LOCAL ATTORNEY GOES AFTER VALLEY AUTO DEALERS FOR FRAUDULENT PRACTICES

The Business Press has reported that local attorney George West III is putting car dealerships on notice to disclose all the items that go into the price of a car or face a jury.

West’s campaign to force franchised car dealers to adhere to state and federal disclosure laws has already netted him and his clients three settlements in the valley, two with local Courtesy dealerships and one with Integrity Chrysler. Another two lawsuits are pending, one against Vista Chevrolet and the other against Fletcher Jones Toyota.

West says what he’s found among some dealerships in Southern Nevada is the practice of hiding fees in finance agreements, which by law are supposed to be itemized both for the bank doing the financing and for the custome,r and is both widespread and easy to conceal. The pending local lawsuits are class actions, or are seeking class-action status, which could mean huge losses for the dealerships if West can prove to a jury that hundreds, if not thousands, of unwitting customers are financing cars with hidden fees attached.

Dealerships make their money, not on actual car sales, but on the extras they get buyers to agree to: extended mechanical warranties, service agreements, GAP insurance, the spray that seals a car’s undercarriage, paint sealant and Scotchgard fabric protector.

Car dealers know this, West says, and routinely add the price of after-market products to the vehicle’s selling price, which can mean as much as $2,000 on the base price of a new car. Often that $2,000, which is listed as a “paint sealant” or a rust-prevention package, pays for nothing more than a $40 car-wash contract, according to documents West provided.

Business Press reports a conversation with an ex-dealership worker who says. “I used to do it. I ordered the stuff, too. It was car soap and spray-on wax.”

Other businesses do it also. The next time you buy furniture and and ask and pay for Scotchgarding, you will find that drinks and spills pour right through your couch and that what you actually paid for is for some company to come and clean your couch once.