Tips on Buying Cars: Upside Down with credit issues, car accidents, grand cherokee

Question
My husband and I were desperate to get new cars after we both had car accidents within a month of each other. Well that desperation landed us with two auto loans with 22.5% (whew!) interest rates on two used cars. It goes without saying that both of us have credit problems. Anyway, that was a year and a half ago and my husband's 02 Grand Cherokee with 77,000 miles is having problems that even the dealership can't seem to solve. He is ready to trade in and get something more reliable. But here is the list of problems with that: 1. We are extremely upside down in that loan (About -$9,000); 2. He was 35 days late on one payment last December so our credit hasn't really improved much; and 3. We don't have a down payment to balance anything out. I feel that we should wait as long as we possibly can before we try to get something else but he is anxious because the truck quits on him about once a week. It almost feels that we are in another desperate situation but there has to be a better solution, PLEASE HELP!!

Answer
Don't you think you've already answered your own question?  You owe far more on the Jeep than it's currently worth, your credit hasn't improved, and you have no down payment.  The ONLY thing that would allow you to trade in this vehicle now is a good old-fashioned miracle, and we both know that isn't too likely to happen (especially with the current nosedive in SUV values).  My suggestion?  Take the Jeep to a different dealer and/or repair shop till you find someone that knows how to fix it.  I'd bet even money that a problem that causes it to "quit once a week" might just be a minor issue that can be solved for relatively little money.  You just have to find someone that won't give up until they resolve the issue (and yes, there really are technicians like that out there).