Consumer complaint received 2015-12-12
Product: Consumer Loan — Vehicle loan
Issue: Problems when you are unable to pay — 
Company: General Motors Financial Company, Inc. (IL)

In XXXX of XXXX, I mistakenly traded my XXXX for a XXXX XXXX through XXXX XXXX in XXXX Illinois. I should have returned the vehicle and waited until they surrendered my keys to my car, but not knowing better, I stuck with the car feeling that the interest rate was already too high - and the payment, too. It was 17 % or so, but the real shoe dropped the following week : the dealership Fed exed to my work a change in the interest rate to 25 %. Since I could n't return the vehicle and was living on XXXX income and no child support as a single parent, I had to sign it. I was utterly alone because even those who were telling me to return the car were powerless to help me. I ended up paying for the car, and through a series of personal misfortunes, lost that job and the car ended up failing. Turns out the car was a time bomb : the engine was a design requiring the timing belt is changed before a certain mileage and it snapped breaking irreparably. The car was repossessed in XXXX. With a sticker price of {$13000.00} or so, the GM financial company claimed I still owed them just over {$6000.00}. They sold the car at auction for {$1000.00}, somehow I ended up owing them {$7500.00} even though they claimed that the amount was deducted from the loan! The truth was I 'd had to give them numerous late payments and deferments- with a late payment of {$120.00} a pop and numerous other " fees '' including rude and ruthless " customer service '' people, the company who held my loan, Americredit ( later dissolved bought by GM Financial, probably because they 'd taken so many people for a ride that they were being sued and no longer raking in the cash ) made sure that I was ALWAYS on the hotbed for repossession. They threatened, cajoled and I 'm pretty sure that this company had NO interest in the car I needed, rather they wanted that money- that was their goal and they made it clear they 'd take it every time I spoke to them. I found out later that this state Illinois has no limits to it 's loan sharking- other than recent limits to payday and title loans. This state tolerates usury- I was essentially forced to sign a contract against my will since I 'd asked for my car back before this whole thing unfolded! I think that car companies should HAVE to use banks. I am SO TIRED of hearing about the woes of the car companies : our Federal government bought it out to save it, but GM? They are threatening to SUE me! I have no money for them! I 'm XXXX, I have XXXX kids, I 've been working to get a degree ( with Fed backed loans, why ca n't anyone get a loan for a car with bad credit for a car, huh? People need cars! ) and I ca n't buy a home till this loan goes away. Our government is supposed to protect us from this kind of thing, yet it seems to spend more time protecting the companies and the wealthy people who own them. I 'd have to dig out the bills I purposely saved to send you which I could do at a later time, but I found this link and felt compelled to write my story. Thanks for listening.