Many car buyers get caught up in the excitement of buying a new car, and fall victim this questionable car dealer sales practice.

For more insight and advice on the yo yo sale, read these articles:

 Yo-Yo Sales: The Predatory Practice of Unscrupulous Car Dealers by Adam G. Taub

“SPOT DELIVERY” IS ANTICIPATORY THEFT AND ALWAYS VIOLATES THE TRUTH IN LENDING ACT by RAYMOND G. INGALSBE

The Dodge Journey seems to have a variety of defects, most common in 2009, 2010 and 2011 model years. There have been reported problems with the transmission, fuel system, electrical systems, and unusual brake wear and vibration, in addition to many other defects. There is a recall for the 2010 Dodge Journey for leaking power steering fluid. The 2009 Dodge Journey shows numerous recalls including 2 air bag recalls, 2 electrical recalls and 1 transmission recall. There was a steering problem on the 2011 Journey. Get a free lemon check here: http://www.lemoncheck.com/

3D4PG9FV8AT227008

3D4PG9FG8BT504923

3D4PG5FV8AT236381

3C4PDCBG3CT164493

3D4PG4FB4AT242694

3D4GG47B09T518427

3D4PG5FV0AT105803

3D4PG4FB9AT145569

3D4PG5FV2AT215557

3D4PG5FV1AT116762

3D4PG3FG0BT516092

3D4PG5FV3AT145745

3D4PG5FV6AT117986

3D4PG4FB4AT233266

3D4PG5FV2AT120836

3D4PG5FV8AT257392

3D4PG5FV9AT178541

3D4GG67VX9T506081

3D4PG6FV2AT100317

3D4GG57V39T590724

3D4GG47B29T227878

3D4PG4FB8AT236753

3D4GG57V79T240786

3D4GG57V59T153775

3D4GG67V09T218957

3D4PG5FV9AT115911

3D4GG57V39T502139

3D4PG5FV2AT119671

3D4GG57V09T159788

3D4GG57V89T568136

3D4GG57V09T243108

3D4GG67V89T158166

3D4GG47B19T135371

3D4GG67V99T171170

3D4GG57V89T170053

3D4GG57V99T586032

3D4GG67V99T219167

3D4GG67V19T153293

3D4GG47B99T190344

3D4GG57V79T158914

3D4GG57V19T181914

3D4GG57V79T173154

3D4GG57V09T149360

3D4GG47B29T196079

3D4GG57V19T172954

In a recent story run by NBC 2 in Ft. Meyers, Florida it was reported alleged that the Craigs distributed “fliers” on vehicles at an auction advertising their “odometer services.” The advertisements offered ”Odometer services, digital or analog, we adjust, correct or replace, any odometer to any miles, we come to you.” 

Under the Florida’s version of the Odometer Act, Florida Statutes 319.35(2)(a) ”does not prevent the service, repair, or replacement of an odometer if the mileage indicated thereon remains the same as before the service, repair, or replacement.”

However the odometer act requires that “if the odometer is incapable of registering the same mileage as before such service, repair, or replacement, the odometer must be adjusted to read zero and a notice in writing must be attached to the door frame of the vehicle by the owner or his or her agent specifying the mileage prior to repair or replacement of the odometer and the date on which it was repaired or replaced.”

An undercover officer called the phone number listed on the advertisement, and spoke with Douglas Craig, and  then arranged to meet with Douglas to roll-back the odometer of a car with 100,000 miles, according to reports. Douglas told the undercover officer it would cost $125 to reset the odometer, according to the police.

Sometime later, the undercover officer made contact with Douglas again, and allegedly agreed to meet in the Walmart parking lot. Douglas allegeldly offered to show the undercover officer how easy it was to change the odometer readings, by having his son Austin plug a device into a service port of the car and changing the odometer. When Douglas and Austin walked toward the car with the device, they were arrested and charged with two counts of tampering with an odometer.

Interestingly, court records indicate that Douglas Craig was also arrested on April 18, 2012, one day after the odometer arrest, for Grand Theft Auto in STATE OF FLORIDA VS CRAIG, DOUGLAS PAUL Case No.: 12-CF-015815.

Father and son are scheduled to appear at arraignment for the odometer cases in STATE OF FLORIDA VS CRAIG, DOUGLAS PAUL Case No.: 12-CF-015810 and STATE OF FLORIDA VS CRAIG, AUSTIN DOUGLAS Case No.: 12-CF-015811before Judge Edward Volz, Jr. on May 21, 2012 at 8:30 AM.

But it appears that last month on March 14, 2012 the court reopened the case, and allowed Plotnick to get back into the business of selling used cars, while he is still on probation for multiple counts of odometer fraud.

Judge George Shahood granted Plotnick’s motion for relief from Judge Levin’s original sentence and issued an order that allows Plotnick ”TO WORK IN THE AUTOMOBILE BUSINESS AT WHOLESALE LEVEL ONLY NOT RETAIL” but only warned Plotnick not to violate the law in any way, according the docket entries reported on the Martin County’s Clerk’s office. So now it seems that Marc Plotnick will become a wholesale used car dealer in Florida, and let’s hope not allowed to defraud the public in a “wholesale fashion.”

Judge Shahood is a former Broward Circuit Judge, who retired in 2008 as chief judge of the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, and is now back on the bench as Senior Circuit Judge in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court. Judge Shahood should be ashamed of granting Plotnick this sort of relief from his sentence, which was from the beginning, only a slap on the wrist for the frauds he committed.

(See Part I of this story: Florida Used Car Dealer Guilty of Odometer Fraud – Slap on the Wrist?)

Marc Plotnick, former owner of Plotty’s Discount Motors in Stuart, Florida was facing a potential sentence of 140 years of jail time on odometer fraud and other felony charges. What Plotnick got from the court was a slap on the wrist by comparison. The former used car dealer received an 8 month jail sentence, a year of house arrest and three years of probation. Prosecutors in Plotnick’s case had made a sentence recommendation of 14 months in prison as part of his plea agreement, but Judge Steve Levin thought otherwise. As a special condition to Plotnick’s sentence, the Court ordered that Plotnick was “not permitted to participate in any car business of any type – no sales to any customer” according the docket entries reported on the Martin County’s Clerk’s office. (But see: Part II of this story about Plotnick entitled - ”Convicted Florida Dealer Allowed Back in the Business?“)

 Staff photo by Sarah Grile/The Palm Beach Post.

Plotnick told Judge Levin at sentencing, “It had a lot to do with greed.” Interestingly, several of Plotnick’s car buying customers to Judge  Levin that Plotnick treated them fairly, often replacing cars or paying out of his pocket for repairs when they complained of problems. The Judge remarked “What you basically did was smile at these people, gave them a good attitude, and fooled them.”

EVERYBODY PLAYS THE FOOL… SOMETIMES – But this case is more than just playing cutomers for fools, and is not just used car salesman “puffery.“ Odometer fraud is both a state and federal crime. It’s one thing to tell a customer that the car was formerly owned by the proverbial “little old lady that only drove it to church on Sunday” and it’s quite another to actively tamper with and reset odometers on used cars to sell them for higher prices to unwary consumers… it’s a crime! While odometer fraud is not a violent crime, used car dealers like Plotnick create havoc for hundreds of car buyers.

In Florida, a car with an odometer that has been tampered with is “contraband” and cannot be legally driven on the roads of the State of Florida, and is subject to seizure by the police. See: “Unlawful acts in connection with motor vehicle odometer readings; penalties” Fla. Stat. 319.35 (4) “If any person, with intent to defraud, possesses, sells, or offers to sell any motor vehicle with an odometer that has been illegally adjusted, altered, set back, or tampered with so as to reflect a lower mileage than the vehicle has actually been driven, such motor vehicle is contraband and is subject to seizure and forfeiture by a law enforcement agency or the department pursuant to ss. 932.701-932.704.”

Plotnick was arrested in July, 2009 and again a month later for odometer fraud. He had admitted to having employees roll-back odometers to make the high-mileage cars appear more attractive to buyers. After nearly a month-long investigation, detectives with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office charged Plotnick his mechanic Charles Johns at Plotty’s Discount Motors with lowering the mileage on several vehicles to boost sales. In a rather low-tech scheme to defraud car buyers and hide the true milage on the odometer, electrical tape was placed over part of the odometer to hide the actual mileage, on certain cars… (and I thought that only Duct Tape had 1001 uses!)

Detectives said Plotnick could have rolled back odometers on as many as 100 cars in 3 years. But Plotnick pleaded no contest to odometer fraud charges involving just 13 cars, along with organized fraud and other charges.

The DOR says Davis failed to turn over sales tax he collected from his customers and he failed to file tax returns in six reporting periods. Davis faces up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines if he’s convicted.

Read the story here… by Julie Montanaro May 10, 2012

Because the car broke down so quickly after the sale, the buyer did have viable claims for fraud and violation of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (similar to the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act).

The court held that a reasonable jury could find that the dealership fraudulently informed plaintiff that the automobile had been inspected by the dealership and had been found to have no mechanical problems or deficiencies, and that there was sufficient evidence to support a claim under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act that the dealership represented that the car had characteristics or a quality that it did not have.

The court reasoned that the “as is, no warranty” provision is inconsistent with a claim that the dealer provided an oral warranty that the vehicle is free of mechanical problems, because a vehicle with a warranty cannot be sold as is.

However, an allegedly false assertion that a car has been inspected and found free of mechanical problems is not inconsistent with an “as is, no warranty” provision, because a vehicle can be sold “as is, no warranty” after an inspection is performed and reveals no problems.

Summarizing the facts of on appeal from the Grand Traverse Circuit Court (Case No.: 09-027524-NZ) in Williams v. GMAC the buyer asked the salesperson at Williams Chevrolet for a “safe and reliable used vehicle,” the salesperson showed the buyer a Cadillac, and told him that the car “had been inspected by the dealership and had been found to have no mechanical problems or deficiencies.” Buyer relied on the salesperson when he decided to purchase the vehicle. Buyer drove the vehicle approximately 80 miles back to his residence, the service engine light came on and the vehicle began lurching. Buyer took the vehicle to a nearby GM dealership, where a mechanic performed a throttle body cleaning and replaced the fuel filter. Shortly thereafter, the vehicle “suffered … another mechanical failure” and was towed to another repair shop, where more repairs were completed. Buyer claimed that the mechanics at the second repair shop told him that had the dealership performed a proper inspection, it would have recognized that the vehicle required these additional repairs.

Dani Liblang a Michigan lemon law attorney and member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, represented the car buyer in this case.

“Buy Here Pay Here” is a segment of the used car dealer business, where the dealer offers in-house financing directly to car buyers with ”bad credit” rather than having the buyer seek financing from traditional lenders, like banks. BHPH customers typically complain of above-market car prices, high interest rates and hair-trigger repossessions.

The CFPB’s Director, Richard Cordray has said that the alleged abuses in the Buy Here Pay Here segment of the used car dealer market were a priority for his agency.

The incident happened about 7:30 a.m. on April 18, 2012 when the repo man hooked up the SUV to take it away. A confrontation between family members and the repo agent ensued. The repo agent and his supervisor said they were both struck in the face. The family member who allegedly caused the injuries was taken into custody by police.

Other family members then tried to stop the repossession by blocking the driveway, but a police spokesman said the repossession was legal because the car was in a driveway.

In Florida, and in all other states that have adopted the Uniform Commercial Code – the law governing self-help repossessions, a repo man cannot “breach the peace” when entering onto private property to take possession of a vehicle. When a repo agent in Florida is verbally or physically confronted with an objection by the car’s owner or the owner/resident of the property where the car is located, the repo man MUST RETREAT, unlike what you see on certain “Reality TV” shows on repossession.

If the repo man does not retreat, depending on the facts, the repo commits a breach of the peace, and the repossession is wrongful. Wrongful repo cases are very fact sensitive, and not all situations where the repo man does not retreat after a physical or verbal objection are wrongful.

Mr. Miller, who lives in West Palm Beach, was arrested by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department on September, 11, 2011 on a felony charge relating to theft of state funds. If convicted, he faces up to 5 years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines. Mr. V’s Auto Sales is located at 1160 South West 27th Avenue in Ft. Lauderdale.

Mr. Miller collected tax from customers at his business, Revenue Department investigators say. However, during various periods beginning in 2008 and lasting through periods in 2009, he failed to send the state all the sales tax that he had collected. Under state law, sales tax is the property of the state at the moment of collection.