Can’t Make Your Car Payment? What the CFPB Says Texas Buyers Should Do

The short answer

If you cannot make a car payment, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Ask CFPB page What should I do if I can’t make my car payments? (last reviewed September 12, 2023) starts with one move: contact your lender or servicer as soon as possible and ask what options exist. Waiting until after several missed payments usually narrows those options. Related CFPB pages on late fees and repossession explain how fees, credit damage, and vehicle recovery risk can stack when silence is the plan.

What the CFPB lists as options (opened for this article)

From the can’t-make-payments page:

• Call whoever you pay—lender or servicer—as soon as you know you will miss a payment.
• Ask about affordable payment plans, changing the due date, or pausing payments through forbearance.
• Get any agreement in writing, and ask how the workout will appear on your credit reports.
• Consider refinancing with another lender for a lower rate or longer term—knowing a longer term can mean more total interest.
• Consider selling the vehicle after you learn the payoff and approximate market value; check for a prepayment penalty; in some cases a lender may discuss buying the vehicle back.
• Lease customers get parallel advice: contact the lessor early, ask about cure/reinstatement rights under the contract or state law, and get agreements in writing.

On late fees, the CFPB notes fees generally follow the contract and state law, some contracts include a grace period, and late payments can harm credit and lead toward repossession. On repossession, the CFPB states that in some cases lenders can repossess after a missed payment without warning or a court order, and that you still have rights and protections—including complaining to the CFPB if a repossession appears unlawful or erroneous.

Tie it to shopping the next car carefully

Optional products and stretched terms make the payment harder to keep. Pair CFPB’s hardship guidance with ordinary shopping homework:

• Compare total cost and APR—not payment alone (five numbers before signing).
• Keep add-ons optional (what you can negotiate).
• Know warranties vs optional service contracts (FTC warranty guidance).

How I can help (soft, no approval promises)

I'm Steven Wilson, Sales and Social Media & Marketing Manager at Kramer Autoplex, helping people in Houston and East Texas get financed with good credit, bad credit, thin credit, or no credit by shopping a wide lender network. Same-day answers on where you stand are typical—not a guarantee of approval. The first step is name plus phone or email—about 20 seconds—and no credit check yet. Free delivery is available anywhere in Texas; nationwide delivery is available outside Texas. Live inventory is on the site; I will not invent stock, prices, or customer stories here.

If you are replacing a car after a hardship conversation with your current servicer, the goal is a payment you can keep—not a lower payment that only works until the next late fee.

Bottom line

Per the CFPB: call early, get workouts in writing, understand refinance/sale options, and know repossession can move quickly. Use that same seriousness when you shop the next note.

See what you qualify for: Start here. Name and phone or email first—no credit check on that step.