I bought a 2008 Volvo s60 last fall that ended up having transmission issues this spring.
My credit was terrible so the loan is a brutal 25% (!) interest. I just looked at my 7 month payment history and could only laugh. Pretty much haven’t made a dent because of monthly interest.
The “payoff amount” is about $4700 and I have about $5000 saved for a new car downpayment. I found a newer Toyota that it’s in great condition with less miles than the Volvo for around $12-13k (before dealership fees+taxes. The cost to replace the transmission with a salvaged one is $2k. A rebuild was quoted $3500 (half the value of the car) after inspection.
Multiple mechanics have said they refuse to touch Volvos and hung up the phone and others have said there’s a chance the trans replacement “may not even be successful”.
Should I just try to close the Volvo loan, sell it for scraps, and attempt to buy the Toyota with no downpayment? Otherwise i would just use the $5k for a downpayment on the Toyota, but I would still have to make near $300 a month payments on that in addition to the new car.
Credit was in the 500s when I applied for that loan last year, currently it’s at a 697. I’m hoping that may get me a better rate this time around, but it’s hard to tell.
