Car Loan Question

[tjhopkinson]

I have a question regarding a car loan and selling a car, basically looking for what my best option would be.

First -- some background. I'm a United States Marine and have been deployed for the past year. I purchased my Tahoe for 21k back in 2005. I had it paid down to 10k prior to my deployment. I'm married and asked that my wife take care of the bills, including auto insurance. She took care of everything -- minus paying the auto insurance since the vehicle was stored in a garage while deployed. This caused the bank to add $9000 in their own insurance while I was deployed for the past year. 4500$ every six months. Which is insane to me in itself. The vehicle was also stolen the week I came back to the U.S. and recovered a week later. Bad luck, insane ... believe me I know!

Anyways.

My first question is -- it's frustrating that my loan has inflated so incredibly much, what, if anything can I do to get that back down to the amount it was prior to deployment?

Secondly, what are my options in regards to selling the vehicle or trading it in. Common sense to me says it's going to be almost impossible to do either with such a high balance caused by the crazy amount the bank charged for insurance while I was deployed, but I am not certain about this ... as such, what would my options be for that?

Thirdly, what effect will the fact it was stolen (it was thankfully covered by insurance at THAT time and everything checked out and stolen things re-installed) have on anything I attempt to do with the vehicle.

Thank you!

['97ventureowner]

First, I'd have a talk with the bank on the additional insurance part. They probably have it in the fine print of your loan agreement that requires you to maintain insurance coverage on the vehicle while it is being financed, and gives them the right to include their own if that is not followed. The question then arises if those charges were appropriate or too high. You could ask them on what basis did they determine the rate for you and your vehicle. Now would be a good time to have prior info from your insurance company as to the coverage you maintained and the premium you paid on that vehicle prior to being deployed. More than likely, you will not get them to refund all of the money you paid for that coverage during your deployment but you might be able to use it as a bargaining tool to lower what you did pay. You could argue the fact that you paid less on your own and see if they are willing to reduce the overall amount paid and possibly refund that difference towards your loan. Emphasize that you were deployed in the military fighting for this country's freedom and hopefully that could evoke some sort of emotion from the bank personnel into helping you. It's worth a shot.
With a balance that high you will have trouble selling or trading in that vehicle and you probably are "upside down" on the loan ( owe more than the vehicle's worth).Again, try to see what you can do to get that balance down to a workable level similar to where it was before being deployed. If the person at the bank cannot or is not willing to help, go to their superior and try. Maybe the first person you try does not have the authority to reduce your amount,( and they don't always tell you that,) so going to the next level might benefit you.
Because the vehicle was stolen, it probably was reported to Carfax and other type reporting services. That will show up on any future reports done on that vehicle's VIN #. Even though the vehicle was restored to it's condition prior to being stolen, that "black mark" may be enough to scare away potential buyers, therefore the vehicle's value will be lower.

[Francisco's Auto]

If it is a major bank they would not want the bad publicity, it can cost them a lot in bad publicity or they can have the good will and wave a lot of the charges, if it is a 4 wheel drive advertise it in Seatle newspaper they pay a lot more there (good luck)