Buying a car after bankruptcy discharge may or may not be easy. It all depends on the approach that you use. Depending on the type of bankruptcy and the court ordered stipulations, you may be able to keep your car. In cases where you do not have this option you will obviously be looking to purchase a vehicle to get to and from work.
In addition you will soon find that your old car may start having problems need extensive repairs. The problem is that you do not have any consumer credit to use to make the repairs. The best option is to use cash to make all your purchases. Many times repairing the car is just not a feasible option. Again this means that you need to buy a car after bankruptcy judgment which in many cases is not that easy.
More than likely you are using or have used credit counseling service during your bankruptcy process. They will more than likely insist that you live and operate your budget on a cash basis. They will most likely advise against taking out any loan to purchase a car or truck. So how do you buy a car after bankruptcy?
You can find lenders and vehicle manufactures that will lend you the money to pay for a car. However you will be subject to high fees and interest rates that will not be good for your budget. In many cases lenders will take advantage of people who have just had their debts discharged by the courts. You will be receiving lots of mail with what appears to be great offers to help you purchase everything including a car. In most cases these are scams that should be avoided.
A good alternative to using a loan to purchase a car is to use the ladder purchase method. Basically you use cash to purchase your vehicles. In many cases step one can be the hardest to apply. It takes discipline but you can own a nice vehicle free and clear within 2 years.
Basically you take the money that you would be using to make a car payment and put in the bank for 6 months and then use this cash to purchase cheap mechanically sound vehicle. If your old car has any value your purchasing power is even greater. If you purchase a $4000 to $6000 car that will get you to and from work that is all you need for the time being.
The next step becomes a little easier as you continue to make car payments to your bank account for another ten months. At that time you again search for a$10,000 to $12000 vehicle. Using your old car for a trade in you purchase the newer car for cash. As you can see you can do this step by step method of purchasing a vehicle until you own the vehicle you want debt free.
However after reaching this final step it is not the time to stop making car payments to your bank account. The money in the account will go toward the next car you will purchase and act as an emergency fund that you can use to pay cash for vehicle repairs and scheduled maintenance. Again you stay debt free and stress free. So you see if you need to buy a car after bankruptcy it really is not that hard at all, if you are wise and disciplined.