Consumer Fraud item not as advertised, scammed by used car dealer.

N0Justice

New Member
Jurisdiction
Maryland
I was scammed by a used car dealer who advertised a vehicle on their website as being in good condition with low mileage and a high price tag. I was in the market for the best example of this car I could find and everything was described great and looked really good in the ad, pics. etc. so after calling the dealer directly the owner sounded really honest and after being assured that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and that he was willing to take an offer on it convinced me that the car was a real find. so I bought the car sight unseen. ( based on all the positive reviews this dealer had on a car review site. which I now think were fabricated because there is no way someone doing this to people can have positive reviews. ) when the car arrived it was in total disrepair even missing parts like the blower motor for the heater/hvac. only a metal plate left on the brake pads. needing brakes and rotors. hanging headliner in the interior of the car. broken arm rest, broken glove box, non working power windows, sunroof, etc etc.the exterior was in no better shape. the paint looked nothing like the pictures it was sun baked and the clear coat was peeling off the hood. even the spare tire had tire rot and had a repair plug sticking out of it. as if this was not bad enough I was told by the state inspection station that the engine had internal damage as well. I would never buy a car sight unseen but based on all the information I could find about the dealer and the information given and advertised on the car I didn't think anything bad could possibly go wrong. I mean what are the odds right? anyways. on top of all that the bill of sale that You have to sign in order to purchase the car had a statement on the bottom that reads " IN THE EVENT OF ANY FUTURE MEDIATION OR COURT DISPUTES, BUYER AGREES TO COMPENSATE DEALER FOR ALL RELATED LEGAL EXPENSES AND ATTORNEY'S FEES IF THE COURT FINDS IN DEALER'S FAVOR."

after buying the car I was left with no money to take the dealer to court and don't know if there is anything I can do to warn other people about this scam of the earth with out him trying to send me his lawyer's bill if I say anything bad about him based on that quote on the bill of sale.
any advice would be appreciated guys!
 
after buying the car I was left with no money to take the dealer to court and don't know if there is anything I can do to warn other people about this scam of the earth with out him trying to send me his lawyer's bill if I say anything bad about him based on that quote on the bill of sale.

Sorry, but you already know that you made all of the amateur mistakes so I won't belabor that point.

Bottom line, unless you want to travel to where the dealer is located to sue him (and you'd probably lose because these guys know how to go to the line without going over it) your stuck with the car and the life lesson from the school of hard knocks.

I strongly urge you to stay off the internet and not badmouth this dealer because you could end up on the receiving end of a lawsuit. Even if what you say about him is true the cost of a lawyer to defend you could drive you into bankruptcy.
 
Agree it's better to say nothing.

If you don't want to do that, be very,very careful to only say things that can be proven to be 100% true. The only way you will get a lawyer's bill is if they take you to court and win against you. I don't see that as very likely, but anything is possible.

Have you contacted them at all regarding the condition of the vehicle vs what you were led to believe? Just curious what their response was.
 
Sorry, but you already know that you made all of the amateur mistakes so I won't belabor that point.

Bottom line, unless you want to travel to where the dealer is located to sue him (and you'd probably lose because these guys know how to go to the line without going over it) your stuck with the car and the life lesson from the school of hard knocks.

I strongly urge you to stay off the internet and not badmouth this dealer because you could end up on the receiving end of a lawsuit. Even if what you say about him is true the cost of a lawyer to defend you could drive you into bankruptcy.


I though this wouldn't happen to me specially on what I though was a mutual understanding about honesty and respect and this guy sounded more honest than most people but the only one that was honest on the transaction was me. it is a shame that there is even room for people like this to rob consumers with out a gun and even get a license and protection from the law to do so. thank you so much for your reply!
 
Agree it's better to say nothing.

If you don't want to do that, be very,very careful to only say things that can be proven to be 100% true. The only way you will get a lawyer's bill is if they take you to court and win against you. I don't see that as very likely, but anything is possible.

Have you contacted them at all regarding the condition of the vehicle vs what you were led to believe? Just curious what their response was.


Yes, I did contact him as soon as the vehicle was delivered but his demeanor had totally changed from the honest guy to a total douche bag and he claimed that I've told him that I didn't care about the condition of the car ( which is obviously a lie. why would anyone want to buy a car and say such thing?. the nerve on this guy is off the charts.) and he also said that the car was now mine and stopped answering my calls. I think that if I was to take him to court there is a very high chance I could win based on the facts because I have all the records. texts emails etc and the car it self vs what he advertised and described. but that would end up costing me my whole livelihood. this guy knows it and it is just not fair that crooks like this go around scamming consumers and have a legal way to go about it knowing that it is very unlikely to take them to court because this would drag the life out of the people they scam and therefore they get away with it. after this happened and after more research I did find a bad review about this dealer on a different site from another Victim with a similar case and the review is still posted since last year. so I am guessing the dealer didn't have that legal quote on his bills of sale back then? I only wish I had seen the bad review from that other site before I even contemplated calling the dealer. if I only had the means to sue him to prevent him from doing this to other people I would with out hesitation. people shouldn't be allowed to get a license to ruin people's life's with such disregard for the law. I did learn not to trust anyone again but that doesn't justify this dealer's actions and wish there was something I could do to warn others.
thank you so much for your reply!
 
True, it's not fair and scammers should be punished, yada, yada, yada.

Truth be told, this is all on you because you didn't take even the simplest of precautions that would have avoided this debacle.

Heck, you could have gone on the internet before buying and googled something like how to buy a used car and you would have gotten all the warnings.
 
The issue you would have in court is that it will mostly be your word against his and you've already found out he's a liar. I'm sure you signed some paperwork that stated the vehicle was sold "as is". He could claim that you damaged the car, removed parts etc after you received it. I'm sure they know all the tricks and loopholes. You can of course report them to the Better Business Bureau.
 
True, it's not fair and scammers should be punished, yada, yada, yada.

Truth be told, this is all on you because you didn't take even the simplest of precautions that would have avoided this debacle.

Heck, you could have gone on the internet before buying and googled something like how to buy a used car and you would have gotten all the warnings.

You are correct! I should have done that. I've have only purchased one car before this one and it lasted for 15 years so I don't buy a car every year. me being naive and trusting someone made me the bad guy I guess.
at least some one else will learn from my mistake. I hope. thanks for your help adjusterjack.
 
The issue you would have in court is that it will mostly be your word against his and you've already found out he's a liar. I'm sure you signed some paperwork that stated the vehicle was sold "as is". He could claim that you damaged the car, removed parts etc after you received it. I'm sure they know all the tricks and loopholes. You can of course report them to the Better Business Bureau.

you live and learn. I just hope that karma does a 360 on this dealer. thank you for your replies I am sure this will be a lesson for more people out there. I am dusting it off and moving on for now. I won't make the same mistake twice and make some other crook look like a hero again. thank you for your help txls! it is much appreciated!
 
You can of course report them to the Better Business Bureau.

Waste of time. The BBB are the foxes that guard the henhouse. The BBB survives on members dues. When members get disciplined by the BBB, they leave and the BBB loses money. Never expect the BBB to be helpful.
 
That isn't always the case adjusterjack... I filed a complaint with the BBB and within 24 hours the owner of the business called me. He fixed the issue that i had.
 
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