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Lost Your Job? Hyundai Will Buy Your Car Back

New incentive plan offers mostly risk-free ownership for a year

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 5, 2009 7:01 PM CST

(Newser) – With rebates and other incentives failing to entice buyers, Hyundai is letting hard-luck owners return their cars, CNNMoney reports. Buyers who can't make payments because they got fired or went bankrupt are allowed to trade cars back with little or no obligation, within a year. "The goal is that this gives the consumer the opportunity to avoid default and maintain their credit rating," said an exec at the company managing the plan.

Hyundai is also sensitive to buyers who need a car to go job-hunting; the program, aiming to turn jobless owners into potential sales, lets them trade in for a cheaper used car.

[Images (7)]

[Quotes (2)]

Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Mong-koo. (AP Photo)

Hyundai Motor Company employees work on vehicles at the Montgomery, Ala. plant. (AP Photo)

Hyundai Motor Company employees put the finishing touches on vehicles at the Montgomery, Ala. plant. (AP Photo)

The 2009 Hyundai Accent. (AP Photo)

Hyundai Motor automobiles wait to be shipped to South Africa at the company's export quay at the Ulsan, southeast of Seoul, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Hyundai Motor automobiles wait to be shipped to South Africa at the company's export quay in Ulsan, southeast of Seoul, South Korea, in this May 31, 2007 photo. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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In this uncertain economy, we are looking for ways to reassure shoppers that Hyundai still represents the best value in the auto industry.
- John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America

If you cannot make your payment because of a covered life changing event, we'll allow you to return your vehicle and walk away from your loan obligation—and in most cases we will cover most, if not all of the difference. - Hyundai

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Lost Your Job? Hyundai Will Buy Your Car Back