KUALA LUMPUR: Amir (not his real name), who recently lost his job, suffered a double blow when his car, which he surrendered to a repossessor, was later discovered to be involved in a robbery.
Like many others, Amir was assured by the agent that he would find a new owner to continue servicing his loan, a practice known as sambung bayar.
"I was desperate. If I surrender my car to the bank, they would auction it off and I would still have to pay the outstanding loan amount.
"But instead, the repossessor paid me RM1,000 and sold my car to someone who was supposed to take over the loan.
"Unfortunately the new owner used my car but did not continue servicing my loan," the 54-year-old former aircraft engineer said.
Amir never met the new owner as all transactions were conducted through the repossessor. When he requested the return of his Mercedes-Benz, the repossessor demanded RM5,000.
"I can't afford to pay because the airline industry is suffering and I was offered the voluntary separation scheme. The car loan was previously serviced by my company," he said.
More trouble landed on Amir when police informed him last year that his car had been used in a robbery.
"When I handed over my car, I was in Shah Alam, but it was found in Klang, where it had been used in a robbery.
"The case is under investigation," he said, adding that he regretted surrendering his car to the repossessor to be resold illegally.
Another vehicle owner, who wished to be known only as Siva, believed he had found a lifeline when a man offered to repossess his Perodua Alza and find a buyer to help him pay off his loan.
"He said if I failed to pay the loan, the bank would blacklist me, but he could help me. So I thought to myself, God must have sent me a helping hand seeing how desperate I was then.
"The man claimed to have a company and he could help look for a new buyer to continue servicing my loan," he said, adding that he had more than RM6,000 in arrears in his car loan at that time.
The 39-year-old teacher from Penang said the offer sounded even more convincing because he was asked to lodge a report, which made the car ownership transfer seemed legitimate.
"They took me to a police station in Butterworth and we did a cover report.
"In the report, I stated that I have transferred ownership of the car and should there be any issues, including summonses, the new owner would be responsible.
"Second, should the new owner fail to service the loan for three months in a row, then the previous owner (Siva himself) can retrieve the car without negotiation.
"I was convinced when I looked at the terms, so I asked the police officer (who was taking the report) if this was okay. He answered 'Yes, the cover report is good'," he said.
Siva was fortunate because the new owner paid his loan for the first year. However, the payments later came to a halt.
"I tracked down the repossessor on social media and discovered another victim who had been duped by him and was in a similar situation as myself.
"He gave me the repossessor's contact information. I called him and asked for my car to be returned so that I could surrender it to the bank and pay the remaining balance (of his loan).
"At first he said he would settle everything, but nothing happened, so after a few months, I checked with him again.
"He became angry and challenged me to file a police report, after which he blocked my phone number," he said, adding that he proceeded to lodge a report but nothing happened. Siva then took matters into his own hands.
"I paid off my loan and then I used the information from my car insurance policy to locate the new owner. I texted the new owner, a woman, and she denied knowing anything at first.
"But I texted her again and I told her that if she refused to discuss the matter, I will lodge a police report against her," he said, adding that the woman later surrendered the car to him.
Siva said to ensure a fair deal, he sold the car and returned a certain sum to her.
"I don't want to complicate things, so I hired a used car company to help sell the car. The car was sold for RM20,000. I took RM12,000 and gave the woman RM8,000," he said.