NWMR: buying a car as a married couple--both names?

NicoleWI · July 2012

If you have purchased a car as a married couple, did you do it in both of your names or just one? Know of any pluses or minuses??

Thanks.

aglenn · July 2012

We lease, so I guess that makes it a little different, but we used to have both names on both cars. The last time around we just put DH on both cars. He loves to do all the research on what to get next when our lease is up, and this way he can go work a deal with the dealer and I can stay out of it. Suits me just fine.

iluvmylab · July 2012

We have one in each. We didn't need both names so we just use one.

CrazyToast · July 2012

We do not have one care as "mine" or "his" we share our two cars...so we have both our names on both. My name comes up first because I am the one with slightly better credit (although we both rock).

mrsseguin · July 2012

Both our vehicles are in both our names. Don't know of any pros or cons, just the way we did it.

Lena122 · July 2012

We've been 2 cars since we've been married and both are in my name because DH's credit is not as good as mine. There's no real negatives as far as I can tell.

AsOctoberFalls · July 2012

Ours are in both names. However, my parents told me not to do that next time because if both names are on the car, we would both be liable if one of us caused an accident and got sued. Not sure if it's true, but it's worth investigating.

2-Step · July 2012

I've heard that if you have something in one person's name and you had to walk away from the loan for any reason then the other person's credit wouldn't be affected and they could still go out and get a loan on good credit later. I only know this because I had some friends walk away from their house and it was only in his name, the short sale didn't effect her credit and she made good money so she was able to go out and purchase another house for them on her credit alone and get a great rate.

So, I think some people put it only in one person's name as a way of protecting themselves in the case that they couldn't make the payment for some reason. They could have it repossessed and still use their spouses credit in the future.

Not sure the legality or if this varies by state though. Just something I heard.

Rudytudy87 · July 2012

I live in ga and it is not a community property state so if anything is in my husbands name and if he were to die I would not be liable for his debts. Goes for car loans, credit cards etc. if something were to happen to one of us, I would hate for the other to have to worry about selling a car or having it repossessed and ruining their credit to make ends meet.

alyss0nl · July 2012

We purchased my car in both of our names. If you are looking to improve credit, or make a large purchase, I would put the vehicle in one person's name, because when looking to get pre-approved, they will see a large debt in both names. It's weird, but that's what I've heard. It really just depends on your financial situation.

giggles0918 · July 2012

Our cars are in both our names - when we purchased them the dealer said it's easier to get the title to the other person if something were to happen to one of us so we put it in both our names.

Amelia4 · July 2012

Our cars are in both names, but with OR instead of AND. So the title reads. Mr. X or Mrs. X. That way only one signature is needed to sell the car, but it is owned by both. The loan didn't figure into how we titled the car.

ks3pink · July 2012

Due to DH's credit cars have always been my name first and for the money part his name (I haven't been out of college that long so I didn't have the money to back it up). Our house on the other hand is going to be his name first and then my name and he is very excited about that.

groovygrl · July 2012

We have one in MHs name & one in both our names. IN the future I would just do one in each person's name for a multitude of reasons but honestly I wanted to have one in my name in case anything were to happen, I feel like I wanted one to be 'mine'. We recently relocated & getting the new title/license for the car w/ both our names was sort of a pain b/c we both had to be at the DMV to do it and we were not so they had to put something in the system that they had checked me and then when MH came they had to recheck everything, it is not a huge deal but one more thing that is kind of a pain when you're relocating.

salt78 · July 2012

We recently bought two cars. One of them is mine and I cosigned for my husband's so both of our names are on that one. The plus of that being that I have better credit and we got a better finance rate. I see no minuses at this point.

RebeccaMay · July 2012

My car is in my name and H's is in his name. Easier for getting new tags and registration, only one person has to go get it done. Plus, should my DH decide to sell his car as he is apt to do, all I have to say is, "It's your car, do whatever you want with it."

nikki_rob_weddingplans · July 2012

AsOctoberFalls:
However, my parents told me not to do that next time because if both names are on the car, we would both be liable if one of us caused an accident and got sued. Not sure if it's true, but it's worth investigating.

No worries here, in most cases only the driver that caused the accident can be held liable/get sued. Sometimes a parent will be sued if they signed a financial responsibility agreement, but as far as a spouse they would not be named in the suit. [disclaimer - I am not an attorney, this is just my experience from working in auto claims ]

Want a personalized experience?

NWMR: buying a car as a married couple--both names?

Re: NWMR: buying a car as a married couple--both names?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards