High EMI payments for my car make me regret buying decision: Now what?

I am married with a kid, and yes I know it was stupid and should have done more financial planning and put in some thought into it, but now its too late and I can only curse myself.

BHPian DasAuto1985 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, before buying my car I read all the ownership threads, reviews but missed out on this thread. Now I own a car for which the EMI is too much and its putting a dent on my finances. I am married with a kid, and yes I know it was stupid and should have done more financial planning and put in some thought into it, but now its too late and I can only curse myself. Any tips/ideas on how to mitigate this, other than of course to get a job that pays more.

Here's what BHPian Caffienated had to say on the matter:

Advantage of Bangalore car market is that it's very forgiving in cases like this. If you wish to go for a more wallet-appropriate car and assuming your car is still new-ish, you can look to resell and probably command close to OTR price with a bit of waiting.

No harm in calling up Spinny/Olx for a quote.

The other option is to just enjoy it as you have worked hard for it, and keep using it for a really long time so that maximum value is realised. The way the car prices are going up, you may feel you got a bargain in 4-5 years time.

Here's what BHPian antz.bin had to say on the matter:

You can have anything you want but not everything. BUT, selling a new-ish car is not financially prudent. You might not save that much going that route and might end up with something significantly older / smaller / less powerful requiring more maintenance than a brand-new car does under a factory warranty.

Try cutting back on other expenses if possible. Try carpooling or using the Metro to cut your fuel expenses AND driving stress. Alternately, try talking to your financier and figure out a way to reduce monthly payments and include a balloon payment at the end instead.

Have you tried quitting alcohol or smoking? That cuts a lot of expenses and keeps you healthier in the long run reducing future medical expenses and loss of working days.

DO NOT Reduce insurance IDV or remove zero-depreciation cover to cut your car related expenses. This may end up biting you back.

Here's what BHPian Geo_Ipe had to say on the matter:

Well, now that you've fallen into the river, you might as well enjoy a swim and get out!

Selling your new car is extremely stupid - financially speaking - and we are financially speaking on this thread, aren't we? So the next step is to foreclose the loan as soon as you can. As others have pointed out, talk to your bank and work a plan out.

Second step would be to hold on to your car for a longer period of time - maybe 10-12 years. Go through this thread to see the value in holding on to your (more expensive) car for longer

Here's what BHPian adimicra had to say on the matter:

I was in this situation some 12-13 years back. My sincere advice is - enjoy the car and try to save other expenses. I am assuming it must have been a dream car for you and that's why you would have stretched. So, enjoy it and may be later stage in life, you will look back and think you made the right decision

At least, that's what I feel now about my decision 12-13 years back, probably because things have worked out career wise and financially and I hope the same for you as well.

Remember, financial planning and wealth creation is a lifelong journey and you can always make up as you have a long way to go.

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