Returning a vehicle to a bank that someone has stopped paying for isn't exactly harm. If banks were unable to get vehicles back, people with bad credit would have a much harder time getting a vehicle in the first place.

>much harder time getting a vehicle in the first place.

This is a good thing; add "houses" to the list, too. Credit is too freely issued — we live on debt (as a society/world).

I've seen people throw their $20k in negative equity into a new purchase/lease — and just been baffled.

--but I agree: lenders oughta'be able to retrieve their lien'ed properties.