Lose Your Job, Return Your Car!

[KatWrangler]

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content...NJ_erSU_Q.cspx

Under Hyundai's "Assurance Program," you can return your car for the following reasons:

- Layoff

- Sudden disability

- Accidental death

- Self employed bankruptcy

Wow! I think this is a great idea.

[lalaland42]

Yes, but only for the first year from purchase and we all know 1 year + 5 days is when all the bad sh!# happens.

[dogmom327]

I have a sneaky suspicion there's a lot fine print there. Like you have to loose your job, not be able to find a new one but prove your looking, etc.

[Tangled Hill]

I'm impressed. I mean, at least initially. There may be fine print, but even then, it's much more than any other car company is doing.

[KatWrangler]

Oh funny! I just saw a tv commercial for this program.

[1growingsprout]

I think this works like a lease, where there will be certain miles allowed, anything over those miles will be charged a fee, same for wear and tear etc.
There is a ton of fine print on this offer.

Its not just loose your job and bring back the car.

[freespirited]

Yeah, I'm skeptical. I tend not to trust big businesses in general. I think the days of truly committed customer service left a long time ago. This is just another gimmick, imo. Maybe if one isn't sure they will have a job in one year, they should not go out and finance a car.

[notneb]

Alternately, buy a used car with cash, then if you lose your job you will still have the car and won't have to worry about the payments. :

It does seem like a nice gesture on the part of Hyundai, at least, and I'm sure it is a good marketing move for them. And hopefully it will help some folks - in this economy, we all need any help we can get.

[llamalluv]

this is a horrible idea. If you are are at risk of losing your job in the next year, and don't have an emergency fund to last you until you can find another job, the LAST thing you should be doing is buying a $25,000 car on credit. That's just ridiculous.

[Shelsi]

I think this is BRILLIANT of them. It turns out to be like a lease for them. Except if you had leased the car you would have been paying them $150/mo not $300/mo. So they make double and you treat the car nicer the whole year because you thought of it as your car and not just something you were going to return in a year or two like a lease. It's just so totally brilliant on their part. They get double what they'd get for a lease, they get your trade in and your down payment and you get nothing.

[freespirited]

Originally Posted by Shelsi

I think this is BRILLIANT of them. It turns out to be like a lease for them. Except if you had leased the car you would have been paying them $150/mo not $300/mo. So they make double and you treat the car nicer the whole year because you thought of it as your car and not just something you were going to return in a year or two like a lease. It's just so totally brilliant on their part. They get double what they'd get for a lease, they get your trade in and your down payment and you get nothing.

That stinks. So they might even want you to lose your job. They might know that this is just the tip of the iceberg for the economy and major job losses are still to come for years so this is their way to stay on top, take advantage of the bad economy. Hmmm, not liking that attitude. Benefitting from the people's hardship seems to be the next bubble. Then again, not sure what they'd do with all those returned cars if the economy did get that bad.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by Shelsi

I think this is BRILLIANT of them. It turns out to be like a lease for them. Except if you had leased the car you would have been paying them $150/mo not $300/mo. So they make double and you treat the car nicer the whole year because you thought of it as your car and not just something you were going to return in a year or two like a lease. It's just so totally brilliant on their part. They get double what they'd get for a lease, they get your trade in and your down payment and you get nothing.

And then they are stuck with a depreciated asset in the midst of a ravaged economy.

[Theoretica]

Originally Posted by llamalluv

And then they are stuck with a depreciated asset in the midst of a ravaged economy.

But they still have your cash....so they come out more ahead than you...

[Shelsi]

Originally Posted by Theoretica

But they still have your cash....so they come out more ahead than you...

And more ahead than they would have been if they'd leased you the car.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by Theoretica

But they still have your cash....so they come out more ahead than you...

But the car depreciates faster than you pay your payments in the first year.

[Shelsi]

Originally Posted by llamalluv

But the car depreciates faster than you pay your payments in the first year.

How do they do leases then? How does that work in their favor? Surely it must or they wouldn't offer leases.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by Shelsi

How do they do leases then? How does that work in their favor? Surely it must or they wouldn't offer leases.

You pay through the nose for a leased car if there are any problems with it when it comes time to turn in the car. Over mileage? ding. Wear and tear on upholstery? ding. Dents or chips in the paint? ding.

Oh, you'd rather just buy the car than pay all that? ding!

[dogmom327]

I'm guessing there's also a hefty down payment requirement too. Really though, most people probably won't lose their jobs so the few that do will return their cars but the marketing campaign probably sold way more than they otherwise would have.