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Santander gave me an auto loan back when nobody would. I recently paid this loan off and wanted to share my experience with them over the past 5 years.
1. I got the loan through Carmax after being turned down by my credit union and figuring I'd let them find me financing. The interest rate on my loan was incredibly high-16% maybe? My FICOs at the time were sub 600, so I took it. I paid more each month in the beginning, but as my finances got tighter over the course of the loan, I could only manage the regular payment.
2. The website is wonky. It works sometimes, and doesn't work sometimes. It is really only good for viewing your statement, payoff, and gathereing contact information. There is NO free online payment from a checking account like every other company I deal with. Scheduling a payment on the website goes through Western Union and is a $10.95 fee.
3. I scheduled my payments through BofA's online Bill Pay once or twice a month, and they always posted the day I scheduled them for, so this is how I paid 99% of the time.
4. If you don't pay by the due date, robo-dial will call you 20 times per day. I was 30 days late 2x during the life of the loan due to extenuating circumstances. These lates reported accurately, and I may try to goodwill them off at some point now that the loan is paid off.
5. If you think you may be late, they will do a deferment once or twice. This moves the payment to the end of the loan, extending your loan term, and increasing the interest paid, but allowing you to avoid the hit on your credit.
6. Payoff time. I obtained my payoff online and it was for 15 days past the date I requested it. I called to inquire about a refund of interest (since I would be paying the balance in about 72 hours, not 15 days). After a long conversation with a customer service representative (who were usually pretty nice and from a Carribean island somewhere-I asked once), basically I was told no. I wouldn't be getting a refund of my interest. I was tired of arguing and gave up.
7. Title and (surprise) refund of interest. My title came within 15 days of me submitting my payoff through BofA BillPay. I also recieived a letter stating my account was paid in full and closed. Today, about a month later, I recieved a check for the exact amount of interest I'd calculated that I overpaid. Which I knew I was entitled to anyway.
So all ended up well. I haven't seen anyone with goodwill luck with Santander, but I will try after awhile. Right now, I'm enjoying freedom from car payments
Hope this helps someone at some point!
Glad it worked out for u Santander sucks.
@scmami wrote:
I have read a lot of people who feel that way, that's why I figured I'd post my experience. They're not the lowest interest rate for sure. But even with my not always timely payments, they never really screwed up.
Wow I'm glad you had a good experience with Santander. My score was around 660 when I got a loan with them. Wells Fargo wanted to finance me at 16% with $3000 down and Santander 24.99% with $1500 down. At the time I was clueless about interest rates and went with the lowest down payment. I regret ever minute of it today. I'm 3 years into the loan and haven't put much of a dent in my principal. I did have 3 late payments through the course of my loan but one was not an actual late payment. I'm in the process of trying to do a goodwill but I doubt it will work. I looked them up under the better business bureau and they have tons and tons of complaints. One thing I noticed is no matter what..... they have not removed any late payments. I checked that yesterday and read over 50 complaints that dealt with late payments and removals. Good luck! If you happen to get it done don't forget about your fellow Fico friend. Get the name and number of the person and please please please send it to me. I promise I won't tell you gave it!
@Anonymous wrote:
@scmami wrote:
I have read a lot of people who feel that way, that's why I figured I'd post my experience. They're not the lowest interest rate for sure. But even with my not always timely payments, they never really screwed up.Wow I'm glad you had a good experience with Santander. My score was around 660 when I got a loan with them. Wells Fargo wanted to finance me at 16% with $3000 down and Santander 24.99% with $1500 down. At the time I was clueless about interest rates and went with the lowest down payment. I regret ever minute of it today. I'm 3 years into the loan and haven't put much of a dent in my principal. I did have 3 late payments through the course of my loan but one was not an actual late payment. I'm in the process of trying to do a goodwill but I doubt it will work. I looked them up under the better business bureau and they have tons and tons of complaints. One thing I noticed is no matter what..... they have not removed any late payments. I checked that yesterday and read over 50 complaints that dealt with late payments and removals. Good luck! If you happen to get it done don't forget about your fellow Fico friend. Get the name and number of the person and please please please send it to me. I promise I won't tell you gave it!
I don't get it. What is Santander at blame for?
Presumably... they extended credit to you at a time when most others would not. Given your options, you chose to go with them. With sub-prime lenders, down payment can dramatically change interest rate and bank fee.
Santander gave me a loan with I had scores in the low to mid 500's and needed a car, it was at 12.57%. I found their customer service to be fair the one time I needed to call, they have crazy fees just to make a payment by check which is exploitive. As soon as I could I refinanced with Cap one and then a week later I refinanced with NFCU. I will save about 10k in interest by doing the refinance so signing on to NFCU really paid off.
Santander and other subprime lenders can help you out in a pinch, you just need to work hard to get the scores up and refinance as soon as that is possible because the interest is crazy.