Buyers double check anything a dealership presents as “part of your financing"!
Bought a Volvo XC60 from McGrath Volvo Cars Barrington (IL) and was pushed to enroll in a payment program during financing.
Was explicitly told it would reduce my loan from 72 months to ~65 months and lower the overall cost. That’s why I agreed to it.
After the purchase, I received a letter from my lender that stated very different loan terms so I verified directly with the party I had signed up for the autopay and my lender. Turns out that the link they sent me during financing to do my autopay with is a third party that does not work with my lender. The lender had never heard of this company too. After soooo much back and forth via email and phone I figured out what this third party does and..... what the dealer had me sign up for with this third party
- does not reduce the loan term as the dealership said
- It’s just a third-party payment service, not part of Volvo Financial like it was presented because throughout the entire time, not once did they say that it was a third party.
So what was sold vs. how it actually works don’t match.
When I first saw that letter from the lender I tried to get clarification from the finance manager, he obviously ignored me and I had no response.
The third party had already debited money from me and said they'd send to my lender by the due date, which they did not and payment was late so I had to pay out of pocket to prevent it from affecting my credit. Meanwhile, the dealership couldn't even bother to answer my emails.
Now that I’ve escalated with the dealership, they’re pointing to a finance office video and saying I need to come in to watch it...but:
- I live 1+ hours away from the dealership and so I asked for a copy to save us both time and gas and they refuse to send a copy and when I ask for a reason as to why they can't share it I got ghosted.
If you’re going to rely on a video to defend what was said, why not let the customer actually review it independently? I am a reasonable person and can be okay with being wrong, but If they’re confident in what was said, they shouldn’t have a problem sharing the video they’re now relying on. It all feels fishy here.
At this point, I have already canceled that third party service and have escalated to Volvo corporate and preparing formal complaints.
But sharing here so you all double check anything a dealership presents as “part of your financing" and make sure to get everything documented. I would hate to see anyone else have to deal with what I've dealt with.
EDIT: I am just here to share my story so others can keep out for similar practices at dealerships and stay away from these things. I'm not asking for advice or explanations on what might have happened. Trust me I have gone through all documentation with a magnifying glass and know whats missing and what I have, and have also spent countless hours with this third party emailing and phone calls as well as with the actual lender.