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My co-signer ending up being the primary on my car loan. Now that makes me the co-signer. Both of our names are on the car loan. Do i have any rights to the car? can the primary take the car from me at any time?

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You are best to see the answer to this question:

Secondary owner link.

The dealerships do this because you probably cannot qualify for a car loan as the primary, even with a cosigner. Why in the world would you put yourself in this situation? Being that it is likely that you are both on the title, yes the primary can take that car from you.

Also they are liable for your behavior while you drive the car, or any of your friends that you willing allow to drive the car. So if you loan your car to a friend and that friend hurts someone with your car, the primary is liable to the injured party.

In short: you have a hot mess on your hands.

The second best bet is to have the car refinanced in your name only. You may want to talk to the place you do your banking to see if that is possible.

The best bet is to only buy a car that you can afford. That is only one that you can pay cash for. In order to follow this course of action, you will need to sell this car, probably kick in a $3,000 or so because it is probably worth less than you paid and you have to cover sales taxes, and buy the car that you can pay cash for.

One thing you may want to explore is if you are still in the cooling off period. Checkout this link to see if you can simply return the car. Get out of this deal, it is quite horrible.

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    I suppose it depends on the situation, for example I moved to the US and didn’t have credit history here so although I earn more than enough to be able to afford the car I could not finance it myself. My wife then became the primary on the agreement. The OP doesn’t say with whom he has co-signed, I could see it being as bad an idea as you say if it is a random acquaintance.
    – Blair
    Commented Apr 16, 2018 at 17:00
  • Well i wasn't able to get a cash or car on my own. There aren't any problems yet but i did want to clarify if the primary can take the car. Which was answered. Do i have any rights to the car at all?
    – user71228
    Commented Apr 16, 2018 at 18:27
  • While I agree it's better to only purchase what you can afford, I wouldn't describe this as a "hot mess"; it's a pretty common scenario and in most cases goes without a hitch. The question re: rights depends on the what's written on the title. There will definitely be a lien on it which you can't remove until the loan is paid off... as for any remaining asset value beyond the amount of the lien, it may be shared between owners if they are both named on the title. If the primary is the only name on the title after lien holders then they'll have exclusive ownership after the loan is satisfied.
    – CactusCake
    Commented Jun 15, 2018 at 17:38

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