in terms of negative equity, I kind of look at it like this:
1) if you hate the vehicle you have, unload that sucker. Life is short. 5k loss on a vehicle, he’ll even 10k loss on a vehicle is a joke in the long run.
2) as long as you are financing MSRP or less on the vehicle you are buying it’s probably not that bad.
3) if you are 10-20% over MSRP even after huge rebates/discounts, maybe pump the brakes. Or find one of these long term 0% loans and prepare to ride it out for at least 4 years to get yourself out of the hole.
4) i find it to be a bad decision putting money down on a vehicle. Reason being, if you toss 10k down on a 50k truck. It gets totaled in the first two years.... more than likely you are about to lose some money. Interest rates are so low (even 0%) just buy a 400 dollar gap policy and let it ride. Take that money and do something else. If your vehicle is Totaled, you win. You can easily invest that 10k dollars and make more than you would be saving on the auto loan.