Dealer Fraud

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, "U.S. car sales hit an annual record, clearing a previous peak reached in 2000 as lower gas prices and interest rates spurred consumers to snap up vehicles from dealerships." As we all know, where there are car sales,...

Many dealers send out mailers that pretend to be contests and offer amazing prizes. I've seen them all. Large screen TVs. MP3s. Thousands of dollars. New cars.Often you have to scratch of an area just like an instant lottery ticket. If the number matches, then you are...

This will be the first in a series touching on the widespread misuse by dealers of bogus AS IS disclaimers to get away with fraud.Dirty dealers, especially dirty franchise dealers, more and more often try to escape liability for selling damaged and defective vehicles,...

This will be the first in a series touching on the widespread misuse by dealers of bogus AS IS disclaimers to get away with fraud. This form of Dealer Fraud is getting way out of hand.Dirty dealers, especially dirty franchise dealers, more and more often try to escape...

Too many dealers will do anything to make a sale. Especially a financed sale. Including coaxing folks into fudging credit applications. I received several calls this week regarding this terrible form of Dealer Fraud.A large franchise dealer had coaxed one consumer to...

I received another call today about the failure of airbags to deploy during a significant front-end accident. The frontal airbags had not deployed during a moderate to severe accident that destroyed the front-end. My first thought was that the vehicle was probably...

At this point, I expect that everyone has heard a little something about what is being called DieselGate. VW is in big trouble. VW is accused of programming many of its models to provide false data during emission testing. Misrepresenting vehicle characteristics and...

I have written in the past about dealers trying offer the best deal - the best deal for them not for you. Based on a couple of recent calls, I think it's a good time to review -- because this is one of the most common forms of dealer fraud.Dealers love to "arrange"...

The Pennsylvania Attorney General recently issued a press release providing some recommendations for avoiding flood vehicles. According to the Federal Trade Commission, recent flooding in the Midwest and Southeast could spell trouble for car buyers throughout the...

I get more and more calls about vehicles purchased on-line. Especially through eBay or Craigslist. In my experience, if a vehicle is offered for sale on eBay or Craigslist, this alone is a red-flag. This is especially true, if a dealer is offering the vehicle through...