<prompt> Human: So currently, my credit isnt in the best spot around 577, and I have a 2008 Chevy Silverado 1500 LT that I purchased in August 2016. I currently owe around 12,000 on the truck, and the other day it started making a grinding noise. After some back and forth, turns out there was an oil leak and there is now scouring in the engine, which means the mechanic is recommending scrapping the engine and replacing it, about a 7,000 cost.I have about 2 months before I NEED need a carthis car back, and I have about 3,500 saved up.I think my only options are to either A trade it in for incredibly low all quotesoffers have been in the 4K range at max, and take the 8000 hit in negative equity, and get a brand new car most banks will only approve negative equity with a loan on a 20172018 vehicle, and make payments on it... however with my credit situation, my interest ratemonthly payment would be through the roof, around 650 a month. So in this scenario, I would take 2 months to pay off bills using the 3,500, and try to save as much as I could for a down payment while still working towards helping my credit score.B Cash out my 401K to pay for the repairs. In this scenario, itd take about 2 months to get my check for the 401K. I have about 9,000 in there just started 2 years ago and going slow on it, so I would need to take out the full amount to cover taxespenalties, and then include that with the 3,500 I have saved to cover the full payment. The plus to this is that I continue making my 300month payments, but I wipe out my 401K completely. I DID just switch jobs though, and Im only 25, so hopefully it wouldnt hurt me too much in the long run.Can anyone think of any other options I have, or let me know of anything I might be missing, especially in the 401K Cashout scenario? The most important thing to me right now is keeping my monthly costs low, as I need to continue paying student loans, so a 350month would hurt me a lot more than losing 7,000 up front, but Im terrible with personal finance, so I might be overlooking something.EDITSounds like the best option right now is to shop around doing that this Saturday after I get images of the damage, see what other shops will charge to replace, and then probably take the 2 months to use my savings to pay off my debt, and then make a decision then. Ill probably be checking back in - definitely not cashing out my 401K. Thanks for the advice everyone!  <response>: Dont repair the engine. A complete LS engine can be had for well under 1K in junkyardsCraigslist, etc. Just pay to have it removed and replaced and save thousands. 