Mercedes-Benz seeks – Mercedes-Benz asked a federal bankruptcy court to allow it to repossess Shilo Sanders’ $135,000 car for a second time, citing missed payments totaling $9,170. The move comes while the son of Colorado coach Deion Sanders fights a Chapter 7 case tied to a $11.89
Mercedes-Benz filed again with the federal bankruptcy court to move to repossess Shilo Sanders’ car, a step that signals the financing dispute isn’t quietly fading into the background of his Chapter 7 case.
For the second time since April 2025, the automaker’s financial services arm has accused Sanders of missing payments on a $135,000 vehicle and asked the court for permission to act despite an automatic stay that normally blocks collection efforts. This time, the company’s request was filed June 2.
The filing claims Sanders is in default of his monthly payments by $9,170. It specifies that the default includes past-due amounts from February through May of 2026.
The request targets the same car that triggered a similar effort last year. In April 2025, Mercedes-Benz made an earlier bid to repossess the vehicle. That request was resolved through payment, and the car was not repossessed, based on court records obtained by this news organization.
Mercedes-Benz’s motion adds to Sanders’ legal strain just as other claims involving unpaid bills are shifting elsewhere in his orbit. Earlier, a separate lawsuit was dropped by a law firm that had accused him of unpaid bills.
The company’s attorney argued that bankruptcy protections cannot be allowed to freeze the situation in a case like this. “The motor vehicle is depreciating in value. the contract is in default and the movant (Mercedes-Benz) is being prevented by the automatic stay from exercising its remedies to repossess and liquidate its collateral. the motor vehicle. ” the attorney stated in court filings June 2. The filing adds that “the account is in default $9,169.56.”.
Mercedes-Benz also pointed to the structure of the deal and what it says is a lack of equity in the vehicle. The company noted Sanders “lacks equity” in the 2023 car because the outstanding balance is $72,155 while the value of the car is estimated at $75,900.
The motion also lands inside a bankruptcy timeline already shaped by a major debt. Sanders, a former Colorado football player, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2023 with more than $11 million in debt. Most of it is owed to John Darjean, a former security guard at his school in Dallas.
Darjean sued Sanders in 2016, accusing him of assaulting him and severely injuring him when he tried confiscate his phone at school in 2015. The case did not go to trial until 2022, when Darjean won a default judgment against Sanders of $11.89 million after Sanders did not show up.
When Darjean attempted to collect on the judgment, Sanders filed for bankruptcy. That action triggered an automatic stay, stopping debt collection efforts.
Now Mercedes-Benz is asking the court for relief from that same stay—so it can pursue its rights under the vehicle contract.
Sanders’ legal strategy is built around discharge and a reset. By filing for bankruptcy, he is seeking to discharge his debt to get a “fresh start,” according to his attorneys. Darjean, however, is fighting to collect all he’s owed, with a trial scheduled for Aug. 31.
Sanders, 26, disputes Darjean’s version of events and said he acted in self-defense.
The car-related dispute is happening alongside a football-to-business pivot that has already run into hard stops. Sanders finished his college football career as a graduate student in 2024. He was waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year after he went undrafted by NFL teams in April 2025.
A message seeking comment from Sanders’ attorney was not returned.
For a family already under scrutiny because of Deion Sanders’ national profile, the timing is sharp: a second attempt to repossess the vehicle, filed June 2, sits inside a Chapter 7 case that began in October 2023 and includes a high-stakes Aug. 31 trial over Darjean’s claims.
Mercedes-Benz Shilo Sanders Deion Sanders repossess bankruptcy Chapter 7 automatic stay John Darjean car payments Colorado football Tampa Bay Buccaneers
So they’re taking his car again? Wild.
Automatic stay or not, if you miss payments that’s on you. But $9k feels like such a weird number to fight over for a $135k car… like can’t they just work with him.
Wait, I thought Mercedes already repossessed it last year? It says it was resolved through payment but then they want it again in 2026? So did he already lose it and get it back or what. Bankruptcy law is confusing.
This sounds like Deion’s kid being targeted because he’s famous. Like the court should’ve just said “let it go” since it already got fixed once. Also why does it matter the car is depreciating like… yeah cars depreciate, that’s literally what they do. Anyway I’m not saying Mercedes is wrong but $9,170 missed payments, and they’re making a whole second round of drama in federal court??