Friendship deteriorated, now need to get her off my car loan. What are my options?

Hello everyone.

Back in March of 2014 I purchased my first vehicle. Due to a lack of credit (I’ve never owned a credit card) as well as some overdue student loan payments that resulted from not being able to get a well-paying job for a while after graduating college, I had to get a cosigner to ensure a lower interest rate/monthly payment. I wanted to forego this option and make higher payments as I hate asking people for favors but, alas, that is not what happened.

A friend of mine (at the time) and her husband offered to go with me to the dealership as they’ve bought many cars in the past and understand how the whole thing works. The dealer’s financing team crunched the numbers and suggested that I get a cosigner for the best rate. My friend and her husband insisted that I let them do it for me as they have impressive credit scores. In the heat of the moment I agreed, albeit reluctantly, as I hate doing business with friends.

Well our “friendship” has deteriorated and so now I want to refinance and get her off my car loan so that I can have full ownership and never have to deal with her again. I’ve never missed a car payment to this date and, in fact, always pay a couple of days ahead of schedule.

I’ve reached out to my lender as well as my local credit union, but they’ve both told me that I need to either build more equity as I currently owe more than the car is worth, or make a hefty down payment to bridge the gap between the car’s value and what I owe. The latter is not really an option as I make just enough money to pay all my bills and eat.

I’m feeling stuck and don’t know where else to turn to. Any suggestions? I would gladly make higher monthly payments just so that I can be free of a cosigner, but the lenders aren’t giving me that option.

Thank you in advance for reading this and for any input!