Voluntary Car Repossession

• January 14, 2020
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About an hour ago, they towed my 2015 Dodge Charger from my driveway to some lot somewhere.

This car has been great to drive, but a pain paying for it and dealing with Chrysler Capital. I feel so much lighter today.

My payments were about $675 due to bad credit when I bought it. It was a decision made of desperation. I had been taking the bus before that in Dallas for a long time, and was just absolutely tired of the time it took to get from one place to another. Texas isn’t a great place to not have a car, and the test drive of this new car got me hooked.

In American Football, usually on a running play, the quarterback hands the ball to the running back to run. This is what I felt like I was doing with my paycheck. I was the quarterback and the bank that owned the car was the running back. If you need more of a visual, watch the video below and/or skip to 1:58 in the video to see this happen real time. The guy in the back is the running back, my paycheck is the football, and I am the quarterback in the front.

I just remember thinking that…every time we made that payment…either me or family who helped me out got screwed.

I literally look back and wonder how they even sold me this car. Looking at the numbers, I definitely couldn’t afford this car, which is why I put on a cosigner.

I’m taking responsibility for this bad decision and owning it, and the domino effect it caused.

Lessons learned? Avoid making decisions from desperation if possible. Look for more options. Don’t fall for the sleazy and dishonest sales tactics to get you to buy. Live within your means, but dive deep into the options of increasing your means.

Also, a big lesson I learned was to think bigger. When we signed the papers, I can remember wondering, “how can I keep up with these payments?” and trying to find a way to do that. And for the time I had the car, that’s all we did – keep up with the payments until we couldn’t keep up anymore. Now, I would think and focus on – how can I negotiate a low price and pay the car off in total at the time of purchase.

I also take responsibility for the people that sold it to me, thinking they got over on me. When they sold it, they were so happy. I could see this feeling of “gotcha!” on their face…like they were fishing and had caught one. While in the short term they profited off this individual transaction, it’s not going to look good for them in the long run. They further contribute to the bad rep car salesmen get. I can’t see myself ever looking at Chrysler Capital again in a positive light (more negative word-of-mouth). I’m reminded of the constant robot-like real humans that called me just to ask for a payment over and over and over again.

This was a source of shame, but writing about it has actually helped me. Hopefully it helps someone else!