Consumer complaint received 2025-06-29 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Repossession — Lender trying to repossess or disable the vehicle
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
Without a recall, hundreds of thousands of XXXX XXXX  with the XXXX XXXX engine, including my own, reached catastrophic engine temperatures despite very recent and regular maintenance. This happen to me in XX/XX/XXXX, midway thru the life of the loan. I have made faithful payments since, but asked for temporary injunction or assistance pending the massive class action. It is egregious enough that XXXX still refuses to order a recall, endangering the remaining XXXX drivers, an unknown number of whom could have their engines catch fire at any moment for no fault of their own nor due to lack of proper and regular maintenance. Further, I have written documentation of Official XXXX  Service Managers advising me not to move forward with the full row engine replacement required to salvage the vehicle because of an admitted the XXXX XXXX has a bad design that would have caused a catastrophe odds are the [ repaired ] engine would have failed down the road anyway. The bad design is what caused my car, upon its very first engine service light, to overheat to the point that the engine coolant was found by XXXX to have mixed with the oil, causing severe overheating and catastrophic loss of multiple cylinders. Ever since, I was forthright with Wells Fargo and explained that the car was permanently inoperable and no longer could be driven. They advised me to surrender plates if I wanted to stop paying liability. I had to assume the costs of storing the car, despite its inoperability, and eventually it was impounded anyway because it was not registered. This is proof I was handcuffed as a consumer, sold a product that had known and admitted engine design issues, to the point of engine temperature at XXXX even with proper and regular and recent maintenance and fluid replenishment, which is documented. No matter what I did, I was unable to drive a vehicle safely, my life and the lives of my ride share passengers were endangered by this known serious and highly dangerous engine design flaw. XXXX still has not issued a recall of any kind, allowing an unknown number of XXXX  and XXXX to risk explosion and accidents and injury and death to anyone on the road with one or by one. Now that my car is impounded, without proof of notification by certified mail as claimed, and despite no late payments, Wells Fargo is threatening to repossess it from the impounded tow center. They refuse to acknowledge I was sold a vehicle not only worth less than the listed price but in fact unfit and unsafe for driving ; they refuse to acknowledge my life and my passengers lives were put at serious risk by the merchants willful ongoing sale to of a car they know to be dangerous and driven by millions, with still no recall. The class action suit involving plaintiffs XXXX XXXX et al and trial is not set till XX/XX/XXXX. This left me not only without a vehicle, but without work as I was a ride share driver professionally, and without the ability to get another auto loan. Now, I am suffering additional repercussions even though I took steps that were advised to me by my own insurance and the lien holder Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo, lastly, has been intentionally deceptive in hiding from me that they have been in touch with the towing/impounding company and that they are seeking or in the process of repossession. This would likely be an instance of illegal or wrongful repossession, all for a vehicle that has not been worth more than {$500.00} in scrap since XX/XX/XXXX. Wells Fargo also refused to offer any kind of refinance or second auto loan or temporary injunction despite these extraordinary circumstances that violate by rights as a consumer. I have documented all official correspondence with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in which they admit the known design flaw, admit the extreme danger of it, officially advise against moving forward with engine replacement or repair due to known repeat instances of catastrophic engine failure with other XXXX XXXX XXXX customers even after completing the {$13000.00} replacementagain, known to an admitted bad design. Please, help me, this was my very first purchase of any vehicle, I have only done what was advised to me, and yet I continue to pay the price both financially and by credit suffers terrible due to their inaction. Every day I worry for those I pass driving XXXX  and wonder when theirs will be next to fail them and cause an accident, injury or worse, all because XXXX refuses to recall these vehicles and assist their customers whose lives have been ruined by their refusal to act. Thank you for your representation.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation