Consumer complaint received 2018-06-02
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease — Problem with paying off the loan
Company: AutoNation Enterprises Incorporated (CA)

I am asking for your help with this company. They rip off consumers and the loan does not payoff at maturity. I purchased the vehicle in the last week of XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX and for some reason a payment was immediately due within a few days. About a week later I received a call from the financing company stating that they had lowered my interest rate and also I would have the loan for one year less so instead of 5 years it would be 4. They indicated that they would send me paperwork to show this but I never received anything. When I called to inquire about it, they said that they could not find such offer. I asked them to please review the calls made to me to prove that I wasnt lying and that I was given this information. They said they were unable to pull those calls and I would need proof in writing to support what I was saying and of course I didnt have it because it was never sent but my interest rate was adjusted so they must have some record. According to my calculations and based on the information that they had given me my 4 years would be up on or around XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX because throughout the loan they had given me a couple of extensions because I had an extreme illnesses and had gone through XXXX XXXX. To my surprise when I called them after I thought the four years were up, they told me that I still had a balance of over {$11000.00}!!!! My car isnt even worth that. I also went through BK in XXXX and I did a reaffirmation agreement to be able to keep the car because it was my only means of transportation. Again I asked then to please look in to the 4 year term that should have been over already and my requests went ignored. I stopped pursuing this after a while because I figured if they had lied to me then for sure. The following year XX/XX/XXXX the latest, my car would have been financed for 5 years and I expected it to be paid off and yet to my surprise here we are in XX/XX/XXXX and I am still paying for the car. This company is a scam and takes advantage of people who have lower credit scores than others do because we are so eager to buy a car but once you have it and taken it home the deal changes and in order to keep your car. 
Another instance of their manipulation is that after I filed BK I was assigned to work with XXXX XXXX and helped me get a couple of payment 3 at the most added to the back of my loan so that I could use my funds for medical bills and because I had been laid off of my job and I was job hunting and I am grateful for that. We always communicated through email about making my payments and she would take my payments over email. However, on two separate occasions my car was out for repossession and I received no notice in the mail and not even a hint about it from XXXX XXXX who was supposed to be in charge of my account. The first occasion I happened to not be home and my mother in law called me that there was someone at my house trying to repossess my car. I immediately called CIG and worked out a payment arrangement to be able to keep my car but they said that I would have to pay fees for the repossession activity. The second instance, my car had broken down at my moms house and I was going to have a mechanic come repair the car while I was at work. XXXX XXXX had sent me a message to contact her about making a payment via email and I responded to her but never did I hear back from her until the guy came and repossessed my car. Again I had to pay many fees on top of payments due. I was understandably upset and I asked XXXX XXXX why she did not tell me that my car was being repossessed. I said to her you communicate everything to me via email and take my payments and such but you dont think it would have been important for you to let me know that my car was out for repossession? She immediately was upset and said she would no longer communicate with me via email only written or telephone calls and she never answered my questions about why, if she has and still is in charge of my account, why was I never notified either time that my car was out for repossession. I believe proper notices should be sent if not through phone call at the very least in writing BUT I DID NOT RECEIVE any of that, not even the courtesy of XXXX XXXX who communicated everything to me through email, that my car would be repossessed. I think that is something that is of major importance and her being in charge of my account, should have communicated to me as soon as she knew it was happening. I ended up paying what was due on my account and also additional fees for the repossession, this was last year and she tells me that if my car was ever out for repossession again, I would no longer get it back. These are what I consider threatening and abusive ways to try and collect a debt I questioned XXXX and asked her why she never informed me in any of her emails that she always used to communicate and attempt to collect my payment since this was a huge problem and important issue that I should have been made aware of by the person in charge of my account ( XXXX XXXX ) because by this time I was almost sure that my loan contract should have reached maturity and should be paid off but again low and behold I still had a high balance due on the account. I realize they put 3 payments or so at the end of my loan which I am fine with because I know that I owe those but how and I still paying payments on a car that should have already been paid off?? I asked her to please send me a copy of all my original documents that I signed which showed maturity as well as a payment history and when the first payment was due to prove that these people bait and switch people into accepting a car with a payment not being due until a full following month and instead my first payment was due within days of me obtaining the car which caused a real hardship to me. I also asked her for a payment history showing how all my payments were applied and all fees that have been assessed to my account including late fees and repossession fees and any other fees that I was never made aware of. I also again wanted her to look in to the 4 year loan term that had been promised to me a couple weeks after signing when they lowered my interest rate. She agreed to look in to the paperwork and send me what she could and I did not received ANY of the documents I asked for. And on top of all this, she must have been upset that I asked her why she did not tell me my car was out for repossession twice even though she communicated with me via email because she responded with a very unfriendly email stating that she would no longer communicate with me via email and I would have to call the customer service number to obtain any assistance. However, when I call customer service I always get sent to her voicemail, which she rarely picks up her line. 
I had previously spoken to a customer service representative who did see the change in interest rate but no change in maturity which meant that I wasnt lying about being told that and maybe someone just forgot to change or document the system by mistake. I asked if the calls could be pulled and listened to in order to prove what I was advised and again I was turned down saying that they had no access.