Consumer complaint received 2026-06-08 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Billing problem
Company: Westlake Services, LLC
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX I purchased the above referenced XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The financing for this transaction was assigned to Westlake Financial Services. At the time of sale the vehicles Check Engine Light was actively illuminated and it remains illuminated.Following the purchase I personally examined the vehicle alongside a former coworker of mine. Drawing upon my professional experience and technical background as an auto body technician we conducted a thorough physical and digital inspection of the vehicle. During this inspection I discovered that the vehicle is severely defective altered and non compliant with state and federal laws.Specifically the vehicle has been illegally modified with an aftermarket emissions delete and electronic control unit engine tune. This modification was executed incorrectly and hazardously an electronic delete tune was applied to the computer yet I discovered that the physical XXXX XXXX XXXX remains trapped inline inside the exhaust stream. This restriction creates an immediate severe engine backpressure hazard.Selling a vehicle with tampered non compliant or disabled emissions equipment directly violates the federal Clean Air Act and Pennsylvanias anti tampering regulations. The dealership possessed full prior and actual knowledge of these illegal modifications before selling the vehicle to me. During the sales process the salesman SALESMANS NAME explicitly admitted to me in person that he had personally driven the vehicle for a month prior to the sale and was fully aware that the vehicle was deleted and tuned.Furthermore a XXXX vehicle history report confirms that this vehicles exhaust system was completely replaced in late XX/XX/XXXX. Because a factory XXXX XXXX XXXX exhaust contains the proprietary catalytic and XXXX emissions systems this documented replacement establishes a clear timeline proving the illegal physical modifications were present long before the date of sale.Official manufacturer and XXXX records explicitly confirm that on XX/XX/XXXX this specific vehicle successfully underwent the court approved federal XXXX approved TDI emissions modification. The subsequent XX/XX/XXXX aftermarket exhaust installation and software tune intentionally reversed and undid this court ordered federal environmental remedy rendering the vehicle completely illegal to operate or inspect in the XXXX of XXXX these glaring illegal defects XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX or its designated inspection facility fraudulently affixed a fresh passing Pennsylvania State Safety and Emissions Inspection sticker to the windshield forcing a non compliant vehicle onto the road in direct violation of XXXX regulations.While I am keeping my monthly payments current with Westlake Financial Services under protest to protect my personal credit score during this dispute the underlying collateral for this loan is an illegal non compliant and unsafe asset. Pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission Holder Rule notice embedded within my retail installment contract Westlake Financial Services is legally subject to all claims and defenses which I could assert against the selling dealership.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation