My parents were loyal Chrysler customers for 40 years. After dad died in 1990, mom continued to purchase their vehicles. She never missed a payment. Even as a multi car household, all bills were paid and loans paid up in full. Mom and I had clean licenses up until the time our world collapsed on us courtesy of Chrysler Financial and the dealership.
Mom and I moved and stayed with Chrysler vehicles. We got a used car from Central Ave Chrysler Jeep, Inc. At 1839 Central Ave, Yonkers, NY 10710 in early 2000's. When that was paid up, we traded it in for a 3 year lease after putting down an additional 7 hundred dollars.
After 18 months and only 400 miles on the vehicle, an unusual event occurred. While driving the leased 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser to the service dept of the Central Ave dealership, mom told me a strong wind blew an object into the front of the car, dismantling the license plate.
When the car was driven out of the service area, she noticed the plate missing. She commented on it. The man said to her "it was like that when you brought it in". I take exception to this statement. First of all, I looked at a picture of a PT Cruiser. It has two "holes" where the plate can be screwed in. But, it seems that this particular car did not come with this feature. The plate had to be screwed into an "attachment" that mom said they put on when we obtained the car. If this is true, and the car was in the service dept, why didn't they tell mom that the front needed to be fixed so she could get a replacement fixture that the new plate could be screwed into.
Either way, they did not advise her to fix it right away, nor did they tell her that it is illegal to drive with no front plate in the State of NY. Looking at the invoice for that morning, there isn't one mention of the missing plate or whatever was needed to fix it. Mom is in her late 80's and was standing several feet from their office.in order to get new plates, not only would she need the front repaired, but she would need two documents from Chrysler Financial, that being a Power of Attorney and Title. I didn't find this out until later on.
When she got home I called Allstate Insurance Company to report an accident. I was told that it was fine, that it's not against the law to drive with one plate, and all is well. This is a state to state thing, and it got more confusing. I made calls to the dealership and was told to "get the plates and bring them here and we will put them on for you". Driving with no plates so we can get impounded by the police?
That is exactly what happened. I called the dealership before we went to DMV. We had to wait 3 hours for CF to fax over the documents. A woman, Gina Angst, who has been in touch with the attorney general of our state regarding this, stated that they "never received the fax ". I could rebute that and I did. My cell phone company provided me with the dates and times that I attempted to call CF and the dealership for help while we were stranded in the DMV. We could not obtain new license plates.
I did call CF from the phone behind the desk since it was embarrassingly apparent that two women were in serious trouble and needed more time from the workers. We never received the documentation needed to get the plates. Ms. Angst (phone 267-308-7243) located at the PO Box 950, Chalfont, PA 18914 wrote a letter to the AG's office stating that I am "misinformed" about license plate laws in our state and that they never received a fax #, as I stated above. She also said that the documents were sent in a timely manner.
Mom and I were stopped almost immediately after leaving the DMV by a traffic cop. I tried to explain that I was taking the vehicle to the dealership but the exchange of information led me to believe that if I showed any attempt to stop the impounding, I would be arrested or brought to the nearest hospital forcibly. My elderly mom didn't look well and I forgot to remove the EZY pass and the cop didn't remind us as we were surrounded by an ESU truck who towed our car to a police impound lot.
I wrote faxes, called the Chrysler hotline, wrote, called and faxed their Resolution Dept and was met with rudeness and meanness. Some of the customer service workers hung up on me. All I wanted was for them to get the documents to us overnight so we wouldn't have a high impound bill. I had just made my montly payment when this happened. We were never late with a payment. We never were in a situation like this, and never knew anyone in a situation like this. Since we are both on fixed incomes - mom is on pension & S.S. And I am on compensation, we could not pay for the high tab of the housing of the car in the police impound lot. When the documents finally arrived, I begged Chrysler, Mr. Matthew Anselmo at 913-851-6400 to let me continue with the lease and pay them the impound fees every month until they were paid in full. I was told "no way". The car was allegedly taken from the police impound lot on August 15. That is the date Gina Angst stated in her letter to the AG. But the truth is, the car was removed on August 11th and exited the Yonkers Toll Plaza which was very close to the impound lot. The EZY pass transaction indicated the vehicle, whether attached to a tow truck or not, was headed south on the Saw Mill River Parkway and to the destination in Bohemia, where cars are taken after repo and prepared for auction and subsequent sale. At this point, a lot of confusion took place.
We received a "Notice After Repossession or Voluntary Surrender Motor Vehicle Lease". It said the vehicle would be offered for sale beginning on September 5. It also said we have a right to reinstate the lease. It stated that we have to pay a certain amount to reinstate and pay by September 4. To the right is a column listing payments that one might owe. The columns on our papers were all zeros. Therefore, we did have a right to reinstate the lease. As for all the impound fees, once again, I offered in good faith to pay them off. The address in Bohemia, NY 11716 is 10 Logrande Crt.
There is another address for Chrysler Financial. It is PO Box 25952 in Shawnee Mission, KS 66225 and it is on this document. The number is 866-890-3608, this is listed on the document and is actually the redemption dept. I could not afford a lawyer to go through this matter. I knew something was very wrong. I did pay for a consultation and I was told that I needed to find out the date the car was sold and if we were going to be hit with deficiency costs. I called the Deficiency dept several weeks ago. They are located in jacksonville, Florida at 866-730-4369. I called to find out the truth. The customer service person told me they owed me no explanations. I was told that they can take their property any time they want.
I was told they can keep anything that is in the car. I told him that property of New York State (EZY pass) was taken and that it should not have been taken or at least returned to me. I had a lot of trouble getting the $30 back that I had in there and it cost $23 to deactivate. Finally, after a heated conversation, the man showed some conscience and told me that the car went to auction on August 23 and was sold very quickly. They were not supposed to sell this car until September 5. We had a right to reinstate the lease. The lawyer I consulted wouldn't do anything until I gave him over a thousand dollars. I did not have that to give him. I relied on the attorney general and I had to push to get them to look at the problem again. As a result of what has happened, our insurance cannot be reinstated except at a very high rate.
It was automatically cancelled when the registration expired due to the loss of the plate, and the rates now (I've gotten quotes from 3 companies) are doubled and nearly tripled). We cannot get a lease either. We were only able to get one the last time because we did a trade in plus $700 cash. The car was for medical purposes, and I needed it to drive to another county to see a specialist about a pre cancerous condition that needs ultrasounds every few months. Public transportation is out of the question for reasons I cannot go into here. There are health problems that mom and I have. We are trying to get another lease but we can't.
We were in good standing with Dailmer Chrysler Financial, making payments on time, keeping the car in good condition and making our insurance payments on time. None of this would have happened if the front plate was secured on properly; if the documents had been gotten to us (all the times I called the dealership I was never even told about these documents) and we had been dealt with and treated like human beings rather than criminals.
I paid any and all tickets associated with this mess and some were dismissed. I tried to reach someone high up in the company but it was impossible. I contacted a reporter in Motor City who had done a long article on Dailmer Chrysler Financial. I told him "no publicity" just a name of someone who can help me straighten this out. His answer: "I can't help you". As you can see, we need the car for medical purposes, and also so I can do the work that I do (self employed craft person and I do shows several times a year). It's Christmas and I am having difficulty getting my merchandise out there. With the car, I could go to a shopping center when I was feeling OK, and spend about an hour there and then leave. With the car, I could leave the craft fairs and Christmas gift bazaars easily. The bad part is I had to stop going to physical therapy which I needed twice a week. I am trying to resolve this and have left messages for Gina Angst to please make this right, please say this entire thing was a big mistake and please help us get back into the leasing situation we were in before.
I will gladly pay you for the impound fees. It will only take a few months to get them paid, at the most, 6 months. If someone can help, I would so much appreciate it. Sometimes I feel so upset I call these parties and I say "look, I don't have a car. I can't get one. Please stop delaying your resolving this". Ms. Angst had what she needed the first time - a signed release from my mother. But she still didn't get back to the AG. It was weeks and weeks.
Finally I had to fax over the signed release to the AG's office. That's when she wrote a vague, inconsistent letter filled with no tangible information like the exact date the car was sold. They are playing around with people's heads, people's lives, people's pocketbooks... And are getting away with it. Is there anyone out there who knows of a class action lawsuit or who can find an honest person in this company who has enough power to look into this and see what a "travesty" it is.
BC
Yonkers, New York
U.S.A.
0 comments