Shut off devices
So, you are just a few days late on your car payment. What’s the big deal, right? Well, it is a huge deal and as a matter of fact, your car can be shut off, meaning the engine is turned off. This could happen if you are late on your car payment. Now, I guess I would assume that if you are late one time, this probably isn’t going to happen, but be careful. I wouldn’t fool with this. How embarrassing. You are on a dinner date, and after dinner you go to drive her home and wham! your car won’t start. Oops!
There are several companies out there that make these shut off devices according to aol.com. One manufacturer’s, Passtime, sales have gone up 33% this past year. They are selling about 2000 units a month, but expect that to go up to 14,000-15,000 a month by the end of the year. Right now, the shut off devices are mainly being used for subprime auto loans. That means loans that are given to people with bad credit. They are higher risk loans. Therefore, it makes sense that something needs to be done in order to try to ensure that the lending company doesn’t lose too much money on these loans. Another feature of these shut off devices is a GPS system. That way, if needed, the company can find these vehicles easier when they are repossessed. I won’t be surprised though if more dealerships and lending companies start using these devices as well. Why wouldn’t you really? I guess they are probably expensive to install, but it definitely lowers the risk. Also, there are more and more people that are having problems paying their bills. Unfortunately times are changing and maybe in the future it will be standard to have a shut off device on your vehicle. Who knows…..