Consumer complaint received 2024-12-29 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Repossession — Damage caused or loss of personal items in vehicle during the actual repossession
Company: SANTANDER HOLDINGS USA, INC.
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
Santander repossessed my car last year and returned it after I paid all of the past due balance ( and the penalty fees they never retracted as promised ). The car was damaged as the transmission blew apart before I even got it home. My mechanic determined it was towed in gear when repossessed. A new transmission is {$6000.00}. I continued to pay my payments even though the car sits in my driveway unusable as I pay {$450.00} per week for alternative rides to work. Finally as of a few months ago, the expense for rides has taking its toll, and I struggle to pay my loan with Santander threatening to repossess my car yet again. Santander had given no indication on what their liability would be or their contracted tow companys liability would be from when they damaged it. The car is not driveable, however, they still expect their payments somehow and threaten to repossess it again, which would absorb all the investment I have in this car and ruin my credit even more. I have reported this over and over to no response so I reported it to federal consumer finance protection. 

I was then contacted by Santander and spoke to a senior account manager executive. I reiterated what happened and explained that when I looked into the warranty for the car, I learned that XXXX was considering a recall on the transmission for my cars year and explained that maybe that had something to do with its susceptibility to the towing error when getting repossessed. I explained that XXXX decided against the recall and had instead added the part to a customer satisfaction policy that pays for the entire transmission should it fail if purchased new from a dealership. I explained I did not appear to be a candidate, because even though it was purchased from a dealership with their loan, it was purchased as a used car. He said he had the autonomy to look into getting my car repaired as they provide many loans to this dealership and I can avoid another repossession IF I MADE A PAYMENT AND WITHDREW MY REPORT FROM THE CFPB. He said UNLESS I do those two things, he wont have a dialogue about what they can do to solve the problem. I logged on to withdrawal the complaint when I saw the case was closed already and that they are not going to take any responsibility for the damage done on the tow during the repossession when their company towed it in gear and destroyed the transmission. They said I never reported the damage in a timely fashion. This isnt true because I told them and their tow company when it happened and multiple times since. I have around {$12000.00} paid into this car and owe like {$18000.00} on a {$23000.00} sticker purchase because of the crazy interest rate. The car only has XXXX mi on it with a blown transmission, around XXXX  miles past the warranty expiration. 

So my complaint to the CFPB was closed arbitrarily as Im confused to what it has even done to protect me. I reopen this complaint with the above new information and ask for help on how I can get my car repaired. 

Finally, for Santander to hold any corrective action ransom based on me withdrawing a complaint from the CFPB is not acceptable. Nor is CFPB closing a complaint to basically endorse this blackmail acceptable. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation