 TITLE: How to Get Out of a Car Loan You Can’t Afford CONTENT: How Will Getting Out of a Car Loan Affect My Credit?\n----------------------------------------------------\nThe ways getting out of a car loan can affect your credit depend largely on which path you choose:\n*   **Selling the car**: If you sell your car and pay off the loan in full, it won't have much of an impact on your credit score at all. That said, if you replace your loan with a new one on a cheaper car, the hard credit inquiry may temporarily lower your credit score a little.\n*   **Negotiating with your lender**: Depending on what you and the lender end up deciding, it may or may not impact your credit score. If you get on a longer-term modified repayment plan, it may report that you're no longer making payments as originally agreed, which could impact your score and how future lenders view you.\n*   **Refinancing your auto loan**: As with replacing your current car with a new one, refinancing your car loan will impact your credit when you apply for the loan. That said, in most cases, one new hard inquiry won't take more than five points off your credit score, if it affects your score at all.\n*   **Voluntarily surrendering the vehicle**: If you have no other options but to give up your car, you won't be able to avoid damage to your credit score by voluntarily surrendering the vehicle. By the time it occurs, you've likely already missed some payments, which can wreak havoc on your credit history, and have been threatened with repossession. However, giving up the car instead of waiting for the lender to seize it may look better to lenders reviewing your credit report in the future. END