Help! I need ideas.

[PartyWagon89]

If it drives straight and the hood latches, then put a radiator and headlight in it and drive it. You don't need to be spending hundreds of dollars on a project car to swap your drivetrain into...and you probably aren't going to find anything that would be cheaper than the bare necessities to get your car driving.

Also, you owe money on the car. It is potentially fraudulent behavior to remove good parts from it. It's not illegal, but it would certainly be disrespectful/immoral towards your lien holder to remove the majority of the remaining value from the asset securing your loan. Of course, it would make no difference if you pay it off as agreed...but that very seldom happens when someone is in your situation. I would say 10% or less of my customers who wreck a vehicle they are paying on with no collision insurance actually pay the balance, which is extremely frustrating.

1. Get it running reliably as cheaply as you can.
2. Drive it that way until you pay it off.
3. THEN worry about the cosmetics, or finding another car.

I very much appreciate the input. This would be great advice if I didn't NEED everything I have listed and more.. This was a head on colision with an expedition. Air box got crushed, motor mount is cracked. The engine is pushed back crooked by the bumper/ rad support. I actually have to cut it out and put a whole new front end on. Also the hood is f***ed. I need one for sure. So in the long run the swap idea may be cheaper if I can find a car like an aspire for example with no motor or a blown motor to swap mine into. And don't worry about me paying my bills. Thanks.

(will post pics when I can)

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[ZephTheChef]

I very much appreciate the input. This would be great advice if I didn't NEED everything I have listed and more.. This was a head on colision with an expedition. Air box got crushed, motor mount is cracked. The engine is pushed back crooked by the bumper/ rad support. I actually have to cut it out and put a whole new front end on. Also the hood is f***ed. I need one for sure. So in the long run the swap idea may be cheaper if I can find a car like an aspire for example with no motor or a blown motor to swap mine into. And don't worry about me paying my bills. Thanks.

(will post pics when I can)

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Pics would have probably made that more clear. Sounds like it's a lot worse off than I assumed. If you can get a parts car and it's cheaper or easier to fix the parts car then I would say do that. Have you talked to your lender about this? We almost always help with or finance this type of repair in this type of situation...But only to the extent the repair costs less than another vehicle would. I wasn't trying to imply that you are dishonest...but in my experience (and I have had literally hundreds of these situations over the last 10 years in the car business) people don't pay for inoperable vehicles, regardless of the cause. Often simply because they are not able to...but that doesn't make it right.

So as a lienholder, it is usually in my best interest to assist with repairs on the vehicle. Your lender may or may not feel the same way, especially since we are talking about a vehicle that is likely now worth only $100 through an auction disposal. Not everyone in this business cares what happens after the sale, but it might be worth your time to talk to them and see about financing repairs. Depending on what you owe on it, your best bet might be to trade it in on another vehicle IF you can afford full coverage.

Wall street is buying so deep into the subprime auto business right now that it's relatively easy for people even in the 500s credit score to get into new or nearly new vehicles, even if upside down in current car. The payments on a brand new focus or fiesta or something are certainly a lot lower than my average customer's payment on a 15 year old car. Granted, they are writing 6-8-year loans on that stuff and talking about going even higher, but the interest rate is basically nothing if you have decent credit and you end up with a new car with factory warranties and a sub-$200 a month payment.