Wichita utilized-automobile dealer to shell out $21K to settle complaint

A regional utilized-car company and its proprietor have agreed to pay out $20,000 as well as much more than $1,697 in courtroom fees and other charges to settle a purchaser grievance circumstance alleging the enterprise refused to honor implied warranties on their vehicles — which include on a Nissan Altima that a mend store explained as a “Fred Flintstone” car or truck also dangerous to push simply because of a gap in its undercarriage.

Thomas Bland II and Excellent Automotive Group LLC II, 3933 S. Broadway in Wichita, denied wrongdoing but agreed to shell out the income to settle a Kansas Client Safety Act lawsuit filed by the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Business office, in accordance to a information launch. An legal professional for the vendor, Todd Shadid of Klenda Austerman regulation business, declined to comment Wednesday.

But Bland told The Eagle he considered the dealership “went over and further than . . . to go nicely in excess of what the guarantee mentioned.”

“It’s a thing that I just feel . . . was out of our fingers,” he explained. “There was very little destructive accomplished by us. We check in excess of all our automobiles as finest we can.”

The district attorney’s place of work submitted the accommodate from Bland and Top quality Automotive Team after a Wichita male, who is a veteran and a protected shopper beneath Kansas law, complained that they failed to take care of a gap in the undercarriage of a 2006 Nissan Altima that he bought previous summer months.

The person purchased the car for $3,440 in hard cash following seeing an advertisement on Fb proclaiming it “Runs and drives wonderful. One particular operator, clean up title, no mishaps,” in accordance to courtroom records.

The male stopped by the business and exam drove the motor vehicle before the sale, data say. The supplier also claimed it had been inspected.

But a handful of months afterwards, the male was advised by a nearby repair service store exactly where he’d taken the automobile to repair a “rattling noise” that there was a gap in the undercarriage that experienced been “covered around by an outdated license plate.”

The license plate, according to court docket documents, was “very visible and was correct following to the oil pan.”

The male took the car subsequent to a collision repair service heart, which instructed him the harm was structural in nature and “too high-priced for just a patch.”

The middle explained the automobile was too risky to generate in its impression and explained it as a “Fred Flintstone vehicle” due to the fact the driver “could slide by means of the ground boards,” according to court docket paperwork. The estimated repair expenditures have been more than $4,400.

Three times later, the guy drove the car or truck to the used-automobile supplier, confirmed a salesperson a cellphone image of the undercarriage problems and asked for a refund.

He submitted a purchaser complaint with the DA’s workplace immediately after the vendor told him they could resolve the automobile if he paid $250 but “that was all they could do,” in accordance to court data.

Bland and the used-auto company explained they did not know about the gap and denied violating the Kansas Client Protection Act, but “accepted a consent judgment to settle the issue,” the DA’s business office reported in the news launch. They also reported they would not offer the car or truck without having proof that the gap had been fastened and agreed to a yearlong probationary interval, the DA’s business office suggests.

Sedgwick County District Court docket Decide Stephen Ternes permitted the consent judgment Tuesday. The supplier agreed to pay back $4,697 of the civil penalty and other costs straight away. The other $17,000 is staying held in abeyance and will be forgiven if the dealer does not get any other grievances all through its probationary time period, court documents demonstrate.

This is not the initial time Bland has entered into a consent judgment to settle allegations. In 2018, he agreed to pay a judgment in one more circumstance that also alleged client safety act violations, according to the DA’s office.

If you are thinking about acquiring a employed auto, the DA’s workplace recommends inquiring concerns about its heritage before the sale, taking it for an inspection and examining purchasing guides, which provides buying and warranty info.

For much more strategies on purchasing a made use of automobile, take a look at www.buyer.ftc.gov/content articles/buying-made use of-vehicle-dealer.

Contributing: Carrie Rengers of The Wichita Eagle