<prompt> Human: I work as a debt collector for a company that finances auto loans. If I could make every one of our customers sign something in capital letters that says IF IM GOING TO HAVE TROUBLE MEETING A LOAN PAYMENT THEN I WILL CALL MY FINANCE COMPANY then I would do it. If your car is genuinely not affordable for you then I will politely ask you to face the music, but if youve temporarily had your hours cut or had some kind of medical emergency, then for gods sake dont wait until youre 58 days past due to call in and ask if we can help you. At that point youve been dodging calls for weeks and if weve put you out for repo then the only thing that will stop us picking up your car is a certified payment of every cent thats past due.The moment you think you might not make a scheduled payment inside of your grace period, be proactive and call us. I know it can be a little embarrassing for some people to admit they cant meet one of their obligations, but it beats walking to work. Oftentimes if we catch something early enough we can even take action to prevent damage to your credit report. This might seem obvious to some of you but you would be surprised how many people I can hear shrug over the phone when I ask, Why didnt you call us six weeks ago when you knew you were in trouble?If you are dodging calls from us when youre past due and not making any effort to work with us to come up with a plan to get back on track, it is going to make a decision to repossess a vehicle that much easier for us. Generally speaking, everybody loses when a car gets repod.tl;dr: If you cant make a scheduled payment, suck it up and call your creditor to ask what your options are.  <response>: I remember when, 2 or 3 years ago, I bought every issue of Motor Trend, Car Driver, etc., and dreamed with great anticipation of the day I graduate college so I could by a 60,000 sport coupe and just cruise around. Now, 2 years from graduating, I just want a used Honda. 