Any ideas would be appreciated. Yes a voluntary repo will hurt your credit. Creditors look at it as a repo, voluntary or not. The way your friends pay less on a trade is they are right side up on the loan. That means they owe less than it is worth.
Most people are upside down on a loan.
Which means they owe more than it is worth. The best way to get out is to call the financial institution that has the note and find out what payoff would be 30 days from the day you call. To get out of it with out making anything try putting an ad in the paper for that amount, but if you are upside, you can ask more. The other thing you can do is put an extra amount on the loan every month. A friend of mine bought a house with a 30 year mortgage.