Can I Surrender My Car If I Can’t Afford the Loan?

Many Americans have been left with monthly payments on car loans that are getting harder to afford. As of 2025, the average monthly car payment was $745 for new cars, and $521 for used cars. Why are car payments so expensive? Car prices have gone up significantly in the past few years, along with higher interest rates on auto loans. When you add in higher auto insurance costs, these three big costs of owning a car, along with other bills and living expenses, might be making it harder for you to keep up with your auto loan payments. 

If you fall behind on your auto loan, unfortunately it can get to the point where the bank decides to repossess your car. But if you want to avoid the car repo experience, you have other options. You can surrender your car to the bank, or work out a payment plan with the lender to avoid car repossession. 

Let’s look at how you can surrender your car to the bank instead of auto repossession—and why you might want to. 

What Is Voluntary Surrender of a Car? 

“Voluntary surrender” of a vehicle is when you choose to hand over your car to the bank or lender. People sometimes choose to do this when they fall behind on auto loans and can’t afford to repay what they owe. If you’re going through serious financial hardship and can’t afford to keep paying for your auto loan, surrendering your car to the lender could be part of the solution. Surrendering your car is sometimes also called “voluntary repossession,” because unlike a typical car repo, you’re voluntarily choosing to let the lender take the car. 

In some rare cases, lenders might refuse to accept your surrender of the car, or fail to pick up your repossessed car. This could be a sign that the lender doesn’t believe the car is worth fixing and selling at auction. If a lender refuses to let you surrender your car, consider talking to a bankruptcy lawyer about your options. Filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy can sometimes let you keep your car, even if you were having trouble making auto loan payments. 

When to Surrender Your Car 

You should only think about surrendering your car to the lender if you’ve fallen seriously behind on payments for your car loan. If you’ve only missed one or two months of payments, you should contact the lender and ask for loan forbearance or try to work out a repayment plan. Some auto lenders will work with you and try to find a way for you to keep affording your car loan, instead of forcing the lender to go through the costly process of repossessing your vehicle. 

But here are a few signs that it might be time to surrender your car: 

• You’re already getting calls from your lender’s collections department.

• You’ve already tried to negotiate with the lender and work out a payment plan.

• You don’t see a realistic way forward to successfully make your car payments.

• You don’t qualify for other types of debt relief.

If you decide to surrender your car, be aware that you might still be responsible for some of the unpaid loan balance. After any auto repossession, whether it’s done by a car repo team with a tow truck or a voluntary surrender, the lender will try to sell your car at a public auction. Lenders use these car auctions to try to get paid for the rest of the unpaid car loan. But often, repossessed cars sell for less than the remaining loan balance. 

For example, if you have a $20,000 balance on your car loan and the lender sells the car for $10,000 at auction, that means you still owe $10,000. Lenders can send this unpaid debt to collections, or bring an unpaid debt lawsuit against you, even after you surrender your car.

Surrendering Your Car: Pros and Cons 

Deciding to surrender your car is a big choice and it’s often a last resort for people who can’t pay their auto loan. Here are a few possible benefits and drawbacks of surrendering your car as you consider what to do. 

Surrendering your car: Drawbacks

• You won’t have the car anymore: You’ll need to find other transportation, like a vehicle borrowed from relatives, public transit, or ride-sharing services. (But this is also true if your car gets repossessed.) 

• You might still owe money: If your car doesn’t sell for enough to repay the balance that you owe, the lender might come after you for the remaining balance on your auto loan.

• Credit consequences: Just like a foreclosure on a home or a typical auto repossession where your car gets towed, surrendering your car is a serious negative event on your credit report.  

Surrendering your car: Benefits 

• Save money on fees: With voluntary surrender, you might be able to avoid paying some repossession fees. The lender doesn’t have to pay a repossession team to go get your car, because you’re bringing the car to them. 

• Emotional well-being: Surrendering your car, instead of watching it get towed away by surprise in the middle of the night, could give you a better sense of relief and peace of mind. Voluntary surrender might feel like you have more control of the situation, and a more peaceful, orderly way to move on with your life.  

• Could be better for your credit report than repossession: Voluntary surrender stays on your credit report for seven years, the same as any auto repo. But future lenders might look at a voluntary surrender as more favorable than a typical auto repossession. Surrendering your car shows lenders that you were proactive and you tried to take responsibility for the situation, even if you couldn’t repay the auto loan. Surrendering your car instead of letting it be repossessed could help make it easier for you to qualify for credit in the future. 

Try talking to your lender first. If you want to keep the car, talk to a bankruptcy attorney to see what options you might have to keep the vehicle. But if you don’t need to keep the car, you’re prepared to deal with the credit score consequences, and you don’t want to file bankruptcy, voluntary surrender could be a better choice than going through the typical car repo process.