Santander Consumer USA Reviews

I purchased a Mazda CX-50 on 05/03/26. Today it is 05/22/26, and I still cannot set up a freaking online account because "according to the customer service agent I spoke to in the Philippines", they are having issues with the website; that was a week ago. This is unheard of! I strongly advise car loan seekers to get a different lender. I should have checked customer reviews on Santander before I went with it.

I have been waiting over 2 months for my lien release! I paid off my car in 2019 with Gateway One, and the DOL needs a lien release from the notary sent to them!!

I obtained financing for a car through the dealership. I tried to open an online account to make my payments, but the system wouldn't accept any of my personal information—I don't know why. So, I called the bank, and—oh—the customer service was terrible. They left me talking to myself and offered no solutions whatsoever; they simply told me to try creating my online account again later. I tried to set up my account once more, and I definitely wasn't able to do it. Horrible bank.

Worse bank ever. No matter what you monthly payments are for the car loan, they calculate interest by days between your payments. So if you will pay by due date all amount will go towards interest, till it's paid off, and only after you will pay principal. Very high interest. Very horrible customer support. If you can avoid this bank do it!

Put in paperwork to take my vehicle overseas due to being in the military and they claimed they never received it and then denied my attempt to get the letter authorizing me to take it overseas.

Santander Consumer USA has been one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. Their customer service is absolutely terrible. You can barely get an American representative on the phone, and when you finally do, the call “mysteriously” disconnects almost every single time. Their fax line stays busy and won’t even answer. They drafted a payment directly from my bank account, and I have a confirmation number FROM SANTANDER proving the payment was processed. Yet somehow they are still claiming the payment was “reversed due to insufficient funds.” That is simply not true.

I had a really frustrating experience with Santander Consumer USA customer service. I called multiple times to confirm whether vehicle registration was included in my payoff amount, and I received completely inconsistent answers. At least five different representatives told me it *was included*, but then another rep later said it was *not paid at all*.

We have a vehicle loan through Santander Consumer (not our choice - the dealer used it). It's a great interest rate, so right now, we are stuck. However, their billing and customer service are beyond horrible. First, you can't ever speak to a human. You can chat, but if you need an escalation, you have to wait for a supervisor to email you back in 3-5 business days. Second, we made an early payment on our loan (paid mid November for a December due date). Several months later, we received a late notice for our March payment. They told us they applied that November payment to principal because December's billing was not open when we made it. We reached out to them (through the back and forth chat / email) and thought it had been resolved. It wasn't. Instead, we got a snarky email stating they've sent us an educational document on simple interest loans.

I've only had the car loan with them for about a month and already it's been an awful experience. Just getting them to send the title to my local DMV has been way more difficult than it should be, and at this moment I am still waiting for them to send the title. Every time I call to check on it they act lost or like they have no idea what they are doing. Even the DMV told me I should have steered clear of Santander because they have had terrible experiences with them. If you are getting a car loan and it is between this bank and another, choose the other and run from this one.

These loans are borderline a scam to me, I would not use Santander again even if it was my last resort. I bought a vehicle in 2021. The price of the vehicle was $11,999. My car notes was assessed right at $315 a month with 24% interest. I didn’t realize at the time when I bought the vehicle that I agreed to such a high interest rate, but anyhow moving forward, my payments have been set up on automatic payments from the very beginning. I’ve never been late five years later, I called to get a payoff on my car which is $5200 so you mean to tell me in five years less than $7000 has been applied to my principal that was insane to me. My payoff was supposed to be June 2027 now records show. My payoff is September 2027. After paying six months worth of payments recently Only $400 was applied to my principal.