Dealership steals back car

correct link to story

My gosh, this is funny!


Car dealers are often the butt of jokes. But one local truck buyer is not laughing about the deal that he got -- and lost. Consumer advocates say this case raises lots of questions about how a well-known auto dealer does business.



Earl Kieselhorst thought he owned a 2003 Chevy Silverado -- a truck that he bought from Bill Heard Chevrolet in Antioch.

Kieselhorst says he "paid cash for it. Made the deal. Sales manager signed off on it. Signed all the paperwork. And drove off."

He traded in his car and gave the dealer a check for $8,100.

"I have the keys," Kieselhorst tells NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Jennifer Kraus.

But he doesn't have his truck.

Bill Heard does.

"I can't see any reason why this wouldn't be my car," he adds.

Just one day after he bought the truck, a salesman from Bill Heard called to say the dealership was having second thoughts about the deal.

He told Kieselhorst that if he wanted to keep his truck, he needed to fork over another $10,000 -- something he refused to do. After all, he says, they had a signed deal.

But the next morning, when Kieselhorst woke up, his truck was gone.

"And I was like I can't believe it," he recalls.

The dealership had come and taken it in the middle of the night.

"I've got a contract. This is a legal contract. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say."

Metro police investigated and wanted to file charges against Bill Heard for stealing the truck.

Detective Ray Paris got a statement from Bill Heard, blaming a rookie salesman for what happened and calling it a mistake. (Read the statement given to police by Bill Heard.)

"They inadvertently sold the vehicle at a lower cost than what they should have," Paris says.

Kathleen Calligan says the Better Business Bureau has received literally hundreds and hundreds of similar complaints about the Bill Heard dealership -- more complaints by far than any other auto dealer in all of Middle Tennessee.

"Not only is this an unbelievable volume of complaints, most of them are unresolved," she adds.

Calligan says that, in this day and age, dealers know exactly how much a vehicle is worth.

And if a dealership truly does make a mistake, she says they'll take the loss -- rather than call the customer and demand he make up the difference.

"There is absolutely no reason for a sale not to be final when the customer walks out of the dealership," Calligan adds.

Yet even after Bill Heard had taken back the truck, the salesman called Kieselhorst again.

"He calls me back and offers to sell it to me for $11,000 more than I paid for it," Kieselhorst recalls.

Kieselhorst said no way.

And even though he still believes he is the rightful owner of the truck, when we went looking for it at Bill Heard, we found a customer checking it out. It was for sale, the customer and a saleswoman told us.

"The whole thing has just gotten more and more ridiculous," Kieselhorst says.

And now the self-proclaimed largest Chevrolet dealership in the world is accusing Kieselhorst of "trying to pull a fast one" on them.

"This is the way this company does business," Calligan says. "They really thought they would be able to pull a fast one on their customer."

After we tried to get their side for days, Bill Heard faxed us a statement just before air time, saying that Kieselhorst "should have known" that the deal he got was too good to be true.

The company says:

"It is not reasonable or fair to expect for Bill Heard Chevrolet ... to be bound by a sale where a clear and material mistake was made, and the customer was aware that it was a mistake."

(Read Bill Heard's statement provided to NewsChannel 5.)

Kieselhort says he just thought Bill Heard was giving him the type of good deal they advertise.

As for the police investigation, the DA says this is a civil case, not a criminal case. He says Kieselhorst is free to take the dealer to court -- something he's now seriously considering.

how is that not a criminal offence?

"As for the police investigation, the DA says this is a civil case, not a criminal case. He says Kieselhorst is free to take the dealer to court -- something he's now seriously considering."

Um... how is car thief NOT a criminal case?

Makes you wonder if the local DA is getting kickbacks etc. Someone should start checking to see if "Largest Chevy Dealer in the World" is making political "gifts"

Isn't this called a repossession?

NOT when the guy paid cash for it, in full, with a contract.

Thanks man

If the guy that bought the car took it off the lot, they would arrest his ass. That is for DAMN sure a criminal case.

So now... cant he just go in and drive the fucking thing off the lot? He has a contract for it. No cop is going to arrest him for theft, he has the damn paperwork.

thats funny as fuck

wow, that's new

I don't get it... he paid 8000$ cash, doesn't mention anywhere that he got his money back, and they took back the truck?

Wouldn't that be outright theft? They took his money and ran.

The guy did not pay cash for the truck. He issued the dealership a post dated check that was non negotiable until 2-3 weeks later. On good faith the dealership gave him the truck early, technically it is an extended test drive. They had some other finacial issues with the lien on the trade etc. to deal with, so they let the customer borrow the truck. However upon noticing the mistake the dealer contacted the customer and made an offer to remedy the situation. The transaction was incomplete as no money had changed hands, only the offer to purchase. There were also liens on the customers trade in etc. etc. It gets to complicated to explain any more. There are legal issues with binding contracts etc. I will simply put it this way. If the dealer was in the wrong and actually had a legal binding agreement they would not risk their dealer licence for a $10,000 error. They would have eaten the mistake. They are obviously well within their right to repo the truck and return the customers trade, or they would not have taken the action they did.

MY $0.02

The reason i know about the new car business......I ran a new car store for 10 years.

Is this your opinion ?

Read his entire post.

I take that back since I did not read the whole thing

still ....

Ever bought a house ? Paperwork is a contract ... and you cannot walk out of a contract because you made a mistake ...

I did and I didnt see anything in the article about a post dated check. Thats why I was just asking if this was an opinion or does this person have more info on the case.

WRONG. They had a SIGNED contract. This guy will get his truck and some extra cash for his troubles once this goes to trial. Unless you ran a car business in Tennessee you better check your facts.

Here's a similar situtaion

"I purchased a car and drove it home. Three weeks later the dealer called to inform me that the financing was not approved by the financing company. The dealer stated that if I wanted to keep the car I would have to give him another $1,000 and get a cosigner. Is this legal?

The consumer is only obligated to the terms of the contract they have signed, which includes terms of the financing contracts. If the dealer attempts to change the terms of the contract by raising the down payment or the annual percentage rate, the consumer is not required to agree to the changes. Consumer Options: 1. Cancel the sale, retrieve the down payment and/or trade in and purchase a vehicle elsewhere. 2. Arrange for his own financing and pay the dealer cash. 3. Insist the dealer adhere to the terms of the original contract but it may be advantageous for the consumer to consult private legal counsel for assistance before responding to the dealer. "

http://www.justiceforyall.com/docs/consumer_auto.asp

yea, something like that probably happened...

The auto repair shop gave an estimate and now the bill is twice as much, what can I do?

Tennessee law does not require written estimates on auto repairs and does not require a business to adhere to any given estimate.

If an auto repairman charges more than he said the job would cost, do I have to pay even though I didn't authorize the work?

Yes. There are no specific laws on estimates in Tennessee.

Can he hold my car until I pay?

Yes. Additionally, after notifying you that your car is ready, either orally or in writing, they can charge you a daily storage fee of up to $10.


That's majorly fucked too, some repair shop can just charge you 2x more, and there is nothing you can do :-/