Consumer complaint received 2023-06-15
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Struggling to pay your loan — Denied request to lower payments
Company: Byrider Franchising, LLC (IL)

Around last year ( XX/XX/XXXX ) i had gotten a car from Byrider Bridgeview, but before then i was in the market for a vehicle. During that process, I was actually in communication with a seller at Byrider. I went into the store and we talked about the cars they had and prices. I had decided to not go with Byrider because of how expensive it was. A few weeks go by and the seller at Byrider contacts me and tells me he has a deal for me to get me the car at a discounted price. So i go in and get the car. The price indicated was around {$17000.00} after a {$1000.00} down payment. But over couple of months, I had come to the realisation that i was never paying a discounted price. I was struggling to pay because of the frequency and price of the vehicle, which was {$200.00} every 2 weeks. so around XXXX of XXXX it was repossessed. XXXX of XXXX, i had reclaimed my vehicle, but because it was repossessed they had thrown away all of my items, including the documents for the car that i had had. Since then, i was trying to catch up on payments but it was never ever easy. I had lost my job and other things for a few months that hindered my ability to work. I was able to keep myself afloat for a little bit, but it was extremely difficult. The car had also been having what seemed to be transmission issues only a few months after purchase. I was on my way to XXXX XXXXne day via expressway and my car has started slowing down on the highway. Even as i was pressing the gas and doing what normal things you do when you drive, it did not work one bit. The car had completely stopped on the highway. and it was still running, but would not move. Because of this specifically, i had less access to work around me. 
Around a few weeks ago ( XXXX of XXXX ), I was shopping for insurance through XXXX when i made a surprising discovery- my cars worth was less than {$6000.00}. to be exact, the cars worth was {$5900.00}, according to the website. I found this insanely weird because I had gotten the car only a year prior and at the time i got the car, i was told the cars actual value was way higher- somewhere in between {$9000.00}. I decided to do a little research and confirmed that my cars value was actually around {$5900.00} and NOT around {$9000.00} like i had been made to believe. 
The company who represents the loan is CNAC. I have been in communications with a few different account managers over the months and ive frequently asked if theres any type of refinancing for the vehicle where i can get my payments lowered like i was told, but there is never any option. They were always telling me that the only thing they offered was the XXXX program, which pushes your overdue payments to the back and you kinda start off fresh. However, it was never easy to even keep up with payments even after you had used XXXX XXXX days. Not to mention, because I had never received my vehicle documents back from CNAC after asking for them from a few different account managers, some repairs had to come out of pocket. My experience with CNAC has been extremely debilitating to my financial health, mental health, and my credit report. My credit has tanked with CNAC because they report every payment, and since they make it extremely difficult to catch up, their customers suffer the greatest losses. And i know it is not just me- it was mentioned by someone at CNAC as well. They have been repossessing so many individuals vehicles. 
All in all, i am filing this complaint because i believe Byrider/CNAC to use manipulating tactics to loop you into a vehicle loan that their customers can never catch up on, and then they make you feel as if it is your fault. Ive come to understand that a lot of customers of CNAC turn there because theyre turned away from traditional dealerships for having troubled credit. CNAC uses that to manipulate and take advantage of individuals who are in need of a car, only to further tank and ruin their credit, but also isnt upfront about the true value of the car. Their account managers are pretty rude as well. Ive had an account manager that asked me why i fell behind and why i was behind for so long, as if this car is worth the {$200.00} bi-weekly youre requiring people to pay. I know for a fact i wouldve never purchased a vehicle from CNAC if i knew how much it was worth. I would not agree to pay {$17000.00} for a vehicle that is worth 1/3 of that.