Consumer complaint received 2020-07-15
Company: DriveTime
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan
Sub-issue: Denied request to lower payments

Complaint:
DriveTime Automotive Group , Inc. 
C/O : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Attention : XXXX XXXX, C.E.O. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, AZ XXXX I am requesting an investigation of DriveTime Automotive Group , Inc.,  mentioned above due to its predatory lending practices, targeting individuals with low income and poor credit. This company specifically runs advertisements guaranteeing a 99 % loan acceptance rate with a minimum $ XXXX down payment, and states : " specializing in shoppers with bad credit. '' In XX/XX/XXXX I purchased a used XXXX XXXX XXXX with XXXX miles from their location in XXXX, CA. My understanding is I was purchasing a $ XXXX used vehicle, however not realizing at the time of purchase that the sales person added three ( 3 ) ancillary products to the loan to inflate the value and increase their profit. I signed everything electronically and was not provided with a paper contract for review. My total loan for this used XXXX XXXX was $ XXXX. A new XXXX XXXX would have been $ XXXX and $ XXXX with the same high finance charges, which is not fair and reasonable. The ancillary products which were not discussed and automatically added to the loan were 1 ) GAP insurance, 2 ) a vehicle protection plan that is invalid if the Manufacturer covers any portion under warranty and 3 ) a GPS warranty which is not your traditional GPS navigation system warranty, but a tracking device installed under the hood of the vehicle specifically for planned repossession ( I have full coverage insurance, why would I need a tracking device on a used vehicle? ). The total price of the ancillary products came out to {$5200.00}. I noticed a similar complaint on your website ( Ref No. XXXX, dated XX/XX/XXXX ) in which the individual had {$5200.00} added to their loan automatically. This is almost the identical amount added to my loan. This appears to be a standard tactic by DriveTime to rip off consumers, especially since the contracts are signed electronically, so the consumer is unknowingly agreeing to these products. After sitting hours with their sales team and signing electronically these products can not be disputed, as was the case with the abovementioned complaint. The company skillfully includes arbitration agreements which tactically prevent the pursuit of class action lawsuits. Their financing terms are also egregious. The clause on Finance Charges within their agreement specifies that payments will be applied in any manner XXXX ( DriveTime company ) chooses, with the application towards late charges, finance charges and then the unpaid balance. Because this is a simple interest contract, the application of payments to fees and interest occurs first, resulting in higher finance charges and ultimately a higher than the original loan balance, if the individual is late on any payments. 

Not only is DriveTime taking advantage of consumers by way of predatory lending practices and the inclusion of unnecessary products to inflate loan values, but they are deliberately installing GPS tracking devices on these vehicles to ease with the repossession process. They eventually go after consumers for default making them liable for the unpaid balances. DriveTime 's attorney XXXX XXXX admitted within our email correspondence that the GPS device warranty added to my contract ( " ancillary product '' ) was for a device that was installed under the hood specifically by DriveTime for tracking the vehicle. I reviewed an article online in which DriveTime 's spokesman XXXX XXXX told XXXX that DriveTime does not install kill switches but purchases vehicle with " pre-installed '' GPS systems. That is a complete lie as their in house attorney confirmed their installation. DriveTime also failed to disclose within the Buyer 's Guide that this used XXXX had an existing transferrable bumper to bumper warranty. Again their  attorney 's response was that they are not responsible and wouldn't have known whether the vehicle had an existing warranty. My understanding is this information : MANUFACTURER 'S WARRANTY STILL APPLIES is supposed to be fully disclosed within the Buyer 's guide. 
I am disgusted that companies like this can continue to take advantage of individuals and nothing has been done to stop them. I am hoping by posting my circumstances in addition to the already existing complaints, DriveTime and their unethical business practices are fully investigated and are not allowed to have consumers sign agreements electronically, and are required by law to call out in detail and plain language any unscrupulous provisions to ensure consumers understand before signing.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation