car loan for musicians

My husband, who is American, and I are facing a difficult situation. We are musicians and just made the move over to the United States. We have purchased ourselves a travel trailer in order to be able to tour. Now we are trying to purchase a reliable used truck (Dodge RAM 1500 V8 HEMI) from an official dealership to pull the trailer, but no institution will give us a car loan, because we have no credit history and can’t show income in the U.S. yet (self-employed). The fact that we can make a heavy down payment of over 50% doesn’t seem to make any difference to them. They want us to find someone to co-sign, which we won’t be able to get. We are talking $10,000, which we would be able to pay off in 6 months. We are staying in a campground in New England at the moment and we are dreading to face a cold winter in our travel trailer with our two toddlers, if we can’t find a solution soon. My husband and I are exhausted. We’ve been struggling for over 10 years now and this is the last link of the chain for us to make things work out in our lives.
My husband was forced to make a living with music since he was 10 years old and he has always been a very hard worker. It breaks my heart to see him break down under this situation now.
If anyone knows of any ideas or solutions to this dilemma, please post them here. I don’t know what else to do.

Your post is a touchy one when you added the two toddlers, I wish I could wave a magic wand and make your problems go away, but facts are being self employed needs paperwork to prove stability, I know you mean well by saying you would be able to pay of the note in 6 months, but as you found out lenders don't approve loans on a promise.

If there is a way,,, I will try to help you, I know so far you're at a campground in NE, and you say you can make a heavy down payment ? " how much ",,, chances are we can find something reliable paying cash within the area that may get you mobile.
　
Ps,,, It's not really my business, and you don't have to answer,,, but if you care to,,, what do you mean by your husband was forced to ?

Your post is a touchy one when you added the two toddlers, I wish I could wave a magic wand and make your problems go away, but facts are being self employed needs paperwork to prove stability, I know you mean well by saying you would be able to pay of the note in 6 months, but as you found out lenders don't approve loans on a promise.

If there is a way,,, I will try to help you, I know so far you're at a campground in NE, and you say you can make a heavy down payment ? " how much ",,, chances are we can find something reliable paying cash within the area that may get you mobile.
　
Ps,,, It's not really my business, and you don't have to answer,,, but if you care to,,, what do you mean by your husband was forced to ?

I had problems getting into my previous account, so I made a new one to respond to your questions.
Thanks for your kind words and your willingness to help.
We've looked into a couple more options, one of which are "subprime lenders" and the other one would be, getting a less ideal car that would work and flip it in a year from now, when our credit is more established and our business is fully up and running over here in the U.S. The whole system in the United States is so new to us. Unfortunately we couldn't transfer our credit from Europe, there we have plenty! Unfortunately, lenders don't seem to take anything we show them from Europe as "proof", so that is one of our big problems.
The down payment would have been $15.000. We also would have given our travel trailer as collateral, which has a retail price of $13,000 - $15,000. But that is not enough. They want to see a credit history, otherwise they won't even look at anything else. Not very good for someone who is just starting out in the U.S., but is cash strong.
About my husband. When he was 10 years old, his father took him out of school, left for Europe with him and he had to make a living for the family by making music. He didn't have a childhood like you and me, it was just work from morning 'til evening, traveling, no friends or relationships. He has gained a lot of positive things from it, he is a survivor and an excellent singer, but I wish things would finally turn and he could enjoy the full fruit of his labor. The car is the last step for us to a brighter future. We will not give up hope! :)

Try to stay away from subprime lenders and Buy Here Pay here dealers, the Interest rate will be to high, and most likely will not show up to help you establish a rating.

The second option is the way to go,,, 15G is a fair amount of coin, include autotrader.com in your hunt, when you find something that you may consider send me a link.

Yeah I would most definitely try autotrader.com

You could probably pick up a pretty decent truck there private party for 15k.

You could probably pick up a pretty decent truck there private party for 15k.
I find your comment very interesting, you mention from a private party .

Are your thoughts you will get a better deal privately compared to buying from a dealer ? if so explain why.