).
I am begging for someone's help on this. I HAVE to work this out. I can't afford this insurance. Please let me know what I am going to have to do to solve my problem. If I haven't put enough information here to adequately describe the problem, please e-mail me at snipped-for-privacy@putnamplanet.com and I'll try to give you a better idea.
Thanks, Chris Putnam