A Redditor who said that they recently financed a car received the surprise of a lifetime: A mysterious party paid off this car loan.
But there’s just one problem. The affected driver (u/Maybe_Separate) never authorized this. What’s more, their digging into the matter led them to believe that a car dealership paid off their loan. And with that, the dealership is now in possession of the car’s title.
In early December, the Redditor wrote in a post to the r/personalfinance subreddit that they weren’t sure what to do next. They questioned whether bringing the car to the dealership was a risky bet and how the dealership made this mistake. As of Wednesday, their thread detailing this predicament has more than 635 upvotes.
What happened to the customer’s car?
In their post, u/Maybe_Separate said they had their monthly car payments on autopay. However, when they checked their most recent statement, they said they were alerted that their car was paid off in full.
The dealership that accidentally paid for the Redditor’s car also sent them a letter saying “how they appreciate [their] business” and confirmed that they’d now have the car’s title.
u/Maybe_Separate said they found out via their loan distributor that the payoff was made via check by a car dealership that the Redditor had “never even heard of”—let alone visited.
As of Wednesday, the dealership hasn’t yet rectified the issue. The Redditor said they contacted them and were told that their predicament was impossible.
“They told me it wouldn’t be possible for me to sell my car to them without me being present there,” the poster wrote. “I don’t think they believe me.”
Since the dealership had the driver’s vehicle title, though, the Redditor worried about their car getting taken from them.
“I want my car and I never wanted to sell it,” they said. “But now once the dealership receives the title, can they send a repo guy and take it away from me?”
In a series of follow-up comments, u/Maybe_Separate said that they had issues requesting a duplicate title from their local DMV.
They said that they got in contact with their bank, too, and an agent told them that the “whole [situation] was weird.”
Why would a dealer pay off someone’s car loan?
It’s not uncommon for dealerships to offer to pay off the loan on your car in exchange for you trading it in.
Here’s how this works: The dealership gets in contact with the lender and pays off the original cost of the loan. Any additional money owed (through interest, likely) would roll over into a new loan.
With this, the dealership receives the car’s title as well.
Can this happen by accident, as the Redditor claimed?
It can—and this has affected several internet users.
In 2023, another Redditor in the r/askcarsales subreddit found themselves in a similar situation. They said that a BMW dealership sent their leasing company a payoff check.
In the end, they said that the leasing agency and dealership rectified the issue. There was a “miscommunication” between the leasing manager and finance team, “which resulted in the lease being paid off.” The Redditor was given the option to still finance the vehicle and said they agreed to “stick with the lease for now and finance it at the lease end term.”
Other Reddit users shared similar stories. However, the consensus from the comments section across all three subreddits was that the dealership likely made a mistake.
Sadly, these mistakes don’t mean that the affected customers receive a free car.
Viewers assure customer that car is safe
In the comments section of u/Maybe_Separate’s Reddit post, many users said that their car won’t get repoed. Still, they said it might be difficult to get this issue resolved quickly.
“This is going to be a HUGE headache for the dealership,” one of the top-liked comments read. “Especially if they are an independent dealership and not a franchise.”
“That 2-3 week processing time is your window to get this fixed,” another Redditor said. “I’d be blowing up their phone right now if I were the OP.”
Others assumed that a scammer was to blame.
“You need to call the lender and tell them to send the title directly to you,” one person recommended. “This sounds like fraud. Also, file a police report.”
“Don’t get scammed. Do not under any circumstances give them your vehicle or any money,” another warned. “This could be a scam.”
“Sounds like some fraud going on,” a third commenter wrote. “I would be wary of meeting anyone, signing anything. This is not normal business practice and the bank cannot just send titles out to whoever.”
In the meantime, some Redditors said that u/Maybe_Separate should attempt to get possession of their car’s title.
“Look up what you need to get a duplicate title,” one Redditor said. “Get the title ASAP.”
“I’ve seen you say I’m pretty sure, you assume, etc. where the title was sent,” another added. “The truth is YOU DO NOT KNOW and you NEED to know. Focus on that.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to u/Maybe_Separate via Reddit direct message.
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