topic Re: Santander- trying to pay off your car loan is intentionally made very difficult to do in Auto Loans

Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

mechanicaljen — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 17:32:39 GMT

Santander. Yeah.

So, my interest rate is exhorbiantly high with Santander (13.6%). My credit was in the absolute gutter when I got the loan 2 years ago. My credit is much improved (680), but could still use some work. I've mulled refinancing and throwing down more cash to get a much more favorable monthly payment. But, I'm really not wanting the credit hit of a refi if it can be helped.

I'm selling off a large portion of my collectibles which should generate enough cash in the next few months to pay it off - free and clear. So, I'm feeling like my best option would be to hunker down with Santander for just a few more months.

The problem comes in with paying off my fricking loan. Since I am on recurring payments, they will not accept additional payments from me online. This also rules me out of using pay-by-phone. This leaves me with check, Western Union, and MoneyGram. I'm............really not comfortable with the last two options, there.

Cancelling autopay, to be able to process additional payments more easily is also problematic.

"To cancel Auto Pay, simply provide a 30-day written notice from each person named on the relevant account and we'll process the cancellation. " This means that I cannot easily *start* using that method to pay back for a month.

I've also been told that to assure that each extra payment gets applied to principal..I have to contact Santander customer service after each payment posts, to ask that the payment is applied to principal only. I worry that if the payment hits at a weird time, or I wait too many days to tell them that..they may be even less likely to apply it to principal. Writing a check and puting "Principal only" is not sufficient for them, either.

I'm getting really frustrated with this....

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

nycplayboy78 — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 17:49:29 GMT

Call them and ask for two things:

1. What is my 30-day payoff amount

2. What is your mailing address preferably physical address (FedEx, UPS, USPS).

Then get from your bank a certified check and certify mail it to them and on that check make sure that it has your account number along with your SSN and send it to them. You then should get a response from them either online or mail saying that they have received the payment and will send you or your state DMV the full and clear title to your vehicle. This should all take about 14 business days from the time they receive your certified funds....NO BUSINESS in the USA will refuse payment aka MONEY on any debt outstanding....

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 23:56:36 GMT

Santander's physical address for payoffs (and any other payment you wish to fedex to them) is:

Santander Consumer USA Inc.
1010 W. Mockingbird Lane, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75247

Having just paid them off on a vehicle registered in Texas, I can tell you that if you live in a state with electronic titling then it only takes about 5 days after they receive certified funds for your title to be clear. If you live in a state that requires paper titling (where Santander has to mail you your title, or mail it to the state, depending on the rules) it can take longer. I have family who've waited upwards of three weeks to get their paper title back from Santander in a different state. If your state is one of these, you will then have to take the signed title to the DMV to register the release of lien - so that if you're using the car as collateral or a trade-in in the future, the VIN will be clear when the lender/dealer checks and you won't have to mess with paperwork then.

Getting your payoff is easy too - the 30-day payoff is listed on each month's statement. If you have online account access, you can also get one generated by clicking on "request payoff" and get the up-to-date quote good for x number of days.

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 06:35:46 GMT

You should consider a refi so you will still have an installment loan on credit report

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

mechanicaljen — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 15:31:16 GMT

I'm strongly considering refinancing just to make the remaining payoff easier.

There is no earthly reason why I shouldn't be able to make additional payments online, or by phone. My payment is atrociously high with nasty APR

I can refi locally, I think....and put down a big slog of money and get much neater payments until i pay it off later this year.

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 16:32:51 GMT

Can i ask a simple question? Why are you trying to use so large language to explain something so simple?

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

mechanicaljen — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 19:51:08 GMT

..............? Speaking as I usually do.

Not sure why that's an issue for you.

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 04:16:13 GMT

Refi the whole amount and on your first payment pay a big portion of it but if u do refi and get rate of 2-4% why not just keep paying and keep cash for something else

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 18:14:39 GMT

because you are mispelling words you commonly use

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

mechanicaljen — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 14:10:30 GMT

I sincerely hope you have better things to do than going around being a jerk on forums.

Re: Santander, trying to pay off loan is hard.

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 19:39:55 GMT

i do , the best way is to payoff with santandar would be refinance

Santander- trying to pay off your car loan is intentionally made very difficult to do

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:48:51 GMT

I was originally approved for a loan with a term of 72 months. I requested a shorter term, but was told the terms were a condition getting the loan. I then asked if payments could be made directly to principal to shorten the time it takes to pay off the loan. I was told yes, it’s easy to do as long as the account is up to date. Just stamp the check or money order “to be applied to principal only” they said or call customer service after each principal payment posts.

I bought a stamp, tried paying on the principal many times with check/money order stamped “to be applied to principal only” several places on both sides, but not once was it ever applied to the principle, so beware, that claim is false! Eventually, after trying several other failed strategies, I realized the only way to get a payment applied to principal was to call and endure trying to communicate what I was trying to do to, with someone who could barely speak English.

Aside from that being very frustrating, ever after you manage to get through that grueling experience. A request has to be sent to management. I was told this process should take no more than 2-3 business days, but discovered it could take weeks. Just because the request is sent to management is no guarantee that the payment will be applied as you’ve requested. They’ve reserved the right to decide if they even want to apply the payment to the principle. You’ll have to call multiple times to make sure it gets done! (frustrating). So beware:

Beware, contrary to what you’re told, just stamping your check or money order “to be applied to principal only” is a farce. That claim is absolutely false!
Beware, they don’t post payments to the principal just because a customer with an account in good standing requests it, so called management decides and does it their discretion.
Beware, you’ll have to call numerous times to get them to actually post you payment to the principal. They’re intentionally made it difficult, so I suggest you keep good records to prove you did!

If you’re diligent about your credit and/or want pay off your loan quickly, contrary to what you’re told, it won’t be easy. Its intentionally made very difficult to do. If you’ve had the misfortune of having to deal with them, you’ll want to try to get away from them as soon as you can.

Re: Santander- trying to pay off your car loan is intentionally made very difficult to do

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 05:12:31 GMT

Santander makes everything very difficult and fee based. Had them for 5 months while I did my rebuild and was very happy to refinance and save 7k in interest as well as have the fantastic customer service of NFCU. I reccomend anyone who can refinance with a credit union ASAP.