Complaint Review: Chrysler Financial

S.n.

"It, unfortunately, is his responsibility and he should have learned a hard lesson about believing a salesperson and a finance manager."

Why is the salesperson or business manager at fault? If the sales team said "we think this truck is too expensive." I'm sure he would have bought a cheaper one. right? This kid wanted to be cool and buy a cool truck and at 18 his interest rate would have been sky high, with no previous credit history, would magnify his payment.

All these people are doing is trying to make a living. Mom or Dad should have put a little more sense in his head before he decided to bite off more than he can chew.

I finance vehicles with Chrysler and have not been able to get one done without significant down payment, or a co-signer, for an 18 year old. Not one! So my question to you is, did co-sign on this truck and now you are taking a beating on your credit score?

life lessons. Although she had her own checking account and worked from the time she was 16, I leased a small car for her use during high school. She was responsible for providing insurance (she could go through my policy, but had to pay for her part of the insurance) and she was responsible for upkeep on the car, i.e., tires, oil changes, keeping the tank full. When she turned 18, the lease was up and we turned the car back in. I told her that she would need to purchase her own vehicle. She found a car she liked (not a brand new high dollar car, but reliable transportation), made sure she had a good warranty on the car since it was used, and financed through a bank with a co-signer. She paid the car off well before the fiinal payment was due (no pre-payment penalty) and when it was time for another vehicle, she purchased her car with no co-signer. Your son seems to have purchased a very expensive vehicle which he obviously could not afford. It, unfortunately, is his responsibility and he should have learned a hard lesson about believing a salesperson and a finance manager.

Edna,

It seems a little late to be jumping in now. Where were you when your son signed the contract?

Also, it is the primary responsibility of the parent [you] to teach children financial responsibility, NOT the school system.

That $13k they want is called a deficiency and is standard practice in the finance business. In most states, lenders are required to sell a repo at auction so there is public documentation and control of the sale.

It's not over, they will be suing your son for the $13K deficiency, and then he will have to deal with wage garnishments, etc.

It will happen.

He's 18 and able to sign a legal contract. If he didn't like the terms he didn't have to sign. Then he got himself in a bind and now he's paying for it.

It's a life lesson quit trying to hold his hand through life. He's an adult.

NB: I am not a lawyer. The following is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Get one if you need legal advice.

From the day he was late, his credit has started accumulating bad marks. The repossession is a big one. So is the continued nonpayment of the balance. Negative information does expire, typically seven years after the first negative event occurred (bankruptcies last for 10 years).

The worst hasn't happened yet - that's lawsuit, judgment, and garnishment. There is one thing, though, that can help either now (with the harassment) or later (before they start to take his wages):

No one likes to hear the big B - bankruptcy - but this is probably what's best for your son. It'll stop all his creditors from contacting him from the date of filing. It'll also discharge him of most or all of his debt - so that he doesn't have to pay it. What's important though is that he didn't obtain the loan fraudulently (e.g. lie about job, embellish income), otherwise the discharge doesn't apply. It's best to get a lawyer for this, since it's complicated.

Of course, everyone else who extends him credit is affected by the bankruptcy. This usually isn't a bad thing unless he has other secured loans.

Part of the bankruptcy process, with the new law, is taking a debtor education class after filing. He'll learn what he needs to know in that class, and you will have the perfect opportunity to supplement his knowledge about credit and money management.

Then, he can re-establish his credit. Probably the best way for him to do this is to go to school and pay for it with student loans. They're easy for students to get - he can't be denied a student loan because of bankruptcy, and they don't do credit checks on students because of them. That way, when he graduates, he'll be able to find a better job and repay them. With a consistent, good payment history, he'll be on the road to good credit sooner than you think. The bad stuff will have less effect over time, and after ten years, it'll all be gone.

I said the high school should teach it because they have the audience in one place, for one thing. Secondly, I don't think all parents would think of teaching their kids this subject, and most kids think their parents worry too much and won't take it seriously. If a kid graduates and immediately ruins his future credit because he was wasting his time on basket weaving or black history instead of financing, we as experienced adults have done him no good. Bad credit will negatively affect him in many ways for years, all negatively, and that makes it a higher priority, IMO. We tell them to stay away from pimps and drug dealers, why not slick salesmen?

Edna Said:
My son has since given them the vehicle back and now they are still harrassing him about money that he owes on his lease that they have sold for 20,000.00 and now they are saying he still owes almost 13,000.00 dollars, oh come on people not everybody is stupid like chrysler thinks people are.

Just because you return the vehicle doesn't mean you can "just walk away". Your son signed a LEGAL agreement. It doesn't matter if they threw in an extra ten-thousand dollars for no reason! Your son agreed to it, and received the car to lease as a result.

Seriously, did he say, "Hey Mom, going to buy a car", and you said, "Sure, be back by dinner". Why weren't YOU there to help him? Why didn't he ask? Why didn't you take the time?

Edna said:
And they still keep harrassing my child about this so called money that he owes to them.

Of course they do. He's in a legal agreement. IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE, and ANY judge will likely rule in favor of the LEGAL AGREEMENT. It's like signing up for the military and then a year later saying, eh... never mind. I got a job offer somewhere else.

Edna:
So i don't want him to have his credit ruined by this lease program

Too late. His credit at 18 is ruined. The BEST thing would be to get the car back and start making payments. Every month they "call and harass him" is another 5 points off his credit score. Unless they count that as a REPO by now, and, well, let's just say that he won't have a Platinum Mastercard without an anuual fee for a while.

Edna:
Oh my god what happen to reality it is gone and greed has taken over on these people.

Reality is making a promise and keeping it. Otherwise, there is a severe penalty. Reality IS HAPPENING right now, and you're missing it because your "little angel" violated HIS OWN credit, and you're mad because "someone didn't stop him". Well, he's YOUR son...??

Chrysler's Greed? How about your SON'S GREED? My first car at 18 was $900.00, and a piece of crap it was! MY parents taught me to live within my means. YOU let him go and lease a car. What 18 year old can't do the math to figure out that he can't afford a 20K lease? What did he get, a Hummer? BMW? Mercedes? Ahhh... a sports car!

Edna:
God will make them answer for all the wrong things they have done to our children.

What, car salesmen DOING THEIR JOBS by selling cars? By god, they're hellbound for sure!

"Our children"? Yeah.. YOUR CHILD.

Here's a few things your son forgot to consider:

Cost of the car
VALUE of the car
Return investment
Blue Book value
Insurance
Gas
Maintenance
Interest Fees

And now might WANT to consider:

Damanged credit
Repayment
Low score
Repo/broken agreement

A car dealership is there to SELL CARS, not worry about your feelings or your life's story on why you SHOULDN'T have a car.

Only a LOSER salesman would tell people, "Nah, this ain't right for you. Go somewhere else, think about it, and come back". If it wasn't Chrysler, it'd be the guy across the street. The only factor that would have remained consistent was YOUR SON bit off more than he could chew.

A great life lesson indeed. Don't ruin it for your son by letting him run away from his mistake.

To avoid the parents having any responsiblity in raising their children at all?

My parents taught me about scams, and to read every document (no matter how long) before I sign it.

Also they told me that in high pressure instances (where they are telling you not to read the documents, just sign) To WALK OUT!

No matter how much I want something I know to read through everything, BEFORE making a commitment, and it was my PARENTS who taught me this.

Had it been a class in high school, I probably wouldn't have cared, since I didn't care much about most of my classes in HS, still don't. But my parents teaching will last for a lifetime.

Also to the OP, (I'm sorry but this may sound rude.) You have to allow him to make his own mistakes and learn from them. Not learn how to blame other's for his problems. He signed the contract and the problem is his. Maybe he can set up a payment plan for the additional money.

He has no one to blame but HIMSELF.

Yet here you are Mommy to the rescue, blaming the company who financed him.

what you should say to your son is, you made a mistake purchasing this car and now you will have to pay for it.

Having said that, it's a shame that the high schools don't at least teach seniors about the scams that await them out in the adult world. They have classes on a lot of useless subjects that will be forgotten as soon as they're out of school, but they neglect some really important stuff that can affect them negatively for years, like taking care of their credit, car leasing, credit cards, child support laws, cell phone bills, etc. Parents are outnumbered by the slick con-men.

Having said that, it's a shame that the high schools don't at least teach seniors about the scams that await them out in the adult world. They have classes on a lot of useless subjects that will be forgotten as soon as they're out of school, but they neglect some really important stuff that can affect them negatively for years, like taking care of their credit, car leasing, credit cards, child support laws, cell phone bills, etc. Parents are outnumbered by the slick con-men.

Having said that, it's a shame that the high schools don't at least teach seniors about the scams that await them out in the adult world. They have classes on a lot of useless subjects that will be forgotten as soon as they're out of school, but they neglect some really important stuff that can affect them negatively for years, like taking care of their credit, car leasing, credit cards, child support laws, cell phone bills, etc. Parents are outnumbered by the slick con-men.

Having said that, it's a shame that the high schools don't at least teach seniors about the scams that await them out in the adult world. They have classes on a lot of useless subjects that will be forgotten as soon as they're out of school, but they neglect some really important stuff that can affect them negatively for years, like taking care of their credit, car leasing, credit cards, child support laws, cell phone bills, etc. Parents are outnumbered by the slick con-men.

If your son signed something he didn't understand, there are several things to blame. A)at 18, he's an adult, if he doesn't know how to handle his finances, you need to teach him. B)the dealership signed him to that deal, not the bank. C) the bank just funded the deal.

If they sold the repo'd vehicle for 20K, and say he still owes 13K, ask yourself, was the original total of payments plus residual value 33K? Giving the vehicle back does not free you from the money owed. The bank(Chrysler Financial) is not allowed by law to deny your son a loan because he is 18 and they think he isn't old enough to handle the responsibilities.

They have to approve what his credit qualifies him for. Honestly, not to be too rude, but in this day and age of consumer information being readily available (edmunds.com, consumer reports, TV News etc) I find it ridiculous for you to blame anyone else for this situation and for your son not knowing how to buy or lease a car.