If you're behind on your car payments, or if you've otherwise fallen out of favor with your auto lender, you may wake up one morning to find that your car has been repossessed. While this can be a shocking and stressful experience, it's important to remember that your lender has the legal right to take back your vehicle. In most cases, they don't need your keys to do it.
There are a few different ways that lenders can repossess a car. The most common is to simply have a tow truck show up and haul it away. In some cases, the lender may send someone to drive the car away. If you have a GPS tracking device on your car, the lender may use that to find its location and then send a tow truck.
If you know that your car is about to be repossessed, you may be tempted to hide it or even to disable it so that it can't be driven. But this is generally a bad idea. Not only is it likely to be a fruitless effort (lenders are often quite resourceful), but it can also result in additional charges and fees. It's best to just let the repossession happen and to focus on dealing with the aftermath.