Bonneau man left on the hook for two car payments after dealership fails to payoff trade-in

Kingstree, S.C. (WCBD) — A man in Bonneau says a local car dealership has been giving him the run around after he traded in a vehicle four months ago. He said the car was never paid off, his credit score has been taking a hit, and he is now responsible for two car payments.

David Wright purchased a brand-new 2024 Chevy Silverado from Winding Chevrolet GMC in Kingstree on June 22. At the same time, he traded in his 2017 Silverado, which had a balance of around $35,000 on it. Wright then rolled that balance into the amount he financed with GM Financial for the new truck, making the dealership responsible for paying off the trade-in vehicle.

However, in August, Wright said he received a letter from the bank that his old truck was financed through.

“I got a letter from TD Bank wanting money — I said ‘What in the world,'” he explained. “So I called them and she said ‘late on the payment,’ I said ‘ma’am I traded this truck in June.'”

Wright said he immediately called Winding Chevrolet to ask why they had not paid and was told that their bank account had been hacked.

“And they were trying to get everything straight so they could take care of it,” he said an employee told him. “As soon as they got it where they could get the money back in the bank they would pay it off.”

Wright said after some back and forth, the dealership made one payment of $812 on August 20. But Wright continued to get calls from the bank about other missed payments.

“Now my credit is going down by them being late, late, late — really late,” he said.

Last week, Wright received a letter notifying him that the truck could be repossessed by TD Bank if payments were not made.

“They have made no attempts to change nothing,” he said about the dealership. “I got a letter — right to cure — where they are fixing to start repossessing the truck, and once they repossess it then that’s really messing my credit up.”

When News 2 went to the dealership for answers, the lot was empty and the new cars were gone. The owner, Michael Winding, said the cars were removed because they are in the process of changing out GM Financial as their floor plan loan company.

Other customers spoke to News 2 about their frustrations with the business. Eventually, an employee asked Mr. Wright to come inside to discuss his situation. They ultimately agreed to cancel the trade-in contract with him, notify GM Financial, and give Wright his old truck back.

“And channel 2 news came up here with me and now low and behold I got my truck back and they got theirs,” said Wright.

Winding also told News 2 they were facing growing pains as a dealership and said the trade-in deal should not have happened. Winding also confirmed that he submitted a request to cancel the new car deal with Wright and that he would be compensated for what was already paid under the contract.

Wright is still waiting on final confirmation of this from GM Financial but is hopeful the situation is resolved so he can move forward.

“Now I got to get my credit straightened back out,” he said.

The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs said if someone is in a similar situation they can always file a complaint for SCDCA to look into, or they may want to seek advice from a private attorney.

Consumer advocates also remind South Carolinians to ensure promises to pay off a trade-in vehicle are included in the contract and to follow up with the lien holder to make sure it’s been paid off.

Overall, SCDCA recommends avoiding the risk if consumers can, by paying off a car before trading it in.