Toyota Financial Services Toyota-No scrupples and horrible collection polices for repo, Internet
Have had car loans with Toyota since 1994 with a total of three cars. Never missed a payment. Owned car with another person and that person lost their job. We told Toyota this, updated the records with our new address because if the address on record doesnt match our bank account address then payments wont go through. We recieved our bills at the new address for months. they claim they didnt know our new address. Complete lie. If they didnt have our new address then the bank payment would have rejected. Everything has to match.
Fell behind on payments by 90 days and they sent a bill to the new address. A bill. Not a notice. I paid them 400.00 via mailed check that they cashed on 7/23/12. This brought me under 90 days. Next payment was being made two weeks later that would have brought it under 30 days. They repo'd the car yesterday, 8/2/12 at my work place. Even though it was under 90 days. I called Toyota and they claimed no payment and were plain rude. I had to fax them my bank account statement showing them they cashed the check and they said yes they have it but it was too late.
I said they cashed it on 7/23 and they repo'd my car on 8/2 so how is that too late? Now they claim I have to pay repo fees and make the account current and then they will apply the 400.00 they have on "hold" to future payments once the account is current. What??? Its not on hold-they cashed it. They have my money. Plus they wont tell me what I now owe until I get a letter in 3-5 days. A certified letter now? Not when they are going to take a car? They sent no repo letter, no phone call they were going to repo...nothing. I has no idea that my 400.00 didnt matter or wasnt being applied.
How can they do that? I sent in my payment thinking I was doing the right thing and that my account was ok. How can anyone do that? How can they cash a check and not apply it to the account and repo my car for being 90 days past due when the 400.00 payment would have brought it under 90 days? How is this legal? I would have better off crashing the car into a tree and totalling it out since I have gap insurance. then I would have rid of the car and rid of Toyota. What a terrible business practice.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Solstice
Shillington,Pennsylvania,
United States of America
response to why they repo'd the car
#3Author of original report
Fri, August 03, 2012
You have it incorrect. They told me I had not made a payment since May, I said no I did and I had to PROVE to them I had paid and then they "found" my payment. They came back and said well yes we have it and it would have brought the account out of repo but its too late because the repo person has your car already so we cant do anything. I told them yes he took it an hour ago but you had the money a week ago. He came onto a private property parking lot that is not open to the public, drove around, went into the glove box as I left the car unlocked. The area is very safe and a private security guarded lot. He strong armed a young security guard threatening to call the police if he didnt let him onto the property, then went into the car, took the registration out and came looking for me in the main office. He couldnt fit his truck into the private parking garage so he needed me. I had no clue t what was going on since I knew my check had been cashed and never went through this ever before in my life. I voluntarily gave him the key because he threatened to call the police and threatened me with jail? I find out later he cant do that and the police wouldnt have enforced a civil matter so he strong armed me on private property knowing i wasnt wise to this sort of thing. I asked him to please call toyota to verify my payment and he refused to do that knowing I was 35 miles from home and no way to get home. He also wouldnt let me take my daily medicine or any belongings out of the car. So that is ethical?
Toyota didnt take the time to look at my 16 of history of three good car loans all paid in full and see that hey she has fallen on hard times in the last year but has always caught herself up. No they didnt and they treated me like I had never done business with them before. So please dont tell me this "legal" transaction was ethical and good business practice because it isnt or when you call you are told you havent made a payment when you did. In today's economy with so many people out of work, I would think toyota would say to themselves "maybe we should try to help people and call them or send them a letter". Morgate companies do it all the time. they have come to realize people are not in good shape and we need to work with them to save their houses and our business. Yet Toyota doesnt even seem to know what is happening and say hey good people who have never had credit issues are effected by mass unemployment tso lets try to make a judgement call based on a persons years of history and the fact they are trying to pay. They are operating black and white in a world of gray. Practices that may have been the norm 5 years ago when someone not making payments probably never will can not be applied in today. Cut their losses?
I have had this 3rd toyota for 4 years now and had never missed a payment until the layoff of my partner 8 months ago. The original loan was well over 18k and at 11k they cant say to themselves, clearly they wish to stay with us so lets try to work with them. I hope you never run into an unemployment issue and fall onto difficult times my friend because you will not be treated kindly.
IamGood
Fort Worth,Texas,
USA
simple explanation why toyota repo'd car
#3General Comment
Thu, August 02, 2012
At your own admission you were over 90 days late as of 7/22/2012. You dont say the exact number of days, but Over 90 days. That is a BIG Red Flag to a auto finance company.
On 7/23/2012 they got a partial payment, but you were still over 30 days, but under 90 days. again you dont specify how many days late you were when the payment arrived on 7/23. You could have been between 31 days late and 89 days late. Again this is still a red flag.
You must have told Toyota you were paying again on 8/6/2012, and you said this would have made you under 30 days late, but how much under 30 days late. This could have been 1 day late to 29 days late. When did you relay this information to Toyota that you were going to pay on the 6th?
After they received the underpayment on the 22nd, they made the decsion to hold the payment you made in a limbo account until they spoke to you about the other arrangements.
Perhaps they did not like the payment arrangements, and decided since you were not going to bring the account current they decided to cut their losses, and repo the car. this would have been true especially if the payment you were going to make on the 6th would have left you close to 30 days late, and you then told them you would not pay for another month (9/6/2012).
Sorry, it was a legal, and ethical repo.