I was a cosigner for a car loan for a family member through Drivetime. Apparently it was refinanced last year. I didn't know nothing about it. I didn't sign any papers. Now, I have 2 Drivetimes on my credit report. 1) Original 2) Refinanced Repo. It was repo about 2 months ago after non payment becaused I received a letter in the mail that it was being sold at auction. This was first time I knew anything of repo. Nobody called me. So I took a look at my credit report and there it all is. I think there is some fraud going on here. This is all on my credit and I didn't co-sign for anyone to refinance anything. I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any advice where to go from here. I am not talking to family member at this time because I think she has something to do with all this.

I was in a car accident and totaled my car in October of 2009. I had just started a new job and could not miss work or I would lose my job (job probation). I only had $700 available as a down payment on another vehicle. A friend was able to get me to work for two days only, so during that two days I shopped around many places trying to buy another vehicle. Due to my credit and lack of money and short time on the job the only place I could buy a vehicle was DRIVE TIME. I was offered two vehicles only. A Chevy Lumina and a Ford Taurus. I had had previous experience with a Lumina and did not want to even consider that option. I asked what the MPG was for both cars. I drive 100+ miles per day round trip for work. So gas mileage was a must. They assured me that the Ford Taurus would get 26mpg. Now DRIVE TIME's selling feature is that they do a (22 or 32) point inspection on all vehicles. I don't remember the number. This is to reassure you the buyer that you are not getting a lemon. I put down my $700. I signed papers. I was told that I could make payments right there in the local store. My second day of owning the vehicle I called them back because the brakes were making noise. Basically I was told that was not covered and I would have to take it elsewhere. I said what about this inspection you were supposed to do.. I got the run-a-round. So it turned out that my back brakes were completely worn down and needed replaced desperately. So a year goes by.. I am stilling paying over $340 a month for this car that gets 19-21 mpg TOPS, and I get an ad from a local car dealership that says they see I have a Ford Taurus and they have been authorized to buy it back from me and put me in another car for less money. I go. The truth is I need gas mileage. I am spending $140+ every two weeks on gas. I get there and I go through some paperwork with them, only to find out that they cannot buy my car because I am financed through DRIVE TIME. They explain that the interest rates with DRIVE TIME are 19%... and that the bluebook on my car is $2000. I owe $8000. They explain how companies like DRIVE TIME know that you cannot trade this vehicle in and are forced to pay the entire contract.

So I immediately call DRIVE TIME and talk to them about all this information which came to light. They explain that "THEY" have a buy back program, where I can trade the car in for another one. Not much of an offer. But at this point I am thinking I need gas mileage, prices are going up. So I am told to call back on Monday and speak to someone about trading in my car. I call Monday. I get run-a-round. I call back Tuesday and they finally tell me that they will not take my car in trade until I owe less than $2000. At this point I say.. I have had the car over a year and paid you on time and from day one you have shafted me. Lied to me about gas mileage. Lied to me about your inspections. So I said I will let all my friends know how you do business. What else could I do?

Which brings me to point 3. Remember I could pay at my local DRIVE TIME. Well they removed that option. You can have the car payment deducted from your bank account monthly. You can pay at bill paying locations for a fee. You can pay online for a fee. My local pay location is 30 miles away. So I started paying online for a $5.50 fee. Hated to pay that fee, but I figured by the time I drove 30 miles one way and paid at the location plus the fee I was saving money by paying online. Here' s the problem with that. I paid with my bank debit card. The money is withdrawn immediately. DRIVE TIME however did not collect the money immediately. When it is not collected it goes back into your bank account. Two weeks later they re-collect the money. Now YES the money is still there, but because you do not get a monthly bill, nor can you ever see anything online to show your payments, interest and so on.. How do I know if I am getting charged a late fee?
So I ask.. Now DRIVE TIME should be politicians because they have a gift for answering your question without ever answering your question. So basically I don't know. So I requested an itemized statement of what I have paid. I have yet to get that in the mail, however I was told verbally what I owed at that moment.

So that brings me to two weeks ago. My paycheck is direct deposited (late the night before payday). Sometime during the night my check was deposited and a debit came in (unauthorized ) and removed that paycheck. By the time I get up the next morning, that transaction is final. So I call the bank and let them know I did not authorize that transaction. So they suggest I call that company to get them to give me the money back, where upon you get the run-a-round of you must sign this and that.. and it gets investigated. So I go back to the bank and have them start investigation. Anyway long and short.. I did not have the money to make my car payment. So I call DRIVE TIME and notify them. I get a lovely operator who says You have been a good customer let me apply for a deferment. So she applies. I am told to call back the next day to see if it was approved. NO it was not. So she says well we have other options. So a week later when I have to make my usual car payment again, we re-apply for the deferment. Once again it was denied. My circumstances are not considered a hardship. So they suggest I pay 90% of the lost payment. At which time I say Don't you think I would pay something if I had any of that money returned to me. It was at this point that I realized that this company is not about helping people. Many circumstances can produce bad credit. Five months without a job can do so much damage to your credit report. And it takes years to catch these things up. Years. And for companies to prey on people who are in these positions is inexcusable. They say that statistically 95% of the United States population is two paychecks away from bankruptsy. A huge chunk of the population does not have good credit. When companies charge 19 % interest.. and sell you a car for $14, 000 that is not even worth $4000 that is scandalous. Is it any wonder that people cannot get ahead when you are forced to do business with companies such as this? So I am writing this in the hopes that we can petition the Government or someone into stopping these unfair practices and creating a environment for people with poor credit to get ahead and clean that credit up.

My husband and I are looking to buy another vehicle. We don't have very good credit and so are limited as to where we can purchase a vehicle. We called 1-800-barnone since we had seen their commercials on television and they put Drive Time in touch with us. We do not live in the same city they are located but they asked us to set up an appointment. They really wouldn't go over pricing of the vehicles we were interested in over the phone so that raised a red flag. We still decided to go and check it out. The vehicle we wanted to look at they had marked almost $5000 above book value. They wanted a huge down payment of $4500 and they wanted payment of of over $400 a month plus they charged 20% interest. My husband and I about choked. Then they gave us a list of cars that we had absolutely no interest in what so ever and asked if we wanted to look at any of those. We said "No Thanks"! Sheesh we may have bad credit but we aren't ***!!! It seems to me that because they are a buy here pay here place they think they can take advantage of the consumer and that is very sad!!! I definitely would not recommend them to anyone! Buyer Beware!!

I am not pleased with this company at all. The customer service department is very rude, and not easy to deal with. I wish that someone had warned me about this company before I signed my contract for the purchase of my vehicle. If you are one day late with the payment the collection department will call everyone of your references to purposely embarass you. They call all day while you're on your job. I'm not in the best of health, and I recieved a call from Drive Time while I was at work. The agent upset me so bad until I left work and went straight to the Doctor's office. My blood pressure went through the roof. My life revolves around the payments for this vehicle. With the high cost of insurance and the payments every two weeks, I'm paying close to 1000.00 a month to drive a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe. Total rip-off. Let's write the Federal Government.

Like many of you, I have been victimized by DriveTime. Their fraud, deception, and abuse must be stopped! There are hundreds of complaints regarding the company posted in various locations on the internet. Certainly, there are countless other victims who remain silent. I am presently in the process of gathering information to present to the Federal Trade Commission regarding their illegal business practices. If have a complaint or need instructions on how to stop their harassment, you may email me: [email protected]