Dealer Fraud

Dealers have no motivation to take a car back once you’ve left their lot. Once you sign the paperwork and drive away, you’re on your own.

If you purchased or leased a new or used car and discovered problems with it that the dealer failed to tell you about at the time of purchase, you should contact a lawyer immediately.

Dealers are required to disclose certain information to purchasers. Fraud occurs in a variety of ways, such as failing to inform you of prior accident history or telling you about any body parts that were replaced or painted over. If a dealer sells you a car that has non-OEM replacement parts, after-market parts or tires that are the wrong size or design for the vehicle, this is also vehicle fraud.

California State law protects consumers from vehicle fraud by requiring a dealer to repurchase, replace or repair the vehicle. In some instances, parties may agree on a cash settlement to pay for car repairs, which may include repair work supervised by the manufacturer’s representative.

When a dealer takes a car back, their insurance only covers a certain percentage. This means that they have to classify the car as a lemon. As a result, dealers have no motivation or incentive to resolve your problem. By having experienced attorney will make them pay attention and make sure they comply with the law. Complaining to the dealership on your own rarely will get you the results you need or justice you deserve.

Location, location, location
Some parts of the country are more car-friendly than others. Winter storms (with their accompanying salted roads) can be rough on cars, as obviously can floods, excessive heat or even sea air. Cars that have been where these are common may have hidden damage.

Name and description
Be sure the car in the report is the same as the car you’re looking at. Carefully reviewing the vehicle description is one way to avoid various types of vehicle fraud, like VIN cloning.
A cloned vehicle involves using a vehicle identification number (VIN) from a legally owned, non-stolen vehicle to mask the identity of a similar make/model stolen vehicle. Reports, should include detailed descriptions of the vehicle, so you can make sure the car you’re reading about is the same as the one you’re looking at.

Suspicious markings
Keep an eye out for records of body work that might indicate a prior unreported incident.
Vehicle history reports, like those from CARFAX, can be very comprehensive. In the case of CARFAX, the company’s database contains more than five billion records from thousands of public and private sources, including all DMVs in the United States and Canada and thousands of vehicle inspection stations, auto auctions, fleet management and rental agencies, automobile manufacturers, and fire and police departments.

Negative trade-in value is a type of auto dealer fraud and consists of a car dealer lying or misrepresents the value of your trade-in. This type of vehicle fraud can include informing you that you owe more than the car is worth (sometimes a lie in and of itself) and building in the extra cost into your new loan by adding it to the price of the newly purchased car. This causes you to pay additional taxes and interest on your new car.

The owner of a Scranton used car dealership was charged Thursday with selling vehicles he did not own and for not paying taxes to the state Department of Transportation, police said.
Albert Walta, owner of Scranton Motorcar Co., 626 W. Lackawanna Ave., was charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of theft following a two-month probe by the state police’s vehicle fraud investigation unit.

The 45-year-old Dunmore man’s business practices came under fire in early July when a customer, Joe Schappert, told police Walta sold him a Chevrolet truck on consignment and gave him a check that later bounced, according to a criminal complaint filed in Lackawanna County Court.

After troopers confronted him, Walta said he was in the process of getting a $180,000 loan to repay Schappert, along with other customers to whom he sold vehicles. He allegedly told police he is $70,000 “in the hole” on vehicles he sold, but has not paid off.

Two weeks later, troopers discovered Walta failed to pay another customer, Jonathan Pedrick, the $16,523 he was owed for a 2004 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck he traded in, according to the complaint.

Further investigation revealed Walta did not pay state sales taxes on three vehicles he sold, police said.

The dealership was closed Thursday and a real estate sign bearing the word “available,” stood in the parking lot.

Troopers believe as many as 20 people bought vehicles from Walta that he did not own.

Efforts to reach Walta were unsuccessful. He is scheduled to appear in Lackawanna County Court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

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