Complaint Review: DRIVETIME AKA UGLY DUCKLING - HOBBS Nationwide

First of all, let me begin by saying I hope everyone reads every single report here before buying a car at Drivetime!  It's a scam, and terrible that the government has not stepped into the situation, and shut these people down.  They ended many unfair practices within the financial industry, however, Drivetime is a private lender with very provocative, private practices that would seem illegal to any individual at a quick glance.  It's unfortunate that even employees speak out, and begin apologizing for the practices by which they earned their pay.  It's deplorable, and even I am ashamed for allowing this to happen to my father.  He is a good man that never deserved any of this, and I promise that Drivetime will pay for the suffering they have caused.

Almost a decade ago, my ex husband, Jason went looking for a car.  He had very little luck, which I had anticipated, with finding a dealer that would accept his credit.  Jason is very ignorant.  He had always wanted what he wanted, and to no end would he allow life to pass by without these "desires" to be fulfilled.  He ended up at Drivetime somehow, and was enthusiastic when they said they would accept him for the credit he'd had.  They were stupid.  Jason didn't even have a f***ing license.  How in the hell did they accept him for a loan for a car without a license?  How is this loan even valid?  It was their mistake, not anyone else's, and certainly not my father's!!

So they told Jason that he would ultimately need a cosigner, so I guess that is where my father came into the picture.  I had no clue any of this was going on, and would have stopped this if I has known.  Jason chose an '01 Chevy Impala.  The car was very clean.  No visible dents, and when asked if he could take a test drive, they didn't even require Jason's license.  The car drove fine, and from there they began the loan paperwork.  I got the call all of this was going on after the monies had been placed against the down payment, which was 1500.00 in total.  I immediately went to Drivetime to stop the process.  My mother had purchased a car from Ugly Duckling in the '90's, and paid over ten thousand dollars for a '92 Grand AM that eventually caught on fire from under the hood.  It was under warranty, but Ugly Duckling never paid a cent on her behalf leaving her to pay for a car that was all burnt up!

When I got there the process was almost complete, and I was left with the task of looking over the paperwork.  The Impala was 11,000 dollars, with a down payment of 1500 dollars, which left a grand total of 9,500.00 remaining on the contract.  The payments were as followed: 200.00 dollars was paid the same day for the first "bi-weekly" payment to avoid any interest to accumulate on any latter payments---the contract clearly specified that the payment wasn't due until 2 weeks later, but payments made in advance would pay down the balance of the car, leaving no interest to be paid---200.00 off the 9,500.00.  It's like paying off your credit card.  IF YOU HAVE NO BALANCE AT ALL, YOU HAVE NO INTEREST ON THE CARD.  The debt itself was a balance, yes, but in the system the only time it would show you have a balance that incurs interest would occur when the payment was due.  The contract said to avoid any interest at all, you could pay the first month payment before it was due, and continue making payments this way until the day before the due date.  This was a huge lie apparently.  Regardless of what is printed in the contract we took home, they changed they changed the rules by the next business day.

Since it was a Friday, and no insurance company was open, Jason and my father could not pick up the car until Monday morning.  When they got there with the proof of insurance on Monday morning I took it upon myself to make sure the payment from Friday had been posted.  It was, but the receipt they gave me said the balance remaining on the car was more than 20,000.00 US DOLLARS!!!  WTF?!!?  How much interest was placed on the car over the weekend?  I know that this had to be illegal, but now they were stuck into a contract, and had no choice but to pay.  We were more than 2000.00 poorer with twenty grand in debt.  This is an issue I am currently fighting now, but that was only the start of everyone's problems. 

About two days later, the car started having problems.  The brakes didn't work.  According to Drivetime we could not take our car to any other repair person besides them  because the warranty would not be paid out.  The first time we took it in we got it back the next day, but the brakes weren't done.  The repair shop billed Drivetime for brakes that were never put on.  They were the same brakes from the day before-noticeably!  This happened three more times until I stood and watched the damned place do them myself.  I contacted Drivetime telling them I refused to never take my car back to this shop because it was fraud---the shop was making fake invoices for work never done---and doing it so Drivetime wouldn't have to pay out for any work at all.  I still have my invoices that said paid, and the corporate info saying they never paid four times, EVER!  It was a scam between their mechanic, and them that probably happened to everyone else in Ocala, as well. 

The next month, Jason was at work when the entire power steering system went out.  The rack and pinion went out, and Drivetime refused to pay.  The car was in some remote location, and I was told they wouldn't even tow the damned thing.  They did offer to repossess the car, but it was still under warranty.  After I threatened to call every paper, and every television station they reluctantly agreed to pick the car up.  They told us to get a rental, and it would be reimbursed after repairs were made to our car.  After days went by, I called Drivetime and asked to know the progress being made on the car.  They proceeded to say it was now out of warranty, and that Jason needed to go get the car from the shop.  They said because the shop did not make the repairs in a timely manner, that the car had sat too long causing the warranty to expire.  WTF??  Where in the world are they getting their information?  It was not out of warranty in the first place, nor could they refuse repairs if it had been because I filed the claim prior to this phone call...They did end up fixing the car regardless of whether they wanted to or not, but it was not the last repair.  Oh, and they never paid the rental bill either. 

After about a year Jason and I had split up, so the payments were not being made.   The car kept breaking down, time and time again, and there was no money to pay the payments. Jason had lost my income, and within the year he'd had the car the balance never dipped below the initial figure from the first day. We'd been paying for a car that would never, EVER be paid off!  The car was taken by Drivetime, and eventually it had been sold.  Needless to say, the law is very clear; The profit from the resale is to be added to the remaining balance from the previous owner.  They swore up and down they don't know who bought it, and for how much.  Again, WTF??!!?  How would YOU not KNOW how MUCH you SOLD THE CAR FOR, or to whom you sold YOUR car?  Now, almost a decade later the lemon they sold us is gone, but the phone calls are not.

I remember a time that Drivetime would call my Cingular call center (yes, this was a long time ago, pre At&t conglomerate days!) to remind me MY, not Jason's nor my dad's, payment was due "tomorrow"...But the thing was, we were ALWAYS a payment ahead because remember, the first payment was paid the very first day, and all subsequent payments thereafter.  These people call my father at work, at home during hours allotted by the law to be illegal.  They are calling friends, relatives, ME...for a loan OUT OF STATUTE.  They have never once called Jason.  NOT ONCE.  They call my dad because he has money, and a job.  The number for which they call is not even a number that we ever provided them.  He has since moved to another state, so they have been clearly waiting for a chance to find my dad, a cosigner, to pay down a debt that has never been legally been established.  His job is so close to firing him because the calls are all day, and he has 10 messages a day from them at home, as well as his cell phone (all of it illegal)---This is not a pity party, and I am handling this on my own...This is primarily here as a cautionary tale for those who need to know who and what Drivetime is.  Don't no matter what ever go there no matter how desperate you are for a car!  That was Jason's downfall, and that's what caused my father's pain today.  Be patient, and scrutinize every opportunity before you take it...Never settle for Drivetime. 

Oh, and if there's a lawyer out there reading this, take action for all the people who really need it!  Companies like this prey on the poor and unsuspecting...a tactic that only brings hardship the economy if looking at the bigger picture.  We can not succeed as a whole with practices out there such as these...