I have a 9% interest on Nissan Quest currently valued between $6,000-8,000. The balance on my loan is $20,000 on a 60-mo loan. I pay $500/mo. Credit scores are 586, 607, 622. I've been paying since March 2006. I would like to get out of this loan asap b/c I'm spending a little under $25 of my net income just on the note.
Here are my options as I see them:
1. Keep the car for the remainder of the loan.
2. Shop the car around for the best trade-in value and seriously downgrade to get my payments for managable. (I'm thinking whatever equity in the car may cancel out some of the loan if I downgrade. For example, $20,000 - $6000 = $14,000). Buy cash car for $2500.
3. Refinance (I don't think I qualify for anything lower than 9%). or Pay down debt wait a year and refinance.
Any other ideas?