I leased a car from American Honda Finance and the car went into default on both insurance and two car payments. I called them up to discuss my account balance, and the penalties for having the car repossessed. I got into a heated debate with my representative, and I was told that I could not afford the car (among other unprofessional things) and it would be repossessed as soon as possible because i was already defaulted.
I asked to speak to the supervisor of my representative, instead of connecting me to her supervisor, the rep hung up on me. I called right back, and got a different representative. I wanted to speak to a supervisor, as I was very upset. The new rep was VERY nice and he informed me that he would give me 24 hours to pay the money i owed and insure the vehicle. I did both within the time frame. However, the first rep I had went on and had my car repossessed anyway, one day after I had paid the defaulted amount and insured the car, both in full.
The repossession man told me that he had been informed 4 hours prior to come and repossess the car, that the order had just been put in. He also let me know that repossession men have 24 hours to find a vehicle to get paid. So I know that the rep had the car repossessed out of anger, because the car was no longer in default by the time the order for repossession went in and by the time repo man came to get the car, and he told me that he had JUST recieved the order.
The car went to auction about 45 days later (April 13th), I was NOT informed of this in ANY way, by mail or by telephone. I am 100% in the dark about the status of ANY happenings with the vehicle once it was repossessed. I called up Honda to check the status of my account and was briefly told this by a representative, who said that the information was mailed to me on the 23rd of April. To date, I still have not heard from Honda concerning this car.
I was also told that the loan amount I had was for 16,000.00 (for a lease. The car is worth 16,000.00 exactly). I paid off 5,000.00 worth of payments, so my loan was then about 12,000.00 (1,000 or so went to interest). The car sold for 10,900.00 at the auction. I was told by the representative BEFORE my car was repoed that I owed the DIFFERENCE between my current loan amount, the amount the vehicle sold for, and any fees.
I believe that I owe no more than 2,000.00 to 3,000.00 for this car, as it sold for 10,900.00. They are saying that I owe them 8,000.00, but they have not provided an explination. Honda has horrible customer service, and their leases are RIPOFFS. I leased this car without any knowledge of what I was signing (typical of scheming car salesmen and uneducated consumers).
I am taking responsibility for me defaulting and even signing such a ripoff lease agreement, however I would like for other people to know that Honda leases are a big scheme to make more money. I leased a 2005 Civic for 16,000.00 over 4 years. The price of the car was 15,900.00! So in all actuality, I would have brought the car, but still had to return it after the 4 year lease was up. Then they said after i invested the 16,000.00, I could have purchased it for an additional 8,000.00 (The estimated value of the car in 4 years)! That is 24,000.00 for a 15,900.00 car!
What a huge ripoff! I suggest that anyone getting into a lease NOT do it, ESPECIALLY WITH AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE. It's a HUGE waste of money and a HUGE ripoff. They have horrible, unprofessionalm uncourteous service. Better late than never to learn this lesson, but I am trying to save someone else the drama and financial stress! I am taking Honda to court for a number of reasons. I'm not sure if I will win or not, but it's worth a try.
This company has HORRIBLE service, the only thing going for them is their cars. I would rather get a less desirable/dependable car and a rep that has excellent people skills than a great car and a customer service rep that tells me I cannot afford "her" product so she suggests that I just let her take "her" car back.
T
jc, New Jersey
U.S.A.
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