what happens when you return a car?

I'd be selling that car and hoping your lender will cut you a deal to pay off the remainder on the side.

You WILL be paying your loan no matter how you slice it, with or without this car in your possession.

You not knowing what you were doing ("dealer stuck it to me") doesn't count.

First of all, the dealership won't take it back. Why not? Because they don't have to. You bought the car. The bank paid the dealer for the car. Dealer is now out of the picture. The issue is between you and the lender. You signed a contract, and there are penalties for not honoring your side of the agreement. One penalty is it will damage your credit for the next 7 years. Another penalty is that you will still owe the outstanding loan balance. The car may be gone, but the debt has to be repaid.

In other words, you can't just walk away from this.

Do what you can to avoid this.

If you return the vehicle, it's called a "voluntary repossession" and carries stiff consequences. After you return the car, the lender sells it at auction. You are then presented a bill for the difference between what the car brings at auction and what you owed on it (plus repo fees and administrative costs). If you cannot pay this or work some settlement with the lender, they can and probably will take you to court. They'll get a judgment against you, and can garnish wages or assets (depending on what state you live in).

Net-net, you end up paying for the car (and then some) regardless. Plus, you now have a repo AND a judgment on your credit, and will be a huge red flag to lenders for many years.

Again, avoid this if you can.

**EDIT -- "Ralfcoder"... there is no "buyer's remorse" or "right of rescission" law on vehicle sales. You don't have 3 days, 30 days, etc to return it. Once you sign and drive, it's yours. Only exception is CA, whicch charges a fee for a 3-day return policy, but it must be paid at point-of-sale.

**EDIT -- "Ralf"... no, the UCC does not apply to vehicle sales. They are specifically excluded from the UCC. The auto industry did this to prevent folks from essentially "borrowing" cars and returning them, essentially forcing a dealer to lose thousands of dollars when the "new" vehicle became "preowned".

The dealership no longer owns the car, it is owned by the bank. If you return the car they will try to make you pay the difference what they sell at the auction and what you owe. It will show on your credit report as a REPO and no other banks will be willing to finance you on another loan.

If you leased it, you might be able to return it. But if you bought it, you can't return it unless it has been less than 3 days since you purchased it. (Assuming you are in the USA, of course). Otherwise, you can't just return it and say, "Sorry, do over". If you take it back to the dealership, they can (and probably will) refuse to take it, and you will still have to make the payments.

If you bought it, your best bet is to try to sell it, and hope you don't owe too much over what you bought it for. The full amount you owe will be due to the lender as soon as you sell it. If you don't have it, you need to find it some place.

Edit: El Grande, doesn't the Uniform Commercial Code apply to vehicles as well? I thought that provided a 3 day grace period to return large purchases like this.

Edit #2: ElGrande, thank you for the correction.

Whether the "dealer stuck it to you" or not is irrelevant. The dealer is out of the loop as you owe the bank or whoever financed it. If the car is taken back either by a repossession or if you deliver it to them, you will end up owing the difference between what you owe and what is sells for at auction. You will still have a big bill and no car.

Actually, you do not have got to pay the coverage manufacturer again. Technically, they possess the automobile given that they paid you for it, so I could advise you touch them if the police name you and say it is been observed. There may be a threat that you will not even recognise if it's been observed seeing that such a lot coverage firms get notified instantly via the police as soon as the automobile has been observed, seeing that they're a member of the NATB (National Auto Theft Bureau) and most often ship the police a variety indicating that they're now the landlord. I could count on that you simply gave the identify of the automobile to the coverage manufacturer, or your lienholder did, so once more, they possess it. Not you.

Whether u lease or finance, bank will never let u out of ur contract until u fulfill it.

If u return the car (aka voluntary reposession) the bank will auction ur car off for pennies on the dollar then come after u for the rest + repo fees. So if ur car sells for $5000 at auction but u owe $12,000.... bank will demand $7000 + fees. If u dont pay, they will sue and win. Judge will garnish ur wages or future wages until ur debt is paid.

well you still owe the loan company from which you got loan from til they sell car to someone else and if they dont cover the loan you stil loan that if you cant afford it sell it for what you owe and walk away free to buy again no bad marks