Robert
Irvine,#2Consumer Comment
Fri, February 11, 2011
Oh where to begin, there is just so much here let's just hit the "highlights".
Santander Consumer USA took over our auto loan from CitiFinancial last July, without any notice and without our consent.
- Guess what..they DON'T need your consent.
Shortly after, we voluntarily surrendered the vehicle,
- It doesn't matter if you turn it in or they come and get it..it is still a Repo and as such has the exact same consequences.
a 2008 Ford F-1 50 SuperCrew with a 6.5 foot bed, equipped with a V8 and a towing package, a custom cap added at our expense, and running boards that were also added at our expense.
- Does one really have to wonder why you were having trouble making your payments?
Unless you are going to try and claim that as a salesman you were REQUIRED to have this, one must also really wonder what exactly were you towing?
I received a letter from Santander stating they had sold the vehicle at auction for $14,315,50, leaving us with a "deficiency balance" of $6,979.78.....First of all, the Blue Book value of the vehicle, equipped as it is, in good condition, and with the mileage it has, is $19,305, which is much closer to the amount we still owe on the vehicle. It seems clear to me that Santander did not make a good faith effort to sell the vehicle for its real value, but instead they (most likely) made a "sweetheart deal" with someone to give them a vehicle for $5000-$6000 less than its worth.
- Actually at auction you were very lucky that they got 14K on a car valued at 19K. Most of the time they get 25%-50% of the blue book value, in this case they got around 75% of the value for it. You are not that special to where they intentionally sold the car for less than they could have gotten just to "screw you". They are a business and if they could get even an extra $500 they would because that is cash in hand. Where it is going to be a lot harder to try and collect that same $500 from you.
Secondly, since we surrendered the vehicle because we could not make monthly payments, how in the world is Santander expecting us to make what constitutes approximately a year of payments on this vehicle we no longer have?
- Because the legal agreement you signed when you got the loan stated that you are responsible for the loan balance regardless of if you have the car or not.
this is the first one that I have felt a need to complain about. Santander Consumer USA is, as far as I am concerned, a despicable, predatory agency, and I pray that I never have any dealings with them again.
- So you have had cars reposessed before and they treated you differently? Well don't get your hopes up in not having to deal with them anymore. Because if you don't pay the amount owed you can almost guarantee that you will be sued by them. And if you think you will be able to prove your case in court to show how bad they are..you will have a very bad shock coming to you.
Now you may think that this is too rough. But I have news for you this is exactly what would happen if you don't make your payments with ANY fianance company.