AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE Honda Financial Services American Honda Finance - unwilling to help hardship customers. Rude - Threats - Lies Elgin, Illinois

I'm sorry for your troubles, but Honda is not in business to be a charity.  It sounds as though they tried to help, but this situation has exceeded the limitations of help.  You could just turn in the keys.  It's called a voluntary repossession and would be reported on your credit as such, which is marginally better than an involuntary repossession in the credit world.  However, as with a regular repossession, you would be responsible for any deficiency once the vehicle was sold.  This is likely since you indicated that you are upside down in the vehicle.

hi i have a 05 element. i got behind and tried reasoning with them aswell. their sharks. my ripoff report is on here aswell. my car actually did end up getting taken. i paid the repo fees andc storage and towing and everything and got it back it ended up being 1400.00. they lied to me , they took 5 days saying paper work had to be done ect before i could get it back at 60.00 a day ect ect. whats messed up with mine is..i was 2 months behind. my payments are on the 2nd of each month. i paid them on the first 1100.00, and they came on the second early in the morning and took it. now i paid the 1400.00 to get it back they made me jump through hoops for five days. they made me give 5 numbers and address and names of family and freinds so they could talk to them and tell them about me not paying ect. it was dreadful. i only had 2 payments left,when they repo'd it.  and a repo after i have cried and swear blood and tears in desperation for 5 years to get these people their payments. i wanted to buy a house next yr not now...heck not for the next 7 yrs cuz of the repo. well i just wanted to let you know, some of these people oon here will say some horrible comments to you, just like they did to me, just know that these people most likely are honda...in disguise. so to those people get a life losers!

Hi all -

Thanks for the responses. My rant is more to do about the way they handle their customers than it is about me disputing they need to get paid. However, I do think that they should look into some other options because there are many, many people in the same situation. Something along the lines of Hyundai - Lose your job, turn in keys program. Or, take a cue from the mortgage companies and lower the principle so you can actually refinance the car.

In the end, a repossession is going to be much more costly. Typically, I see customers with balances far exceeding the original loan and it will become a judgment on your credit report, making it impossible to get financing until it's paid. So, it's best to avoid getting that far behind. But, some people are really struggling here in MI.

There's no excuse for treating customers the way these people do. Consumers that are on the line trying to tell you the situation already know they are late and in trouble. The threats are ridiculous. I can see why the news reports specials on people that have committed suicide over bill collectors. They are downright ruthless. More of them should be held accountable. We can all be human to each other. That's my point. This is only money.

My advice to anyone looking to buy a car is: if you really want to help the local economy, buy local from a person. Save up cash and buy a used car. We need to stop borrowing from big companies because if you ever get yourself into a tough spot, their job is keep collecting no matter what. If you do have to finance, go through a credit union. They are smaller and run by a committee and they may have some programs that can help you through a limited amount of time to get back on track. I don't think that's asking too much to meet the borrower half way, if they are making a good faith effort. If after that duration the consumer cannot find work or cannot pay, the next step would be a repossession.

As I said, I'm not trying to say the money isn't owed but there can be better ways to handle it. Create a loss mitigation and we all might come out ahead in the end.

I still believe we can act like human beings that aren't owned by some big corporation. But thank you for your comments, even the ones I disagree with.

I feel sorry for you.  I mean that, I really do. 

What you said is true, it's all about the almighty buck. That's what they are in business for, it's not a charity. I'm actually amazed that they've done as much as have and haven't repossessed the car yet  

Unfortunately they hear peoples sad stories all day long and there is no way to tell who is telling the truth and who is just trying to get out of paying.

Who knows, if this was the kind of world where they could absolutely believe everyone, maybe they would be willing to help even more than they did. 

First of all as far as Honda or any other finance company is concerned the Divorce Decree is worth about as much as the marriage it disolved.  This is because they were not a party to the divorce and do not have to be held by it.  There is actually a bit of legalities along with it, but this is the basics.  So regardless of what the divorce papers said, if you are on the loan you are responsible for the car.  That is why they are talking to you and not your ex.   The only thing the divorce papers would do is enable you to go after your ex husband if you ended up having to pay on the loan.  You could use the divorce agreement to go after your ex in civil court.

As to the actual loan.  Did the loan agreement you sign say that you only had to make payments if you had a job?  Did it say you only had to make loan payments if you stay married?  Did it say you only had to make the payments if you were not sick?  The answer to all three of those is of course, no.  It stated you had to make your payment every month. 

And when I asked why they couldn't give some assistance - they said they did their part. They extended a payment (not forgiven but thrown on the back of the loan with interest) and they waived some late fees. Also, they see changing the payment date as a big favor. Wow. Tremendous help. Thanks a lot.

- Okay exactly what did you want them to do?  Just say don't worry about paying it until you got back on your feet?  Say they said just forget about 3 months of payments, what happens when in the 4th month you or your ex still can't pay..should they give you another month..perhaps two?  Just how many months should they have to "carry" you before you think they are no longer ripping you off?  

By the way nothing here is any different than any other finance company would do if you don't make your payments.  In fact some will resposses your car for not even being 30 days late, and others won't do any extentions or changing of due dates.