Santander Consumer USA
Reviews and Complaints

Santander bought my car loan from citifinancial auto and now that loan has come due (6 years) they say I still owe $6600 and they have repoed the car

When I signed up for the extended warranty with santander consumer usa, I was told that everything will be covered, no matter what the problem is, it will be covered under my warranty. When I had issues with my vehicle spitting and sputtering, all the sudden it was not covered. It was some kind of coil. For it to be covered it had to be over a certain amount and on a certain list of things that are covered, not what I signed up to receive. I drive a decent amount of miles to work on a daily basis, so I made certain before I signed any papers that brakes, rotors, brake pads, if the clutch goes out, a/c, I covered all the basis with the salesman that sold me this warranty, and come to find out when I took my vehicle in for service, none of this stuff is covered. What am I paying for? Nothing, just a scam to take my money! I'm a single mother of two boys, with no assistance from their father and no one else, I don't deserve for someone to just steal my money and not hold up to their end of the deal!

In october 2006 I purchased a 2004 ford freestar with a loan though chase bank. The following july, 2007, I purchased a 2005 f-150 through wells fargo auto finance. I had great credit at the time, and had decent interest rates with both companies (under 12%). However, both were for a short term and had pretty hefty payments.in september 2007, I received an email from hsbc auto finance offering to reduce my payments. I thought, "well, i've got good credit, so maybe someone has noticed, and this could be a good thing". Boy was I wrong! The representative for hsbc explained that they could extend my term on both loans, but that the interest rate would be a bit higher temporarily while the loan "seasoned". She promised that if I made 6 months of perfect, on time payments, they would then be able to reduce my interest rates to well below my previous loan rates. I said, "so what are we talking, 10-11%?" she said, "with your credit score we're probably looking at more like 8-9%". I said "great!, let's do this!". She sent me all the paperwork, I filled out and signed everything and sent it back in. Done deal... Right? Not hardly! After six perfect months of payment history on both vehicles, I called in to take advantage of the offer and promise that was made. Hsbc's response? : "we are not permitted to reduce the interest rate on a car loan in the state of ohio." what!?!?!?! Since then, (and today is july 20, 2013) I have been paying 15.59%+ on both cars! My account was sold to santander consumer usa, who has repeatedly been informed of this issue since they took over the loans more than 5 eras ago. Today, someone finally said they will look into it.

Basically what this amount to is over $60, 000.00 being paid on these loans, and I still owe over $29, 000.00 on two cars that are barely worth a combined $20k! Fiscally, it would better for me to just let them come and get the cars, but I have chosen to keep my word, because I signed the contracts. However, I recommend that no one should ever trust anyone from hsbc or santander. Trust me, nobody in their right mind needs a new car that bad!

I have started 2 petitions to help everyone wronged by santander consumers. I am trying to gather everyone (which there are tens of thousands!) who have been wronged by this company and it's bulldozer tactics. I'm contacting their attorneys as well as news stations, please help by uniting us all and signing these petitions to bring justice for every hard working person being taken advantage of by their unethical acts!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-santander-consumer-from-abusing-their/

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-santander-consumer-abusing-hard-working-americans/Mcjv6Vd2

Since the very beginning santander consumer has been misinforming and deceiving my sister and I regarding our loan, resulting in thousands of dollars applied to interest rather than principal. Many of these payments were representative advised, and we were directly told would be in the best interest of the loan. A direct result of santander consumers' inability to communicate their practices to their consumers accurately, we have suffered financially, mentally and have been forced to waste a monumental amount of time. Whether it was intentional deception or incompetence, santander consumers' completely unethical business practices have made it impossible for two hard working americans to conceivably pay off this loan.

When requesting mailed documentation regarding the loan, fees, applied payments and interest, we are given the run around, ignored or our calls are simply terminated. Which is funny because try being one day late and see how many harassing phone calls you receive from them. This has made it very difficult to seek legal advise. Hundreds of phone calls (all documented) have transpired with representatives constantly misinforming us. We want nothing more than a fair obtainable loan, for our past representative advised payments to be applied to our principal balance. We plan on continuing to follow up with whatever parties are necessary until this issue is resolved.

I paid off my 7 year auto loan with santander in the spring of 2012. It had originally been with citibank, but they sold me over to santander a few years in.

I had them on auto-pay for years, never missed a payment. I felt that my car should have been paid off in february 2011, but they took a payment in march and another in april. I called them to see when it would be paid off, and I was informed that I had one payment left and that they would not and could not take it automatically, that I had to mail them a check. I felt uneasy about it, but pulled two money orders for the total amount they requested. One was the amount of my loan payments and one for 'extra interest' I guess, and mailed them off.

Within a couple of days of that they did indeed run a payment through my checking account which was returned. I called them as soon as I saw it hit my bank, told them that they certainly had the money orders or would any minute now. They said, don't worry, it will all work out.

They 'misapplied' one of the money orders, or maybe the returned payment made its way onto a list of customers to call and abuse. I had to order the cancelled money orders and mail them copies, which I did immediately.

The next 6 weeks were hell. They called at all hours, twice they woke us up at night, they tried to trick my husband into making another payment. When I told them "why would I pay perfect for 7 years, then not make the last payment" half of them said "your right, excuse the call" and half of them were abusive and just seemed to be enjoying harassing someone.

In the meantime I had to pay for the returned check fee and the money order request fee. I got my copies, mailed them off and the harassment stopped.

After that part of the mess was over, I found, mixed in my pile of collection letters from them, my title and a congratulations and thank you for paying off your loan letter dated for the week they got the money orders. They knew all along it was their mistake.

If you look at my credit file, it looks like I stopped paying in january. Not true, and I can prove it. I paid on time, in full, every time for 7 years.

To this day I am still fighting with them to get my credit bureaus straight. They have never apologized for the abuse or for their mistake. I have a letter from them saying very vaguely that they would correct my credit but not saying why or what.

So, they made a mistake, abuse med, made another mistake (although it feels like it was on purpose) on my credit bureau.

One of my credit cards reduced the amount that I can charge, siting this issue. That hurt my credit. Too. It's like a never ending domino effect that only hurts me.

If I were to get another car loan, which I would like to do right now, banks would charge me higher interest. That is so unfair, that they control my credit rating even when they are wrong.

If i, a customer who paid for 7 years without missing a beat, have been this abused and mistreated, there has to be a class action lawsuit out there. Or at least a lawsuit for me. Where do I find a lawyer for this type of situation?

Thank you, bridget

I started out with a loan from hsbc and then it was sold to santander in march 2010. It seemed like forever my payment would not go down. I called several times asking why and their response was it's a simple interest loan and interest charged after the end of each month. When I purchased my vehicle it was for 72 months that' is what I expected; this was back in 2005. Today i'm still making payments even after 8 deferments and its 2013. I know that i'm being bilked have another vehicle purchased in 2011 balance owed on this vehicle is only half the amount more than what i'm paying I think that it so crazy. How can the balance of a vehicle purchased in 2011 almost the same price be near the balance of a vehicle purchased 8 years ago and still paying. I should have purchased an bentley if i'm going to pay for a car with the life of a house payment.

Do not by any means take out a home equity line of credit with them with their 2.24 rate bonus for 12 months. Took out line in july 2012 and have had nothing but problems with being overcharged at 3.99% I get no help from either branch or call center. They completely tell a different story with each contact and no one knows what they are talking about as is proven with monthly billing notice we receive. I have repeatedly asked to speak with someone higher up the command line and have not been given the opportunity to do so. We are at our wits end with it all. I was a former bank mgr with bank they acquired so I know about lending practices. We actually had our own lending authority to approve our loan applications, something branch personnel do not currently have. I have to explain to current bank personnel how it works and what things mean in the system because they don't have a clue. Anyone else in same boat? We are at wits end and are considering class action lawsuit as we are told by sovereign personnel it is affecting many accounts and it is a system problem. Goodness sakes they must have offered the product before they even had system capabilities to handle it. They must not have any it staff at their corporation that knows how to fix the problem.in the mean time, customers get the run around and told many ridiculous stories when you try to stop the overcharging. Unbelievable to say e least.

I have an auto loan with santander in dallas, tx. The interest rate is extremely high so I am trying to pay off the loan early. However, when ever I send in an extra payment, 50% of the payment (sometimes more) goes towards interest. I call them and ask them if there is an early payoff penalty and they tell me no. They say that all I need to do is mail the extra payment with a letter stating that I wish to have the payment applied to the principal. I have done this twice. The first time was in january. I paid an extra $400 (above my normal monthly payment) and $220 was applied to interest. I called them and they said that they did not receive anything stating what to do with the payments so it was applied like a normal payment.
I once again verified that I could pay off early without penalty. She told me that there was no problem with that. She said all I need to do was to mail the check with a letter stating to apply overpayment to principal so the next time, I sent an extra payment I took a picture of the check and the letter and then mailed to santander requesting the overpayment be applied to the principal. Once again, 50% of the over payment went to interest. I have sent emails, letters, and phone calls. I am at my witts end as to how to pay off this loan as 50% of the load is going towards interest. My concern now is that none of the payments are being applied properly. Is it even legal to apply 50% of overpayments to interest? I was going to upload the pictures I have taken but since the include my bank info I didnt want it posted openly to this website. However, I do have pictures of the letters I have sent to prove my case

Santander was great to "give" me a loan at 13% (eye roll) because I had some past issues on my credit report. Had to file bankruptcy but agreed to keep paying on the auto and retain ownership. 3 years later, I try to get them to report on my timely payments and they won't due to the bankruptcy. Fine... So I decide to trade it in and get a new auto. I had to make 4 calls in one day for the payoff amount. Each person told me something totally different than the one before. Person #1 said my payoff would be faxed within the hour. After 5 hrs, I call and speak to person #2 who says that they aren't sending out payoff letters due to their legal department reviewing the payoff letter text. What?!?! I ask if I can have the dealership call them to get a payoff. And she said sure... I gave her the name of the dealership. Dealership calls about 20 minutes later and santander won't share it. I call back and speak to person #3 who says that they have no record of me authorizing the dealership. Ask to have them added and was told it was done. Dealership calls me again. Can't get the payoff. I call back and speak to the person#4 who says that my payoff/payment history would be faxed tomorrow morning but would add the dealership's name. What?!?! I though you couldn't do that. "oh, it is a first come/first serve where we fax your entire payment history and payoff to the dealership". Told him to cancel that as the dealership would be calling. People jerked me and the dealership around for the entire day. And I found out that jackwagon #4 didn't cancel the fax as the dealership got it this morning. Add to the over-the-top interest rate, customer service that doesn't know its head from a hole in the ground and their inability to refinance/defer a payment if an emergency happened. I'd stay away. Capital one gave me a loan at 8% and is a lot more with it.

Attention all california residents with complaints against santander: I submitted my complaint to the california attorney general office. They are investigating santander. Please submit all your complaints to them. The more complaints submitted, the more likely they will make them pay!

Join in on the class action lawsuit against santander consumer us! It will put a stop to this madness and unfair charges that they are charging people due to taking over a loan from hsbc, citifinancial auto, etc. Santander charged me interest on deferred payments that I had with cifinancial before they accured the loan. They will not show me documented charged and the amount that they charged me, they just told me I owe an addtional $6, 000 after my loan is payoff on 5/13/2013. This is unfair to many americans today. We seriously need to put a stop to this company!

This auto finance company first of all gave me pear hell when and before the auto loan was closed, I purchased the auto in 2/19/11 the deal was not sealed until May 2011. in late May the auto broke down and I had to raise Holli hell to have the dealer fix the repairs, then in August 2011 battery for auto needed to be replaced, the dealer had a rusted battery in the car. this is way I take my darn time paying them on time, this car was not certified like the salesman manager told me and the owner, they tried to repo my car in May 2011 I fought them and kept my car, they charged so many fee's that is not readable in my sales contract, it's terrible how the state of Texas let this business stay open and operate such practice's nationwide, in September 25, 2012 auto breaks down again, costing me over $1, 000 in repairs and last year when the dealer fix the repair that I have mention earlier in this complaint was $993.00 and plus the warranty they sold me at the dealership was worthless .$1, 799.00 for a darn warranty that was no good. come on people, let's get this bank out of operation. they are ripping hard Americans off their hard earn money. I be DA-- if I continue to pay this high a-- payment! no-way something has to be done. I know they over charged me and now I'm looking for an Attorney who can go after them and don't be afraid. this is my strong complaint

For an entire year santander has mis appropriated funds, missing payments of checks that were cashed by them and not applied. I was asked to fax proof of payment by my bank and I did... Mistakes are are continuously made. I'm given instructions on how to send checks with notes attached to pay principal only as i'm paying my car payment and a half a payment still they can not get it right. Accounting is incompetent or I am being scammed. September was the worst, I sent 3 checks totaling 1, 100. One payment was missing and the other two payments were applied to some else's account. I noticed my balance was not going down and had to fax copies of payments from my bank to prove I paid. I'm paying more than I should cause I want to get away from this company asap. They are making it very complicated.

I had a vehicle that was originally financed through hsbc that was sold to santander after paying the loan off I received an e-mail stating that I would receive my release of lien within 30 days of 7/24/2012. After waiting more than 30 days I still had not received the paperwork. I called and spoke with a representative who told me that they would mail one out. Waited again, still no release of lien. I called again, after about 30 days and still no release I called and was told that they would mail one out and have one faxed to me. You got it, no fax or mailed copy. I called once again today and was told that since it had been over 30 days that I now had to go through a web-site and pay a fee. Makes me really wonder if this was not what was going on all along, to get me to have to pay a fee to get my release of lien. Oh and when I asked to speak to a manager I was told that no one was available and to call back in an hour. I have paid thousands of dollars over the years i'm not paying any more once I finally got the crooks paid off.

We agree with the recent complaints against santander consumer usa! We are having many of the same issues. My loan started with wells fargo back in 2008, then passed to citifinancial group, which we are being told changed their name to santander consumer usa. When the name changed, apparently so did my original loan amount. How can they change my original loan payment agreement to a higher amount without my acknowledgement or consent? My payments were 729.00 and I was on time with all payments, how do I go from a contract owing 31, 000.00 to owing 38, 000.00 after months of payment 729.00? But when we figure all the payments and fees we have already paid them will over 31, 000.00 and headed toward 45, 000.00! This lender is taking advantage of consumers, we feel trapped by this loan and just want out! The car is falling a part and every car dealer we've tried to trade the car in with will not touch it due to the company, they don't want to deal with them at all and will not touch the vehicle for that reason only.

My grandson is in the marines and stationed in nc. He bought a truck and it was financed by santander by the dealership. He has had nothing but troubles with santander. He set it up to pay automatically and sometimes they did it and sometimes they didn't. They called all the time but mostly they called me and I live in nevada. He finally went to his own bank and refinanced with them, which was great. Santander took a whole month before they would settle the closing and after they excepted the check for the refinance and sent the title to the new bank they charged my grandson $700 in fees with no documentation, just a charge. His credit report as of aug 14, 2012 shows that he has 3 late payments (which he doesn't) owed and still a balance of 20, 000+ on the account even though it has been closed since februrary, 2012. His bank is having to deal with santander because you can't get ahold of anyone who has a clue what is going on other than what is on their computer screen. This company is a disgrace and should be sued for fraudlent business practices. I hope the better business bureau has a file on them. Please no one else use them

I dont owe but $1, 900.00 on the dodge caliber but santander says I owe $4, 000.00 I know thats not correct and im having problems with the car. So, something has to be done to stop them from ripping people off. Anthony b.

I have belonged to a federal credit union for 25 years, but like to keep a local bank account.

When the manager signed me up, he neglected to tell me that you can have your account set not to authorize a payment if the funds are not available. I didn't know there was an od for almost two weeks. Then, I disputed some of it.

Their phone c/s person gave me misinformation and more fees were added. Then, a sustanined overdraft fee was added. I left messages and finally sent a certified letter to their reading office. Who's on vacation, etc. By the time I got to a human that was going to settle the matter, they closed my account and turned it over to collection, but couldn't tell me what firm. I don't want that on my credit report.

Everyone tells you they can't help you and pushes you off to someone else. Called the branch today to settle it and will fight them for a refund later. Manager doesn't call me back — same guy that signed me up for the account.

The people at the branch are nice. C/s is the pitts. Put your money under the mattress or in the wall — you'll be safer from unfair banking practices.

I have been paying more than I am supposed to every month, and I have either called or used the chat option on their website to let them know that the extra payment I am actually making should be towards the principal. The first request was back in march, I have called them again a couple of times, and they a;ways tell me that the request is already in. Now we just started august, and my next payment is scheduled to october the 14th. When all those payments should had gone towards the principal. Whenever you call, it is always somebody explaining that the interest should be satisfied, as if I had not gone to college for finance. I do understand that, but why should I pay the interests all the way to october, when we have not even started september?
This is getting ridiculous, and I really plan to take care of this.