Hyundai to allow laid-off workers to return cars

kostby · Post by **kostby** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:19 am

Is this the next 'bailout'?Quote Â»Hyundai Motor America has launched a new program in the United States that will allow those who recently bought Hyundais but experienced an involuntary loss of income to return their recently-purchased cars and walk away from a financing obligation. Hyundai is the first automaker to offer such a program, which is designed to help recuperate the shortfalls that might arise from making car payments.Hyundai says that the program will help compensate for the negative equity that comes from vehicle depreciation. The initiative comes on the ten-year anniversary of HyundaiÃ¢Â€Â™s 10 year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.The automaker is only offering the program to those who have been involuntarily laid off, experienced a physical disability, lost a driverÃ¢Â€Â™s license as a result of a physical impairment, been transferred internationally, experienced personal bankruptcy if self-employed or in the event of an accidental death.Hyundai says that customers must have made at least two payments on their loan or lease, be current on their payments and pay for any outstanding balance above the $7,500 benefit that results from negative equity. In essence, Hyundai will absorb up to $7,500 of the depreciation debt on a new car within the first year of ownership. The automaker says it will entrust its dealer network to calculate vehicle values.Link to original Leftlanenews article --> http://www.leftlanenews.com/hy....html

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:31 am

I heard about this yesterday... That sounds interesting... I just hope that people don't abuse the system, but I would suspect that they've got safeguards in place to prevent most of that. It sounds costly though... $$$ There are probably going to be a lot of practically new, low mileage Hyundais on used lots with the way things are going! I guess this is a good way to try to make a sale, at least they'll get something for the cars as opposed to them sitting on the lots never being sold at all, that's not making them anything... And there are probably plenty of people who want to buy and may never lose their job but they're still scared that it could happen to them so they're holding off - this sounds perfect for them.I should ask Hyundai to absorb $7500 of my loan. Where's my bailout? lol!

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:15 am

This makes a lot more sense to me than the bailout of banks and other financial institutions with my tax money.I have never seen a number on the amount of money it would have taken to resolve the "mortgage crisis". Of all homes, only a portion have mortgages. For example, mine doesn't. One of my 4 children's homes is debt free. [Hey - how about someone here starting a poll.]If 10% of home mortgages are in danger of foreclosure, that is something less than 10% of all homes. If the problem is a 25% overvaluation, then we are talking about a problem that is about 2% of the total mortgage debt.Repossessing cars and selling them at auction is expensive and most of those defaulting are judgment proof.Question - will the IRS deem this $7,500 debt forgiveness as taxable income? I suspect they will.

kunkstyle · Post by **kunkstyle** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:28 am

Quote, originally posted by jake75 Â»Question - will the IRS deem this $7,500 debt forgiveness as taxable income? I suspect they will.You'd think they'd try, but I don't see how. It wouldn't be much different than returning an item at a store that's on a financing plan...

Mavrik · Post by **Mavrik** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:50 am

I thought people bought these cars cause they are cheap. Its not like the car costs a lot of money and people can't afford them anymore.ah well...just my opinion.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:28 am

Quote, originally posted by Mavrik Â»I thought people bought these cars cause they are cheap. Its not like the car costs a lot of money and people can't afford them anymore.Perhaps you haven't seen the $40,000 price tag on a fully loaded V8 Genesis. That's a lot of money to me. So they're not exactly cheap depending on what you're looking at. Sure, they still have the Accent that starts slightly below $10k but it's one of their slower selling models so people aren't cheaping out too much. Their money maker is the Sonata for $20-something k, they easily sell more of those than anything else...

Mavrik · Post by **Mavrik** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:46 am

Yeah but you must see my point. They advertise luxury at half the price. they market the car as a "cheap" car. Now its like they are taking that statement back with a "well if you can't afford our car, we'll take it back"

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:56 am

I don't think I could spend $40K on a Hyundai, sorry. if I were to spend that much money (which I just about did) it'd be on a BMW or something that at least holds some kind of resale value.However, it is good to see that the auto manuf is stepping in to help alleviate the debt some people may have found themselves in over their heads. At least they are taking a smart proactive approach to the current economic hardships many people are facing.

kunkstyle · Post by **kunkstyle** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:32 am

Quote, originally posted by AKLGT Â»At least they are taking a smart proactive approach to the current economic hardships many people are facing.It's nice that they're doing that, but the smart proactive approach would be to not overextend oneself, weather it be a boom or a bust.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:25 pm

I guess the plan worked... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/...=homeQuote Â»Hyundai’s U.S. sales gained 14 percent after it began a program to let customers who lose jobs return cars. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, posted a 32 percent decline, Honda Motor Co. fell 28 percent and Nissan Motor Co. fell 30 percent.Toyota really took a beating last month. Subaru was also one of the few others that came out ahead.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:01 am

Even more generous... Quote Â» Hyundai Motor America has beefed up its consumer protection program, adding a new element that provides a one-time 90-day payment of a car loan or lease while an unemployed owner looks for work.http://www.edmunds.com/insidel...424893 months of payments isn't too shabby in addition to the original program.

Tubaryan12 · Post by **Tubaryan12** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:47 am

I see an Elantra Touring in my future....Remember, Mavrik, they only take the car back if you loose your job. I don't care how cheap a car is, they are all hard to pay for if you have no income .

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:58 pm

Quote, originally posted by Tubaryan12 Â»I don't care how cheap a car is, they are all hard to pay for if you have no income .You're not kidding about that! Even the $50/week for the beater special from the buy-here-pay-here lot is hard to swing when you have $0 coming in. And oh yes, that Elantra Touring is fricken sweet.

Hyundai to allow laid-off workers to return cars

Hyundai to allow laid-off workers to return cars

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