Consumer complaint received 2024-08-13
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease — Changes in terms mid-deal or after closing
Company: Westlake Services, LLC (AL)

XXXX ) Deceptive sales practices : I was told I had been fully approved for financing, the payment amount was agreed to, and all I had to do was complete a test drive and sign the paperwork. I drove to XXXX, XXXX  from XXXX, XXXX  to complete this purchase. After arriving, I was told my financing had NOT been approved, they degraded me about how bad my credit is, and then proceeded to tell me they were able to do me a favor by purchasing the loan for {$1500.00} so they could approve me. On top of that, my monthly payment increased by approx. {$100.00} each month. 

XXXX ) Concealing a defect : The test drive was my first act after arriving to the dealership. I was only permitted to test drive the vehicle with supervision. After a few minutes into the test drive, I was instructed to turn around and head back to the dealership. XXXX days later when the vehicle was delivered to me, and after only XXXX minutes of driving the vehicle, the dashboard lit up identifying an emergency braking issue. This repair is estimated to cost {$2500.00}. This does not include all the money I spent just to get it diagnosed. If I had been allowed to complete the test drive on my own, I would have seen this light come on and the purchase would have stopped right there until it was addressed. 

XXXX ) Interest Rate Fraud : Before traveling to XXXX, I was quoted a pre-approved interest rate of 8.99 % by Westlake Financial. I knew that couldnt be correct and I had a discussion with the sales representative about how I would not purchase the vehicle if I ended up with a crazy interest rate of something like 20 %. She told me what my monthly payment would be, and that amount did not reflect a 20 % interest rate, so I accepted. 

After test driving the vehicle and being completely humiliated and guilted into finalizing the purchase because they had to purchase the loan to get me approved, I agreed. Several hours later, its time to sign the paperwork. We start going over the documents, we come to the point where the interest rate is listed, and I read out loud 11 % and he nodded. Come to find out, my interest rate was indeed 20 % as I previously stated I would never accept. 

XXXX ) Withholding Registration : Throughout this entire transaction, I stated numerous times that the ONLY reason for purchasing this vehicle was so I could do a part-time side gig to pay the bills while I was out on XXXX from work. In order to be accepted into the program, I needed a newer car than I had currently AND IT NEEDS TO BE REGISTERED IN THE STATE I LIVE. The day I purchased the vehicle I was told I would be sent the registration packet within the week. This was not done. After calling XXXX XXXX XXXX ( yes, I counted ), I finally received the paperwork I needed to register my car in XXXX  XXXX  months later. In this time, I was able to make only XXXX car payment because I was unable to use this vehicle to work as intended, at the error of XXXX, and my car was repossessed XX/XX/year>. I was only able to drive this vehicle for work for XXXX calendar days in the XXXX  months Ive had it. Thats not even XXXX full month. I finally confessed to family what had happened ( I am absolutely humiliated that I let them XXXX me into purchasing this vehicle ) and my XXXX paid what was owed so I can get my car back from impound tomorrow morning. Please note that every time I spoke with XXXX I was told they do not extend temporary tags to anyone out of state, and was advised to just drive it anyway because everyone in XXXX  does it. I refuse to break the law, so between XX/XX/year> and XX/XX/year> I was unable to operate my vehicle AT ALL. Thats XXXX calendar days I could have been working to pay my car note. And thats just the days after my temporary tags expired. I was promised the paperwork for XXXX  tags within the first week! 

This situation has been the worst buying experience Ive ever had. This is the first time I was in a situation where I needed to purchase a vehicle while having low income, poor credit, and a XXXX that prevented me from being able to work a normal XXXX job. I made SURE everything was good to go before I drove to XXXX. I was transparent with my needs, and they took full advantage of that. Even if you want me to take blame for not somehow making my payments anyway to prevent my vehicle from being repossessed, consider the : XXXXdeceptive sales process, XXXXconcealing a defect, XXXXinterest rate fraud, and XXXXwithholding registration ( which prevented me from even having use of the vehicle for XXXX  days! ) I reported XXXX XXXX to the BBB XX/XX/year>. I did not even get a response from XXXX until XX/XX/year>. In this response, their new XXXX XXXX Manager spelled out all of my complaints and stated that they were taking them seriously. I missed a call from their XXXX XXXX Manager, XXXX XXXX, on XX/XX/year> ( the day my vehicle was repossessed ). I didnt see that he called until the next day, so I got in touch with him XX/XX/year>. During that call, he assured me that he would make this right and do everything in his power to resolve this situation. He was supposed to call me back within the next few hours with that resolution, but never did. I called again the next morning, and he told me he was waiting for a call back from my lender, and that I could call again later if I wanted. I did. It was during that XXXX  call that I realized he had not investigated a thing and had no intention of resolving anything. He fed me multiple excuses before negating everything I complained about because and this is summarized I didnt have my car anymore anyway, and theres very little, if anything, that can be done at this point. Im picking up my car tomorrow morning ( XX/XX/year> ), so if this was a valid reason not to make things right, which it isnt, it isnt valid anymore. Later that same evening, I updated my BBB complaint to unresolved ( because that day was the deadline to respond ) and I havent heard from him since. 

Im not alone in this situation. XXXX XXXX cant even keep accreditation with the BBB because they have wronged so many people. That being said, maybe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will recommend a class action suit. I dont know how this all works, but Im not going to stop filing complaints until Im compensated for the wrong that was done to me.