In May I purchased a car from Jeremy Franklin Suzuki in Kansas City, MO. Which is financed by Triad Financial. Yes, I admit I am credit challanged. I am not blaming anyone for this. What concerns me is the relationship between the car dealers and finance companies such as Triad.
Due to unforeseen financial circumstances, on January 2nd I called Triad to advise them I could not afford the monthly payment of $400.00. I was asked if I could sell the car. My first response was "What do you think? Do you think I can find someone as stupid as me to buy this car for what I owe on it?" The rep did not respond. I ask for a voluntary repossession. I was advised I could do a voluntary repossession but it would impact my credit rating. I requested a voluntary repossession knowing how it would impact my credit rating. The rep advised me someone would contact me to make arrangements to pick up the car.
A week passed (all the while I am getting 20-30 calls a day since my payment was due on the 4th but since they called during business hours I could not answer my phone). I called Triad to let them know I had not heard from anyone about retrieving the car. I was told by this rep that voluntary repossession usually takes 30-45 days to be processed so it would be sometime in February before I would be contacted by someone to retrieve the car.in the meantime, I would still get calls daily because I had not made my January payment.
On occassion I would answer the phone when they called after work. Most of the time they would chuckle after reading the notes on my account but would reiterate that the calls would continue until my January payment was made or the car was retrieved.
The third week of January I answered the call on my way home from work. After reading the notes on my account the rep asked if I had ever spoken with a supervisor. I replied that I had not. It was at this time I was advised I would have to speak with a Supervisor before the volutary repossession process would even begin. I was floored!
I spoke with the Supervisor. Here is the kicker; this is where I am advised the car would be repossed, sold at auction, and I would still owe the balance above what the car sold for at auction. No where was I ever advised of this stipulation. The supervisor said he could go ahead and start the process but if I wanted to think about it he would call me next week and discuss some options such as adding the January and February payments to the end of my loan to give me sometime to recoup. I said 'ok'.
One thing I need to add is out of all the calls I had received, maybe 3 or 4 times an automated VM was left on my phone in Spanish.
January 31st-I answer the phone when they call. I ask the rep to review my notes. She chuckles and once again I am told I would continue to receive the calls until my January payment was made. I then tell her I was supposed to get a call from the Supervisor to discuss options. She then tells me that nothing has been started on the voluntary repossession, that it has just been sitting there. I asked to speak with a Supervisor to discuss my options. She puts me on hold, comes back and tells me there is no Supervisor available. She said she would send him an email to call me.
February 2nd-Still getting 10-20 calls a day. Answered the phone after work. I again asked to speak with a Supervisor. I am put on hold again. This time, the rep comes back and says she is going to get me the original Supervisor I spoke with. She puts me on hold again. She comes back and says he will have to call me back.
Today is February 4th. Today is the due date for my monthly payment. What is going to happen now? Will my status change from voluntary repossession to involuntary repossession since I will soon be 2 months in arrears?
I admit, I should have never have purchased this car. I should have given more thought to this purchase. I should have asked more questions. It did not help my situation much that my old car broke down on the way to the car dealership (30 miles from my home). I guess I am just screwed.
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