Comments on: What happens if my car gets repossessed? http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/ How to get an Auto Loan with Bad Credit - Auto Credit Express Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:11:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Steve Cypher http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-4184 Steve Cypher Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:10:04 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-4184 Staci, Believe me when I tell you that you don't want to go down this road. At this point in time, if you were able to finance your current Camry, it means that you have really good credit. If you "turn in the Camry to Toyota", this action will appear on your credit report as a repossession and stay there for the next 7 years. With a good credit score (which you have) the impact would be closer to 200 points than 100 points (the higher your score, the greater the impact - but don't believe me, go to myfico.com and check it out for yourself). As far as the deficiency balance is concerned (the difference between what you owe on the Camry and what it would fetch at auction, which is what the lender - in this case Toyota Financial Services - would do), the lender has every right to come after you for the balance owed, including securing a judgment against you. With this judgment, the lender can garnish your wages (which they would do), and, to top it all off, this judgment would lower your credit score even further. I understand how you feel about your Camry, but given the fixes that Toyota already has in the works (and if you’ve never experienced any accelerator issues, yourself), it hardly makes sense to trash your credit for the next 7 years and risk your wages being garnished (and having to pay back the deficiency balance, which you will have to do) over this issue. I’m sure that your Toyota dealer would be more than happy to explain the recall issues to you and reassure you that your Camry will continue to be a safe vehicle to drive. Staci,

Believe me when I tell you that you don’t want to go down this road. At this point in time, if you were able to finance your current Camry, it means that you have really good credit. If you “turn in the Camry to Toyota”, this action will appear on your credit report as a repossession and stay there for the next 7 years. With a good credit score (which you have) the impact would be closer to 200 points than 100 points (the higher your score, the greater the impact - but don’t believe me, go to myfico.com and check it out for yourself).

As far as the deficiency balance is concerned (the difference between what you owe on the Camry and what it would fetch at auction, which is what the lender - in this case Toyota Financial Services - would do), the lender has every right to come after you for the balance owed, including securing a judgment against you. With this judgment, the lender can garnish your wages (which they would do), and, to top it all off, this judgment would lower your credit score even further.

I understand how you feel about your Camry, but given the fixes that Toyota already has in the works (and if you’ve never experienced any accelerator issues, yourself), it hardly makes sense to trash your credit for the next 7 years and risk your wages being garnished (and having to pay back the deficiency balance, which you will have to do) over this issue.

I’m sure that your Toyota dealer would be more than happy to explain the recall issues to you and reassure you that your Camry will continue to be a safe vehicle to drive.

]]> By: Staci http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-4180 Staci Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:36:38 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-4180 I have a Toyota Camry and with all the recalls I do not feel safe driving the car, even if they "fix" the problems. I went to try to trade it, and because it's not a year old and has all the recalls, the car is worth $10,000 less than what I owe. Looking at my credit, I can finance a second car without trading. Someone told me that I should finance a new car and then turn in the Camry to Toyota. He said that it would lower my credit score by 100 points, but what else could happen in this case? He said that I could get a judgement on my credit, but I didn't have to pay the judgement... is this true? Thanks! I have a Toyota Camry and with all the recalls I do not feel safe driving the car, even if they “fix” the problems. I went to try to trade it, and because it’s not a year old and has all the recalls, the car is worth $10,000 less than what I owe. Looking at my credit, I can finance a second car without trading. Someone told me that I should finance a new car and then turn in the Camry to Toyota. He said that it would lower my credit score by 100 points, but what else could happen in this case? He said that I could get a judgement on my credit, but I didn’t have to pay the judgement… is this true?

Thanks!

]]> By: ben http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3962 ben Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:14:54 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3962 thank you so much steve thank you so much steve

]]> By: Steve Cypher http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3958 Steve Cypher Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:14:25 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3958 Ben, At this point in time, surrendering your vehicle to the dealer would amount to a voluntary repossession - which would have the effect of trashing your credit score. If you are concerned about your safety, it should be noted that Toyota has already contacted their dealers and instructed them to put customers, who have safety concerns, into rental vehicles until the problems with their current vehicle can be corrected. Once the problems have been corrected, the value of your Corolla should be unaffected. According to Toyota, if you have questions or concerns regarding your specific vehicle, you should contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331. The Toyota Customer Experience Center hours are: Mon - Fri, 5:00 am - 6:00 pm PST Sat, 7:00 am - 4:00 pm PST Ben,

At this point in time, surrendering your vehicle to the dealer would amount to a voluntary repossession - which would have the effect of trashing your credit score.

If you are concerned about your safety, it should be noted that Toyota has already contacted their dealers and instructed them to put customers, who have safety concerns, into rental vehicles until the problems with their current vehicle can be corrected. Once the problems have been corrected, the value of your Corolla should be unaffected.

According to Toyota, if you have questions or concerns regarding your specific vehicle, you should contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.
The Toyota Customer Experience Center hours are:
Mon - Fri, 5:00 am - 6:00 pm PST
Sat, 7:00 am - 4:00 pm PST

]]> By: ben http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3950 ben Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:51:27 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3950 i have a 2009 toyota corolla, bought thhrough financing in oct of 2008, with the company recall of the vehicle because of some safety issue, can i just surrender the car to the dealer because i feel that im paying for something not worth paying for? tnxs i have a 2009 toyota corolla, bought thhrough financing in oct of 2008, with the company recall of the vehicle because of some safety issue, can i just surrender the car to the dealer because i feel that im paying for something not worth paying for? tnxs

]]> By: Steve Cypher http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3863 Steve Cypher Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:12:35 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3863 Matthew, At this point in time there really isn't much that can be done. My first suggestion would be to contact the lender, explain your situation and see if some type of loan modification can be done, such as extending the term to lower the monthly payment. If you sell it on your own, you will need to pay the lender the balance before they will release the lien on the car. Without the release, the new owner can't apply for a new title. This means that you can't sell it for less than the balance owed, unless you can come up with the difference, which, at this point, isn't possible. So your only choices other than a possible loan modification with the lender are either to keep making the monthly payments, or do a voluntary repossession. Matthew,

At this point in time there really isn’t much that can be done. My first suggestion would be to contact the lender, explain your situation and see if some type of loan modification can be done, such as extending the term to lower the monthly payment.

If you sell it on your own, you will need to pay the lender the balance before they will release the lien on the car. Without the release, the new owner can’t apply for a new title. This means that you can’t sell it for less than the balance owed, unless you can come up with the difference, which, at this point, isn’t possible.

So your only choices other than a possible loan modification with the lender are either to keep making the monthly payments, or do a voluntary repossession.

]]> By: JR http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3850 JR Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:36:12 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3850 I guess I should have added we know the folks that own the storage place so we don't want them to have to get involved or have any issues; he's been keeping up with his storage payments as far as we know. Also, I just checked his credit report and it's an Auto Loans Co that reported him (something like Santer Consumer), I assume the same one he originally used; it says something like "written off Jan 09 - Sep 09 $10,333" and that the report will be on his credit til 2015. I know that could mean a few things but it also appears they've written off the loan and gave him a bad mark til 2015? Thanks again for your comments and time! I guess I should have added we know the folks that own the storage place so we don’t want them to have to get involved or have any issues; he’s been keeping up with his storage payments as far as we know. Also, I just checked his credit report and it’s an Auto Loans Co that reported him (something like Santer Consumer), I assume the same one he originally used; it says something like “written off Jan 09 - Sep 09 $10,333″ and that the report will be on his credit til 2015. I know that could mean a few things but it also appears they’ve written off the loan and gave him a bad mark til 2015? Thanks again for your comments and time!

]]> By: JR http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3849 JR Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:20:57 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3849 Thanks, Steve Thanks, Steve

]]> By: Steve Cypher http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3842 Steve Cypher Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:56:40 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3842 JR, Sorry for the delay, but we've been ruminating on this one since you sent it in. And although we'd like to think we know quite a bit about the repossession process, there are times when it becomes necessary to contact a lawyer to determine just what options you have, since the law regarding this situation is different in every state. In Michigan, if your son stopped paying storage, the storage company could apply for a "Garage Keeper Lien" and, after proper notification to all parties, sell the vehicle. This might force the lender to take possession of the vehicle, but again, the lender would not be required to do so. This would take care of the vehicle disposal, but, if the storage company sells it, it would not contribute anything towards the vehicle payoff amount. The facts are that the lender owns the vehicle and your son owes between $5,000 and $10,000 on it. If they haven't done it already, the lender can escalate the collections process and go to court to obtain an order of garnishment for your son's wages. But in the mean time, you really need some legal help sorting out the current situation with the vehicle. JR,

Sorry for the delay, but we’ve been ruminating on this one since you sent it in. And although we’d like to think we know quite a bit about the repossession process, there are times when it becomes necessary to contact a lawyer to determine just what options you have, since the law regarding this situation is different in every state.

In Michigan, if your son stopped paying storage, the storage company could apply for a “Garage Keeper Lien” and, after proper notification to all parties, sell the vehicle. This might force the lender to take possession of the vehicle, but again, the lender would not be required to do so. This would take care of the vehicle disposal, but, if the storage company sells it, it would not contribute anything towards the vehicle payoff amount.

The facts are that the lender owns the vehicle and your son owes between $5,000 and $10,000 on it. If they haven’t done it already, the lender can escalate the collections process and go to court to obtain an order of garnishment for your son’s wages. But in the mean time, you really need some legal help sorting out the current situation with the vehicle.

]]> By: JR http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3841 JR Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:21:38 +0000 http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2008/01/21/what-happens-if-my-car-gets-repossessed/#comment-3841 I submitted this reply a few days ago but do not see it posted here; let me try again... My son bought a car the end of 2008; shortly after he totaled it and had left the insurance lapse. Shortly after that he could no longer afford making the payments and a repo man eventually came to my son's previous residence with a tow truck; the driver was told where the car was and that he may need a flat bed. Many months later the car still sits in an outdoor storage spot that my son rents and he doesn’t know what to do with the car. He owes about $10000 and called the loan co a couple months ago and they told him they'd take $5000 which he does not have. I believe this had already gone to collections (at least once) and see it as a bad mark on his credit report that will remain there for 7 years even if he does pay anything more on the car. No one seems the be concerned about the car, no one is calling about it and of course the loan co I’m sure doesn’t want it so how does he get rid of this car? Any experience/knowledgeable comments are appreciated. I submitted this reply a few days ago but do not see it posted here; let me try again…
My son bought a car the end of 2008; shortly after he totaled it and had left the insurance lapse. Shortly after that he could no longer afford making the payments and a repo man eventually came to my son’s previous residence with a tow truck; the driver was told where the car was and that he may need a flat bed. Many months later the car still sits in an outdoor storage spot that my son rents and he doesn’t know what to do with the car. He owes about $10000 and called the loan co a couple months ago and they told him they’d take $5000 which he does not have. I believe this had already gone to collections (at least once) and see it as a bad mark on his credit report that will remain there for 7 years even if he does pay anything more on the car. No one seems the be concerned about the car, no one is calling about it and of course the loan co I’m sure doesn’t want it so how does he get rid of this car? Any experience/knowledgeable comments are appreciated.

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