CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Angelica Garcia's 25-year wedding anniversary gift from her husband was a 2018 Mercedes Benz.
On July 18, as Garcia was coming out of a restaurant she saw something no one ever wants to see. Her car hooked up to a tow truck, about to be towed away. It was being repossessed!
"I felt like I was sinking through a hole with my friends and everybody in the restaurant watching," she recalled.
"That was humiliating and embarrassing."
Garcia also remembers trying to explain to the driver that there had to be some misunderstanding. Some mistake. Financing, tax, title, license, payments had all been taken care of.
Repo drivers rarely, if ever, drop a vehicle once they get it hooked up, ready for tow. But for some reason, on this particular occasion, the driver believed Garcia, and told her, "I'm gonna drop it. Take your car home and hide it until you get a hold of Auto Nation."
She did. And that's when she found out, "My car is on a national database for repossession."
And as she started making calls and asking questions, she learned, "There's another lien out on my vehicle".
Garcia insists no one ever mentioned that to her on the day of sale. She remembers Auto Nation General Manager David Clower telling her they bought the car outright from someone else. We left messages for Clower at the dealership, but no one has called us back.
Initially, Garcia says PenFed Credit Union in Virginia held the note on the vehicle, but Garcia says they told her it was sold to Security Service Credit Union in November last year.
We left two messages for Darren Price with Security Service, but no one returned our calls. The way it stands now, Garcia says both Penfed and Security Service have apologized, and insist Garcia has nothing to worry about.
So, she's driving her anniversary gift again, but still looking over her shoulder.
