How to Stop the Car Financing Yo-Yo

Consumer groups call for federal action to rein-in shady auto credit practices

Photo by Opollo Photography on Unsplash

A coalition of consumer groups is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action that would prohibit so-called “Yo-Yo” auto sales. In practice, this means allowing a buyer to drive a car off the lot before a contract is fully executed with a third-party credit agency.

Here’s how the practice works:

When a consumer signs a credit contract disclosing the cost of financing and drives the car off the lot, the deal appears to be complete from the consumer’s perspective. Some dealers, however, employ a deceptive tactic where they know at the time of the sale that the deal may not actually be final. The dealer calls the consumer days, weeks or even months later to tell them that they need to pay additional costs or a higher interest rate to keep the car, or that the deal needs to be completely undone and the consumer must return the car. This process of subjecting a consumer to being “yo-yo’d” back and forth to the dealership pressures consumers to pay more than what they expected and agreed to and adds significant stress and uncertainty to an already complicated and expensive financial transaction.

“Yo-yo sales frequently harm consumers by lowering their credit scores…