Consumer complaint received 2019-09-03 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease — Changes in terms mid-deal or after closing
Company: Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX : I went to XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CA XXXX ) to inquire on a used XXXX XXXX XXXX they had in stock. The price was guaranteed to be {$19000.00} according to our salesman 'XXXX  XXXX XXXX who was helping us with the car. Upon agreeing to purchase the car, I was sat down with their finance sales manager named XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

XXXX XXXX was extremely shady in his negotiations with the car after he pulled my credit report, he initially advised that I would only be needing {$1500.00} as a down-payment which I agreed to, then he went into his office and came back, asking for {$4500.00}. He showed me a list of all my credit cards on my profile and my credit limits on each card, he then started to advise me on which credit cards I could max out to reach that down-payment. He then advised that if I could put down {$4500.00} as a down-payment, it would be a guaranteed approval. 

He later then showed me a breakdown of how much my monthly payments are going to be for price of the car. I then noticed a discrepancy with the price, the advertised price of the car was {$19000.00}, but on the cost-breakdown sheet he was showing me, there was a {$3900.00} " package '' added to the price. I then questioned this package, and he reassured that they would take that package off, if I didn't want it. After agreeing that {$4500.00} down-payment is my max I could go, he then went to his office and came back with an approval saying I am approved for the car, with a down-payment of {$4800.00} ( {$300.00} more than the previous agreed down-payment ). He then only showed me what my monthly payments were going to be, and when I questioned the interest rate, he backed off a bit saying the interest doesn't matter, as long as I got the car. XXXX then advised that he could take my 3 credit cards to run the {$4800.00} down-payment. Thinking it was just {$300.00} extra, I agreed to the deal, as I was tired and really wanted the car. 

Around XXXX XXXX that day, I was finalizing the paperwork with the finance manager named XXXX XXXX ', he was extremely pushy and was hastily forcing me to finish all my paperwork without reading it. He pressured me into signing everything quickly, giving the impression of him wanting to leave as soon as possible. After everything was done, and that morning I read my contract again, and couldn't help but noticed that the vehicle 's price on the contract had a huge discrepancy to the promised price of {$19000.00}. The contract shows that the price of my car is : {$23000.00}, and after tax and licensing, the new total would be {$25000.00}. After that, they applied my down-payment of {$4800.00} to the new total, to get my finance amount of : {$21000.00}. I was shocked that they had cheated me. I was originally promised a guaranteed price of {$19000.00}, which would of had my {$4800.00} down-payment applied, and the amount financed would of been {$14000.00} pre-tax and licensing. Not only that, but I was financed an interest rate of 24.56 % and the bank 's name is NOWHERE to be found on the contract. I had to call numerous times to get a finance manager to  give me the bank 's information. 


XX/XX/XXXX : I then called XXXX about this discrepancy right away, and the first thing he said was that the contract was already signed and he can't do anything about it, I then advised that he wouldn't finance any extra packages on top of the original agreed amount without my consent, XXXX then acted confused saying he doesn't remember any of that. XXXX then tried to push the problem to the finance manager XXXX XXXX '. I then contacted XXXX XXXX ' and inquired about the " package '' that was added on top of my sales price to which he answered vaguely saying it's for the door trims. I then asked for a list of what was included in the package, and he said he would email me it, to which I never received. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I then called XXXX XXXX to ask for XXXX numerous times to only be ignored and transferred around and then hung up repeatedly. I was finally able to get in touch with XXXX XXXX ' the finance manager and he advised that he already gave the list to XXXX , which was odd, because he was originally supposed to email me the list. I then asked XXXX to email me the list, and he bluntly refused saying XXXX has the list and to get it from XXXX. I then tried numerous more times to call XXXX to only be ignored, transferred, and then hung up on. 

XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX : I also work almost every single day, and it is nearly impossible to constantly reach out and try to get a hold of XXXX. During these dates, I have tried numerous more times to inquire about the contract discrepancy and the " package '' content that was worth almost {$4000.00} to no avail. I am afraid that this " package '' added on top of my car was a scam by the dealer to pocket {$4000.00}. Nowhere on my contract mentions anything regarding a package, they literally just raised the vehicle guaranteed price from {$19000.00} to {$23000.00}. Not only that, the contract mentions no bank that financed me. I feel so devastated that I was taken advantage of since this is my first car that I am financing, and I barley immigrated to America with not much knowledge regarding financing. I honestly feel that these men have taken advantage of my situation and manipulated it for their own gain. And in the end, I am left with a vehicle price I never agreed to and a car that is already high mileage. 

Before leaving the dealership, I asked XXXX XXXX, the salesman about any dents or dings would be fixed under our warranty, since the vehicle 's color is silver, and it was already dark, so I was not able to judge the vehicle 's condition. XXXX then advised that it if any scratches or dings were visible, they would fix it free of charge. That wasn't the case when I contacted XXXX XXXX, he advised that the vehicle is purchased as is, and he gave a very blunt attitude to his answers. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I came back to the dealer with my family members and found XXXX in person, we advised him of the fraudulent contract, to which he started acting confused and saying " Which salesman was it? '' knowing full well that he worked with 'XXXX  XXXX ' on my vehicle. I then advised of XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, to which he started to pretend to " remember ''. I reminded him of the numerous calls and messages my husband left for him. He then blamed that it was because of the XXXX XXXX weekend, hence why he was busy and he couldn't get back to me. This was all before XXXX XXXX weekend, and he had many opportunities to get back to me, to which he obviously ignored. It was then when my family member called him out on his dealings, he then said it is an open contract and nothing could be done. He showed no remorse, and aggressively brushed us off. We then left the vehicle and key at the dealership, and took pictures of the vehicle parked at their dealership. It was later then that my home video recording caught a worker at the dealership driving the car and aggressively parking it on my property without permission. They not only cheated me, but also trespassed my property, when we told them in person to not bring the vehicle to our property. 

Original agreed vehicle price : {$19000.00} | Dealer 's Fraudulent Vehicle Price : {$23000.00} From now on, XX/XX/XXXX : We will be dropping the vehicle back at the dealership early morning, before I go work. As I do not find it fair for me to be stuck with this fraudulent contract. 

Please see the attachments of the promised vehicle price taken prior to negotiating and the contract screenshot, as well.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation