I just read a story on your website from a woman named Diana from Orlando. She was talking about purchasing a car through DriveTime (UglyDuckling). I too have a very similar story.

I moved down here from NY in January of 2000 with nothing. In September, we hit a stroke of bad luck with vehicles and had one vehicle to share between four of us. I had $900 saved up so we decided it was time for one of us to get a car. Since I had bad credit and everything, I too was turned down everywhere I went. A friend of mine told me about Ugly Duckling. Her credit was worse than mine so I figured I would be approved without any problems.

Well, that much was true. I was approved alright. They treated me great and helped me with everything. I didn't like any of the cars that were at that store so they even offered to take me to another store and see what they had there. That's when I found a 91 Nissan 240SX.

I drove it from that store back to the other one and everything was fine. I didn't bother to ask about APR which by the way was 29%. I just knew that I needed a car. I gave them my $900, signed all of the paper work and I was on my merry way.

From there, I went to go show off my "new" car and I started to hear a loud noise. I brought it right back to UglyDuckling and they said its the AC. I asked if they can fix it. They said I bought the car "as is" and it wasn't their problem. If I wanted it fixed it would cost me $700!!! Of course that pissed me off so I made a huge scene in the middle of the store. They agreed to fix it at no charge.

On January 6, 2002 I was hit by a drunk driver and the passenger in my car was killed on impact. When the other driver hit my car, he hit my gas tank which caused my car to explode. Lucky for me, people saw and heard the initial hit and came to rescue us with a fire extinguisher. They broke the windows, cut the seatbelts and pulled us out. They risked their lives for us. Little did they know, it was too late for one of us.

After that, I was rushed to a local hospital in the downtown Orlando area. That's when I heard that I had two broken vertebrae, a broken pelvis, a lacerated liver and 3rd degree burns on my right arm and hand.

Now, this is where UglyDuckling comes into play. My every two week car payment of $156.89 was due on Saturday which was the same day of my wreck. No sooner was I checked into the hospital and Ugly Duckling was calling my house!! My roommate explained what happened to them but they weren't interested. They just wanted their money. But guess what? My car was totaled, and I too did not have Gap Insurance.

Since my back was broken among other injuries, I wasn't just going to walk in and say "Here's your car payment for the car that I can't even drive anymore. Have a nice day!!" They continued to call and harass my roommate and everyone else who was on my credit application. All of which told them the same thing (which I can't say), but they still pursued with their calling every hour on the hour.

I understand that they are just doing their job and Ugly Duckling does have a business to run, but seriously, isn't that just a bit ridiculous??? Since then, I now have a repossession on my record, because the balance I owed them was much higher than the amount the insurance paid off. In essence, I owed money on a car I didn't have anymore. If I knew about, and had Gap Insurance. on my loan the whole thing would have been paid off.

Most recently, I purchased a 2002 Chevy Cavalier with 6 miles on it. Now that my dear Watson is LOW MILEAGE!!! I had no problems at Courtesy Chevrolet, except for the fact that my other car is still on my record but they worked with me. They explained every minor detail and offered the Gap Insurance (which I took). Not to mention every other coverage that you can possibly think of!!! I know if you are short on cash and are limited to what you can spend, my advice would be to take a car with less "extras" and purchase extra coverage!!!

Kristal
Orlando, FL