car repo - toyota

[jribe]

Just as an FYI for others; my Toyota was repo'd today after missing only 3 payments.

I was pretty shocked actually. We have had steady payment history with toyota for about six years, no lates (besides the recent).

I thought because everyone was so busy with everything it would take longer for them to take it.

I just wanted to share this info for others in a similar situation.

[lrprn]

One of our son's friends worked for several years as a local car dealer 'collector' who would call folks that were late on their payments to see if they were able to make the payments or not. He told us that no matter where you lived in the US, after two missed car payments, it was time to take your stuff out of the car because the repo man would be coming for it within a few weeks.

Was your car loan lender local? Local lenders tend to move faster to repossess than the regional and national lenders.

[debtmonster]

I was out of town for a week looking for a place to live 350 miles away from home. We're waiting for the NOD on our foreclosure and I want to be ready. We're way over 90 days past due on our BMW SUV. When we got home, a card was left on our door. The repo man made a visit while we were gone. The repo office is a good 28-29 miles away from our house... so it's a nice, long drive for them to drive a gas hog diesel truck out here only to find out we're not home. A good wasted hour of their time. I'd be a little ticked off to have to make that long drive for nothing... especially if I had to do it multiple times to try to repo a car only to find the people are never home.

I'm wondering if they are going to come back soon or not. I'm sure it's very expensive for them to keep coming out here to look for us. The BMW is kept in a garage when it's here, so they can't get to it if we are home. We need the SUV for moving purposes right now since it's bigger and can carry boxes. Plus we have a good sized dog cage for our dogs and we carry that in the back. We have to go to the vet in a few days and need the SUV. Then after that, I want to load it up with boxes and drive 350 miles to the place to start putting our stuff in storage near the area where we will be living. I got a PO Box down by there and will be forwarding all of our mail there. There will be no paper trail to lead anyone to the actual place we will be staying at. I have no intentions on filing BK by at least July or August so we can not have to do the means test.

What will happen if we keep driving this thing and the repo people can't find it? Can they put a warrant out for us or anything or can they just keep looking for it and simply not let us renew the tag? I only need it until August and then they can gladly have it back. I just want to rack up another 10,000 miles on it or so to get my money's worth out of it. It will probably be the last nice car like this that I will have in my lifetime.

I worked at an automotive finance company for a short time years ago and read the logs where they were trying to repo the car. I remember reading about somebody owning an Isuzu pickup and the bank tried for over 2 years to find the person and had no luck of ever getting this person.

The payoff on my BMW is about $35,000 at this point. I would say the KBB price is barely $23,000. Auction price will probably be much less, especially with me racking up the miles. Every time we take the car on the road, we put no less than 60 miles a pop since everything is so far from here. That's how I put over 25,000 miles on the car in less than a year.

Our lawyer told me that since we're not going to be filing for such a long time that we may end up having to move out early. If we were to file BK now, it would slow the whole process down. I can't file now because we made over $34,000 in the past 8 months due to a nice XMas bonus I had, plus my wife had a job a few months ago. When we file, I need the past 6 months of income to be well under $26,000.

[blankslate]

Debtmonster, I'd take that cage out every night even if it is in your garage. You can come pick up your belongings from the repo lot afterwards but it's easier to just make sure they're not in there in the first place. I believe they can put a warrant out for you and have you served by the sheriff if it is worth their time. I've heard of some pretty drastic measures from repo people to get to that vehicle.

You've come a long way since you first started posting here. Sounds like you're moving in the right direction now. You're beginning to learn that stuff, is just stuff. It comes and goes. When I had a nice German car, I really LOVED driving that thing but there was always this feeling that it wasn't really mine and if I missed my payments someone would take it away. These expensive things that we think bring us pleasure, actually bring us stress and shame. Good luck with the move, I know things are going to start feeling better for you soon.

[debtmonster]

Debtmonster, I'd take that cage out every night even if it is in your garage. You can come pick up your belongings from the repo lot afterwards but it's easier to just make sure they're not in there in the first place. I believe they can put a warrant out for you and have you served by the sheriff if it is worth their time. I've heard of some pretty drastic measures from repo people to get to that vehicle.

You've come a long way since you first started posting here. Sounds like you're moving in the right direction now. You're beginning to learn that stuff, is just stuff. It comes and goes. When I had a nice German car, I really LOVED driving that thing but there was always this feeling that it wasn't really mine and if I missed my payments someone would take it away. These expensive things that we think bring us pleasure, actually bring us stress and shame. Good luck with the move, I know things are going to start feeling better for you soon.

What I have learned is that German cars depreciate SUPER FAST. You can buy a nice 4 or 5 year old BMW or Mercedes for the price of a new Hyundai Elantra. It would be nice to own a car that was once $60,000 to $70,000 when brand new and only pay $10,000 to $14,000 for it.

Well, as far as I know, I don't have any warrant. If I did, how would I know? Wouldn't the cops leave a note on my door or something?

We have nothing in the SUV. We put the cage in it when we travel with the dogs and then I take it out. Last night we used the SUV to carry a bunch of boxes for our move. What's going to happen if we move to Miami and I forward my mail to the PO Box and never tell anyone? Can't we just drive this thing for another 4 or 5 months? If the repo man can never find me since I won't be here, what can they really do? Nothing, right?

[OregonMom]

I just gave my SUV back so I wasn't worried about when the repo man was going to come and get my vehicle. I had fellow co-worker who had her car repoed at work. She got off at 11pm and her car was gone. So needless to say your car isn't safe anywhere.

[debtmonster]

I've heard of many people getting their cars repo'd at their job. At my jobs from the past, I've often seen repo trucks scouring the parking lots.

Once we move to our final destination, I won't need the SUV. It's just living out here, 30 miles away in the sticks, we need it to transport stuff. The small sedan we have is just what I said... small, and impractical for our needs right now. I don't have thousands sitting in the checking account to buy a used one for cash. Plus I can't finance another one. As of this writing, I have $58 in my checking account.

[jeb]

Debt, I see you live in Central Florida as do I - what you need to watch is having equity in the second car you have as we only have a $1,000.00 auto exemption. Since you will not have a homestead - I am assuming this - you have another 4 grand for other things which might cover you. - jb

[debtmonster]

Debt, I see you live in Central Florida as do I - what you need to watch is having equity in the second car you have as we only have a $1,000.00 auto exemption. Since you will not have a homestead - I am assuming this - you have another 4 grand for other things which might cover you. - jb

Yeah... I have tons of 'equity' in my sedan... 'NEGATIVE' equity. I owe almost $12,000 on a sedan that's worth $4,000 to $5,000 at auction.

If worst comes to worse, they can take EVERYTHING. I really don't care. I can always buy it again. My wife is the one who complains the most about it. I've been hitting Auto Trader multiple times per week for people on here, myself and for friends. There's tons of better deals out there.

The next car I buy, I want to buy it at or just below the KBB Trade-In price.

If a dealer is going to pay somebody that when they trade it in, then they can sell me the car at the same price they are going to sell it to the dealer at. That's the way I look at it.

I want to buy a car at a price that I know I can sell it at for nearly the same amount every 10 months. Maybe I can even drive 500 miles away from my area to save several thousand on a car. Drive it for 10 months, sell it for more than I paid for it and then keep doing that over and over. This is what they recommend on Dave Ramsey.

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/why_buy_a_used_car_5153.htmlc

[pookieny]

Just as an FYI for others; my Toyota was repo'd today after missing only 3 payments.

I was pretty shocked actually. We have had steady payment history with toyota for about six years, no lates (besides the recent).

I thought because everyone was so busy with everything it would take longer for them to take it.

I just wanted to share this info for others in a similar situation.

Who was your loan with? Local financing or out of state?

[pookieny]

As far as hiding your car in your garage, people who lived across the street had the repo guy show up and wouldn't let him in the garage. Repo had the police come-guess they must have had a warrant and they got the car out.

[DebtEnder]

If a writ of replevin was issued by the court for the lien holder then yes the owner of the vehicle would be compelled to produce the car. Most states besides the one I live in require this if you refuse to allow entry to secured property for the car to be taken. Otherwise repo man calling the cops means little, all they can do is keep the peace and enforce your will regarding him entering your property.

Now the repo guy can sit on the street so long as he is not violating loitering/parking laws and the like all he wants. Once the car leaves secured property and you are not there to tell him he's not allowed to take it he can hook it and go.

This is at least my understanding based on what I have read. I would ask an local attorney just what the laws are regarding repo in your state. As I live in Ga they can force me to allow access to secured property without a writ.

[debtmonster]

What happens if you're not home and they think the car is in the garage? They go breaking into the house only to find nothing, all the while damaging a door or window to get in. What's the story with that?

Like we're getting ready to go back to Miami in a few days and will have the SUV with us. What happens if they get that court order to enter my house while I am gone? Can they do that or does somebody have to answer the door and say that the car is not here? I wonder if they will go to the neighbors first and ask if they think we are out of town or not.

[DebtEnder]

I doubt the Repo guy would be doing any B&E. The sheriff might. I would imagine you would get a notice of the writ via mail. I have no idea if they give a small window to produce the property before they employ the service of the sheriff. Contact an attorney to get detailed info.

[ShouldWeFile]

IMHO, you may not have much luck keeping this car as long as you are residing at the address that the lender has for you - even if you park the car in the garage nightly. I think they would be willing to stake out the address for many hours from a distance, but not likely to break into the garage or home.

Once you are at the remote address, assuming that absolutely no one has the physical address, you may be able to keep the car indefinitely - at least until you file (then you will have to list them as a creditor). The lender will likely just 'charge off' the loan or lease balance at some point.

I just gave three cars back to the respective lending institutions - I just cancelled the insurance on those vehicles this morning also. The odd thing is that the one I was most past due with was Mercedes Benz Financial, they were always the most professional and understanding - 90 days past due and they are still as nice as pie - I am guessing a lot of people are giving up their luxury cars. American Honda Finance wanted the car back even though I was only 38 days past due, simply because I stated I had consulted with a bk attorney and not sure as to my intention(s) of keeping the vehicle and/or making payments...