A had the misfortunate experience of being dumb enough to buy not one but two cars over the course or 3 years from Car-lotta Credit. The first call I bought was in when I had purchased a 1994 Dodge Intrepid SE from them. I went there because I had a hard time getting a car loan due to the fact that I never had any loans before and a limited credit history. They would not give me a 4 year loan and said the only thing I could qualify for was a 2-yr loan at 21% interest. So stupidly I agreed.
Some time down the road, I started noticing things about the car that made me suspicious. I had noticed chalk markings around the front header panel area - an indication that some body parts were replaced, which means the car was involved in an accident. There was some fine paint overspray around the edges of the driving light lens and in a few other small spots. The drivers door would never seal properly - you could hear the wind rushing by and you can see that when the door was closed, it was not properly shaped, meaning that the door hinges and/or frame was out of alignment.
I actually had something go wrong with the car's suspension, which made it dangerous to drive. The problem was something that just did not happen over night and should have been noticeable when the dealer did the yearly inspection on the car, which was done about a week before I bought the car. So basically they pass the inspection on their vehichles, whether or not they truely would pass, just so that they can be sold.
The dealer always insisted that the car wasn't bought from an auction, as many cars that are fixed after accidents wind up.
Eventually I had many severe problems with that car and was forced to trade it in with only $1500 left on the loan. They gave me $1800 for a car that I paid $6000 for 18-months earlier, even though the car had a blue book value of $4500.
When I bought that car I was told that I would help rebuild my credit and I could get into a 4-yr loan and newer car. So in I decided on a 2000 Ford Focus with 83,000 miles. They only offered me a 18-month loan at 18% with payments bi-weekly.
I guess to them I was not a good credit person even though I had always made my payments in advance and paid more each time on the payment than the normal monthly amount that was due. They would not sell me anything with less mileage on it because the couldn't give me 4-yr financing.
Again they said nothing was wrong with the car. Yet this car also shows signs that it had some repainting done to it.
They trick people into thinging that they will help restore your credit, but it would take about 10 years of constant financing with them to at least get to the point of what a normal interest rate and terms would be for a car loan.
Every once in a while I go to their car lot and now I notice all of the little things wrong with the cars there, which indicate signs of repair after accidents.
In April, my wife was hospitalized with heart problems. Because of this, I did not make my full payment on time because of lossing time from work due to being at the hospital every day. The one day, I had gotten home from work and had gone down to the end of the yard and entered my large storage shed to get something. While I was in the shed, "Rosie" showed up at my house and felt free to open my back gate and enter my yard and come up behind me while I was in the shed, which started the heck out of me. She came there because she needed $40 that I was short on my car payment. I tried to file a complaint with the dealership about her trespassing on my property, but they did nothing about it.
This past summer, my employer of several years, did massive cut-back and I had lost my job. I had called them right away to explain the situation. I made payment on the car weekly, because it is easier than making a monthly payment. I had fallen behind by 1/4 of a monthly payment ($77).
Every day they had their coolection agent "Rosie" call my house, sometimes 3-times a day, regarding the $77. On Sept 13th they had someone waiting outside my house all day in a SUV, according to neighbors that had noticed the unfamiliar vehicle. When we returned home later that evening, they repossed the car as soon as I closed my front house door.
They gave no advance notification, as required in the loan contract that I signed with them. When I called them the next day, they were very nasty on the phone with me. They said that they were not required to notify me that the car was getting repossed. They actually argued about this, saying that there is no such thing in the contract. That same day, they mailed me out a letter stating that they planned to reposses the car (which they had already done) and the day after, they send out the official notice of reposession by certified mail.
In the meantime, the only way they would let me have my car back was to make one full monthly payment up front, even though I was only $77 behind. They would not let me get my important medications that I had accidently left in the car the night it was taken. I was told that I was not entitled to anything, including the medicine, until they recieved $308 from me.
Since then, they have been constantly nasty with me. I still pay them weekly, but yet if I miss a week, they call up, hounding me for a payment, even though they get their full anount from me monthly. My payments are due every other week. I am paying them weekly to make it easier on myself. If I miss a week, my normal payment isnt due until the following week. Yet, they expect me to make that weekly payment, even though I'm on a bi-weekly payment schedule.
I would seriously advise people to reconsider when buying a car from there. They are only nice to you until you sign that loan paperwork. Even trying to get work done from them under warranty is next to impossible. They insist their is nothing wrong with their cars.
I definately would never recomend anyone every going there for any type of vehicle.
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