Well, I've learned two bad things today. #1, Wells Fargo stinks. #2, the number of inquiries made on your credit report lowers your credit score (I'm kicking myself, because I probably should have done my research and known this!).
#1, Wells Fargo stinks: WF Bank came back and said they could not do a refinance on our vehicle loans. They are also the ones who over appraised our home's value which helped (of course our signing the dotted line on a home equity loan was a big part too!) get us in the situation of being upside down in our home and now we can't even do a refinance on the home. Ugh. So unfortunately we're stuck with our current mortgage rates and payments.
#2, I learned today that when you authorize a bank to view your credit score, you lower your credit score...even if you don't borrow any money. So, our scores are now in the mid-600's, yikes! I had no idea! Well, lesson learned.
Ready for the ONE good thing that came of today?? Our credit union approved us to refinance our vehicles through them which will lower our monthly payment by $180!!!! I am so thrilled!
We are still however, going to see what a vehicle dealership would offer if we traded in both vehicles for two vehicles $3,000 or less. This does however make me very nervous with winter coming...I am quite concerned about the cost of potential vehicle repairs 
I will admit I would feel a bit more secure just refinancing, but we'll see what the dealership offers for financing.
Day 2: Good News and Bad News About Vehicle Loans
October 28th, 2009 at 07:29 pm
October 28th, 2009 at 08:47 pm 1256762824
I don't know if this would work for you, but when I wanted to get out of variable-APR, 11% home equity loan, I was also too underwater to refi in the traditional sense. However, Capital One offered me an unsecured personal loan at 8.99%, no fee to transfer balances to it (as there would have been with a credit card balance transfer), and fixed payments for 60 months (but no penalty for prepaying early).
I went ahead and did that. At least I knew the interest was a little better, it wasn't variable, and I would be forced to pay it off in 5 years or less.
I couldn't take the interest as a tax deduction anymore, but I'd recently learned you were only supposed to do that if your home equity loan was used to increase the value of the home (mine I just used to buy furniture and a computer and pay my dad back some of what he loaned me for the down payment), so I wasn't sure I should be claiming the interest anyway.
Good luck making a decision on the cars. That's a hard one! Maybe you could just refinance and keep them through the winter, then try and trade them in the spring?
October 28th, 2009 at 09:26 pm 1256765190
Please keep in mind that you may be able to purchase a warranty with a used car. My best friend traded in her car (too expensive to keep) and was able to purchase a used car from a dealer with a warranty that would cover any major repairs.
Or I would keep one of your vehicle and replace the other one. Glad to see that you are able to see your way out some of your troubles!
October 28th, 2009 at 11:43 pm 1256773423
October 29th, 2009 at 01:46 am 1256780818
October 29th, 2009 at 12:24 pm 1256819089
If you take too much time and spread out your rate shopping over a month or more, then all those credit inquiries will, like you said, be counted against you becus it gives the appearance that you could be "desperate" for a loan and are going from bank to bank after being turned down.
October 30th, 2009 at 09:07 pm 1256936875
Jerry
October 31st, 2009 at 03:28 am 1256959723
November 2nd, 2009 at 01:49 am 1257126576
The credit report score will go up in time, but you should check to make sure there is nothing incorrect on it, to make it go up faster.