Ok first let me start off by saying iv'e made mistakes in my short life and i have lived from them, so please no "shouldn't have done blah blah" as i understand now hindsight is 20/20.
this story will give you a understanding of what got me in the predicament im in. alot of you are going to say i am too indecisive and iunderstand that, and im trying to learn life lessons allong the way.
August 2009, I owned a 1991 Ford Probe, was working on it one day and my mother ripped the door off the hinges the same day i was planning on trading it in on a truck i was looking at (1997 F150, got turned down, was barely 18 at the time)
She gave me 1000$ for it. Keep in mind this ford probe was my 1st car, i learned how to work on cars because of this car, therefore 80% of this car has been replaced (head gaskets to the entire braking system, to fuel pumps, etc etc.)
i then took the 1k my mom gave me for the probe and went and got myself a 4x4 s10, financed it for 3 years, was affordable, 4x4, insurance was cheap, but it was a MAJOR POS. broke down on my every week and in april of 2010, i decided it was time for a new car.
i took a trip over to the local Ford dealership with my uncle (a very pressureing person, WRONG person to take. but again im learning life)
test drove a 2010 Ford Focus and i liked it, was awesome on gas, insurance was cheap, fully loaded with sync. drove that for 3 months and seen a commercial for the new 2011 Ford Mustang V6, 305hp, looked like a beast. I no longer wanted the focus.
The Mustang was my dream car, from diapers on up i have always had a special place for mustangs, i took my little focus over to the Ford Dealer. Talked to the salesman, he said shouldn't be a problem. (i have 700+ credit score at 19) he called my Credit union and they said go get your mustang!
The car was amazing, it was fast, sexy, sleek, and handled like no other car iv'e ever driven, problem was it was a POS.
Tranny issues,
Engine issues,
Trim coming off, seat coming apart, and MORE!! the car was a nightmare, called Ford, and took it to 3 different dealerships, no issues were even attempted to fix.
I thought to myself i could not have a car with this many issues later on the the road, say 5 years later the engine blows up due to a head design flaw and im stuck with a blown up car im still paying 2 more years on, so i was determined to get out of this car.
January 2011, i wanted a truck and the f150 was out of my pricerange, so i looked at rangers, i fell in love with my sport, love it as much as my mustang.
Sorry for my essay but now you understand me.
now here's my problem.
Im paying 443 a month for this truck.
Insurance is 130 a month,
gas is about 160-180 a month.
this is 750+ dollars of my income.
now as you know the economy has declined severely and i lost my position as an assistant manager at my job. so now instead of making 1500-2000 a month, i now bring in about 1000-1100.
at the time of all 3 of these new cars i have never missed a payment and never had an issue paying it. the fact is 700+ total a month for ANY car is rediculous with my income and i'd like to go to school again but this truck is holding me back.
My questions to you guys is this:
If i volunteerly give back the truck and pay off the amout left owed will this still effect my credit?
is there a chance i could refinance?
my mom has agreed to sell me back the car for the same amout i sold it to her for, so i have my 1st car 80% restored other than rear struts, and a little rust.
what y'all think i should do and thanks for taking your time reading my ramble. I'm only 19 almost 20 and trying to figure out the right way to do things, and learn from my mistakes.
Thanks everyone,
-Dave