So I bought my 2001 Saturn L-100/200/300??? Series from DriveTime, supposedly the greatest and easiest going car dealership out there for people who didn't have the credit score they wanted and didn't have the car they wanted and DriveTime could help. Yeah right, can you say SCAM!!! So I put $2500 down, DOWN!!! Walked out with a nice car, I thought! The a/c didn't work, the brake lights didn't work, oh yeah and to top it all off, they didn't know if it was a L-100 L-200 or an L-300, so they guessed, and they were wrong on my paperwork when they stated it was an L-200 cause none of the L-200 parts fit my car!!!
So then things just get so much better, after a year of making them payment, I went to go trade it in at the Saturn dealership and they wouldn't do it because my interest rate was 25%, and I owed too much!!! I too had the $400 a month contract, which after paying on time and more than my payment was, I still owed over $8000. This took me by surpise considering I bout the car at $9000 and the interest should have only been $3000 more and I had paid on my account more than was expected. Granted they did extend 2 of my payments, but I still had to pay 2 $15 fees to extend each payment, plus the interest, plus they added more interest for extending my payment.
So now here it is almost had the car 2 years, and my timing jumped and blew my engine, which my mechanic had a weird look on his face when he tested my engine and said "Your timing shouldn't have gone till 120,000 for a Saturn and you only have 90,000 miles on the car. My mechanic was going to charge me $1000 out the door, parts and labor with an engine that had only 34,000 miles on it. DriveTime said we can help you, tow it in and we will look at it and get you all straight. They called me back a few days later and told me they needed $1000 down and probably about another $1000 to fix it! I was like, hell for that I could have let my mechanic fix it and save myself the money. So since I didn't have a car, I was having to pay people (cabs, buses, and friends) to take me to and from work, which pretty much ate up my car payment money, so I stopped paying them. I think they are repossesing the car, but it's at their shop anyways, so I really don't care. What was funnnier is when I rode the bus, you wouldn't believe how many people were in my same position because of DriveTime. I was shocked!
I would say probably 7 people out of riding the bus for 3 weeks were in my position due to the scam DriveTime pulls. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone and I will never go to them again.infact, I have purchased a hoopty ride (an older car that takes you to and from) for $2000 that runs better and I trust more than my brand new Saturn I bought from DriveTime.
Oh one more thing, if you ever take your car to their "shop" to be fixed... They don't fix anything. They just stand there, look at it, maybe even touch it with their finger and give your car back. I took mine in before the warranty was up to have the brake lights and a/c fixed. They supposedly put in new brake light components and a new compressor for the a/c. Neither worked after I got the car back and they had it for like 2 weeks! The brake light was a simple connector in the component itself that I fixed with some tape and the a/c was just missing a fuse in the fuse box under the hood. Go figure their "high tech" mechanics couldn't figure that one out. Hell, I figured those out on my own and I barely know anything about brake light components and a/c's. Guess it goes to show, just cause it looks good, doesn't mean it is good.
I now am the proud owner of a 95 Mitsubishi Mirage, yes a Mirage... An old Mirage but it runs great and probably would out do my Saturn! Now if I could get DriveTime to stop calling my job, cell, and family 18 times a day and leaving the rudest messages all over the place. They ever tried to have a guy call from "Corporate", like it was going to make me pick up my phone and try to pay them! Ha, stick it on my credit report, it'll be off in 7 years... I can deal with that.
Sara
Lake Mary, Florida
U.S.A.
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