How do I keep my car if I was dischargd from a chapter 7 bankruptcy?

You never filed a reaffirmation agreement and so the loan is gone with the discharge. The lender could allow you to sign a new loan basically reaffirming the debt. But without the agreement in place, you shouldn't be making payments as you aren't making progress towards paying for the car. Oh, and yeah, you screwed up your buddy's credit.

When you filed bankruptcy, it looks like you stated your intent was to reaffirm the debt owed on your car. Generally, what happens next is that creditor on the vehicle will send you a reaffirmation agreement to complete and return to them. It looks like either the creditor dropped the ball, or you failed to complete the paperwork and send it back to them. Once the creditor receives your reaffirmation agreement they will file it with the court and set a hearing date, if you did not have an attorney represent you in completing the agreement. You would then need to appear at the reaffirmation hearing and tell the judge whether this agreement is in your best interest. You mentioned there is a co-signor on this debt. If the co-signor did not file bankruptcy, they are still legally liable for that debt as their legal obligation has not been discharged. You need to continue making the payments on the car if you intend to keep it. Since you've already obtained your discharge, a reaffirmation agreement is likely a moot point and a non-issue. You need to work this out directly with the lender.

In the bankruptcy you had the option to reaffirm, surrender or return the vehicle. You comments indicate that you signed a statement of intent stating that you intended to reaffirm the debt. Signing this form does not reaffirm the debt. As you were told, to reaffirm the debt a reaffirmation agreement that is about 14 pages long needs to be completed, signed by the creditor and you and then filed with the court. It is my practice to request these forms from the creditor because I usually do not have the specifics of the loan such as interest rate. In Wisconsin however, the Consumer Protection Act provides some protection to debtors who have a car loan but do not sign a reaffirmation agreement. Depending on the value of the vehicle, the creditor would need to repossess the vehicle in state court. To do this you have to have missed payments. In some other states creditors have repossessed the vehicle for failure to file a reaffirmation agreement but I have not heard of a creditor succeeding in WI for this reason alone. The creditors punish you for not filing the reaffirmation agreement by not reporting the account as current even though you are making payments and sometimes not sending a bill. I leave it to my clients as to whether or not the costs out weigh the benefits in filing a reaffirmation agreement. Without a reaffirmation agreement on file, the creditor can only take the vehicle if you stop making payments but cannot obtain a deficiency judgment. If there is a reaffirmation agreement is filed and you get your car repossessed then they can take the care and get a deficiency judgment (difference between what you owe and what they sell it for). Everything is fact specific but I hope you can apply this to your situation.

You did screw up. To keep the car you needed to sign a reaffirmation while the case was open. In not using a lawyer, you probably cost yourself a car. See a lawyer now to see if he can work out anything, such as reopening the case to reaffirm.