Consumer complaint received 2019-05-28
Company: TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORPORATION
State: NV
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease
Sub-issue: High-pressure sales tactics

Complaint:
I would like to report XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX for what I think seems to be an unfair treatment towards me and my mother. 

On XX/XX/2019, around XXXX, I visited XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX asking permission to gain CCC ( Care, Custody, and Control ) of my mom 's car as I will be driving it and paying for the auto insurance. I asked them per the suggestion of XXXX to ask the lender first. Since I intend to drive it to XXXX, Florida, where Ill do my PhD studies, I asked whether it is also possible to register the car under my name with the DMV. My sole intent was to help my mother as shes old without much income. She had also had some issues with the same dealership in the past which I will narrate later. However, during the whole process, I feel like they did not even bother understanding the situation. They jumped right into recommending that I trade the car and sign for a new one. They even told me that the price is going to be the same for a better car given my credit score. 

Trying to be polite, I considered listening to what they have to say. They borrowed my car keys for appraisal. That was the last time I got a hold of my car keys the sales representative seemed to have prevented me of going to the car by myself even if I asked for the keys three times. He always escorted me. After they looked at my car, the salesperson did not even bother explaining what the numbers are during the appraisal. To add, it even seemed like the whole time I was there the conversations I had with the sales representative was rather quick and lacked explanation. As I thought they close around XXXX, I thought this was the reason why the sales representative was running around most of the time. He never fully sat down and explain things thoroughly. I will explain more of this in a bit, but what I want to emphasize is that the salesperson made it seem like that the only option I have in order to accomplish my goal of relieving my mother with her financial burden was to purchase a new car. This was the impression I got since he was being too pushy with the sales. I tried calling some friends for advice, but he tried to interrupt me when I tried to make some phone calls saying that the car is yours with the deal thats on the table. Later, Ive found out from my mother that another sales representative of the same dealership told her that this is possible. Since both my mother and I were under pressure, this did not occur to her at the moment. I have a voicemail from the other sales representative to prove this ( In the voicemail spoken in XXXX, the other sales representative also used expletive language directed towards my mother ). 

As I have said, the sales representative did not bother listening to what I have to say nor provide an in-depth explanation of the whole process. He kept running off and showing different numbers each time he came back to talk to us. I believe this just added to the confusion. On multiple occasions, for example, I asked whats the value of the new car, and what he kept giving us is the total price of the payments. This limited my ability to gauge whether the value of the car and what I am paying per month is reasonable. Multiple times, the guy ran off and said hes going to run, either talking to his supervisor, running my credit score, or what have you. I have not received the results of my credit report. I even asked him where they were, but this had been kept from me. He just gave me the total scores. Like I said earlier, I thought that they were closing and so I ran with it. 

The sales representative also offered a lot of discounts and lowering the APR. But upon seeing the final contract ( after the fact ), the discounts are not annotated. The guy kept asserting that I know one of the managers even if I repeatedly said I don't. However, this has been continuously ignored. I told him that I worked hard for my credit score,  thus, it will be unreasonable to give me a high APR rate. Yet with all discounts and with a close to 800s credit score, they've given me a 5.9 % APR. The sales representative said he will bump this down to 3.9 % but this is not shown in the contract, as I will still have paid " less than what I'll pay for in total ''. The next thing I know, the " new '' car is getting a carwash and I'm signing papers that will add thousands more to the value originally offered by the sales representative. It was around XXXX and everyone seems to be in a hurry. I, myself, also want to be out of there. Another person, at this time of the day, started selling us additional packages. And since it was late in the day, along with fatigue and confusion, some bad decisions were made. 

The total payment I'd have to do for 6 years is close to {$45000.00} for a {$24000.00} car and {$250.00} more of what my mom was paying for her monthly payments with her original car. I also asked how much the actual value of the car, repeatedly. Yet the finance person stated, " I won't be able to tell you how much! ". However, under close analysis of the numbers in the contract, it was in the printed contract all along. 

I'm also unsure how they determined I'm qualified for such payments as I've repeatedly said I am unemployed and is a graduate student. I also said that my income is only coming from my stipend. I also said I am moving to XXXX soon. One of the said managers there said, dont tell the bank that as they are thinking you have stability here. Yet, this is unclear because I only placed 1month for my history of residency. I even emphasized that I am not paying for the current place Im residing since I am coming back from living in XXXX. This has been the story the whole time and I repeatedly told them I am going to XXXX, yet they seemed to have ignored all these details in order to sell me the car. 

My mom also suffered the same fate beforehand. The other sales representative, from what I have heard, seems to have falsified my moms salary. Making XXXX/hr who just recently purchased a house should not be eligible for a new car. But since she struggled to make ends meet, she tried to fix the deal and get something for cheaper. Whereas they first gave her a XXXX XXXX, they exchanged it for a XXXX XXXX. She was convinced by XXXX XXXX that that move would help her resolve her financial difficulties. However, what turned out as a decrease in the monthly payment, in exchange, prolonged her payment from five years to six years. XXXX XXXX is also supposed to refund my mom with {$1000.00} promised within 2-3 weeks from last XXXX. However, its almost XXXX and we have not received the said refund. 

I tried to do what I thought a good son will do for her mother who just migrated to this country. Unfortunately, I fell prey myself. What I intend to do was get a CCC, and because of their sales tactic, I ended up almost 45 thousand dollars in debt. I am unsure how I will pay for this. Thus, I think that my mom and I were taken advantage of this dealership. Thinking Id get a cheaper deal since I have a higher credit score ended up terribly and in a much worse position. I honestly do not know how dealerships operate. And I think those like me wouldnt know too. I am a veteran who spent years out of the country. A high credit score, unemployed, and learned politeness while serving in the XXXX, made a perfect target for these types of what I think unethical sales practices by million-dollar businesses. 

I hope that youd be able to help me. I do not want to be another statistic. I do not want to potentially be another homeless veteran. I have tried to talk to them 10hrs after the sales were done, and I have only driven 6 miles, yet they would not even want to hear me out. Instead, they have been passing me around to different departments or people. Hence, the purpose of this letter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation