In May my younger sister bought a Mitsubishi Galante from Southlake Mitsubishi (they are no longer in business or became Kia Atlanta South), I liked the car and my fiancee decided that we would buy us one if the price and payment were in our price range.
So in June I went down to Southlake Mitsubishi and spoke with a gentleman and he found a 2002 Galante that I liked. I called My fiancee and was on the phone with him almost the whole time as I was told the numbers and what the payments would be. We decided that we would be able to afford the payments and preceded with the paperwork.
I was taken into the room with the loan officer. She explained I was being given the Diamond Advantage and that my lien holder was Mitsubishi Motor Credit. At this point I asked several questions. Questions like: Is this a lease or would I be purchasing the vehicle?
At what point in time if any may I trade the car in?
What happens to any remaining balance on the car if I do trade it in? If I chose to keep the car would my payments go up? Your basic information questions.
I got the answers I guess you want to hear. You are buying the vehicle, anytime within a five year period, Any additional would be obsorbed by the company if it was traded in on a new vehicle, and the payments would not go up the remianing two years left to pay.
The salesman was even so kind as to follow me to my fiancee's work to get him to sign the papers as he worked on the north side and was unable to leave his job to sign them. Me and my fiancee were impressed feeling that he went out of his way to do this.
When it came time for my first payment to come due I had yet to receive a payment book or statement so I called the 800 number. When you first call it asked for your social or account number, upon putting in my social I would that they had no record of it.
After some time I reached a real person that said my social was not the one they had on file, but my fiancee's was correct. I told them I had not recieved anything about my payment and needed to know an address and account number, and inquired on what I needed to do to correct my social (that was all them as me and my fiancee went through the paper wprk with a fine tooth comb). They gave me the needed information and said I had to fax proof of my social.
Everything was fine until I get this call in November from a company called SST saying I needed to contact them about a important paper. When I called the number guess what I heard, "Thank you for calling Mitsubishi Motors". I had no idea what was going on so I hung up. They called the next day when I was home and I answered they phone. The man on the phone said SST had bought my account from MMCA. I asked why I was not notified and he said the lein company by law did not have to notifiy the account holders. He also onformed me that my car payment was 5 days late. No not five days after the 10 that they say on the statement, but 5 days from the actual due date.
I informed him the paymenmt was in the mail, gave him the check number and amount, and he said he weanted to do a payment over the phone, he got rude and I took offense and hung up. After that day if the payment was ever as much as 1 day late I got a call.
In August I had to go top surgery and called Mitsubishi (by this time I was used to getting transferred to SST) I knew I was 1 month behind as I had to take a lot of time off work due to medical reasons, I borrowed what I needed to catch up[ the payments and let them know that I may be late on October as I was going to be out of work and is there some way that I can have the payment sent to the rear of the loan. I was told no problem. I assumed that it had been taken care of untill in Febraury I woke up to a truck reprocessing my car. I had to take all the money i had at the time plus borrow some as they said I was three months behind. The only payment I missed was October, and I thought that was all taken care of.
Now listen to this, remember my sister had bnought her car in May, well she went to do the trade in and all they were going to give her was 1500.00 on the car. She decided to keep the stupid thing (as she calls it) and trade it in when it is competely paid off. Last month she was in an accident and the insurance compant totaled her Galante, the value of her car was 4500.00, she still owes Mitsubishi 3200.00 as the remianing balance on the car was 7700.00.
Now someone please tell me where is all this is a diamond advantage. Or even where the advantage is. I talked to a Nissan Dealer where my son bought his truck and he said the best thing to do is just let the car go back as a repo and wait a few years and start new, because the way the we (all Mitsubishi customers) we done, we are basically out of luck. Our vehicles are not worth what we have left owing on them and it would work out to our disadvantage.
Unless someone comes to help I am going to chalk this up to a lesson well learned.
Brenda
In the same boat
Gainsville, Georgia
U.S.A.
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