Where Can You Complain About a Car Dealer?

Yesterday we gave you a list of places where you can complain if you end up with a lemon and your dealer won't help you, or if you get ripped off by a car dealer, what some folks call "car sales fraud." Not every dealer is a crook and not every car is a lemon - in fact, most aren't. But if that's what happens to you or what you end up with and you can't get them to take care of your problem, there is another route you can go to get attention to your problem, if you let the dealer set up the loan for you when you bought the vehicle. Your lender.

Why should the bank or finance company care? Because they don't want to be associated with a bad dealer anymore than you do, even though they make thousands of dollars off their relationship with the dealer by letting the dealer set up their loan with you.

More importantly, if the dealer does something wrong, the lender is the one that can also be stuck with the liability to you. That's because when the dealer sets up the financing, federal law requires that there be a small clause in the finance contract that says any holder of the finance contract is liable for the sales problems that the dealer created when they sold you the vehicle.

So your lender, finance company, or bank cares for the same reason that they care about anything - because it can cost them money. So your complaint can matter to them.

Here is a list of the name and contact information for many of the lending institutions who car dealers work with in the Ohio Miami Valley. If  you get ripped off by a car dealer, or you end up with a lemon and a dealer who won't help you out, then you may want to contact the lender and ask them why they do business with that dealer and why they don't care about you as a customer.

Banks and credit unions and finance companies - they need to hear your complaints so they know what car dealers they should stay away from and not do business with, no matter how much money the dealer is offering them.

We are also including below a list of manufacturer contacts so that you can complain directly to the manufacturer about your lemon or about what their licensed dealer did to you too, and you can ask them why they let their dealers cheat people, why they won't take back your lemon, and do they care about what happens to you, their customer, too.

Remember, the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the grease! You want them to read your complaint, care about what happened to you, and do something about it for you! So if you are going to complain, then keep it short, keep it simple, keep it accurate! And don't give up. If they won't help you out and you were ripped off by a car dealer or you ended up with a lemon you can't get rid of, call or email us. We know what to do.

Ally Bank Financial
CEO Barbara Yastine
200 Renaissance Center
Detroit, MI 48265
866.710.4623

Credit Acceptance Corporation CEO Brett A.  Roberts
25505 W.  12 Mile Rd#2300
Southfield, MI 48034
248.353.2700
800.634.1506

Bank of America N.A
CEO Brian T.  Moynihan
100 N.  Tryon St.  Ste.  170
Charlotte, NC 28202
980.335.3561

AmeriCredit Financial
801 Cherry St.  Ste.  3500
Fort Worth, TX 76102
817.302.7000
800.644.2297
817.302.7897 (Fax)

River Valley Credit Union
505 Earl Blvd
Miamisburg OH 45342
937.859.1970
Smontesano@rivervalleycu.org

Day Air Credit Union
3501 Wilmington Pike
Kettering, OH 45429
937.643.2160
888.329.2472
937.643.3870 (Fax)
mail@dayair.org

Wright Patt Credit Union
2455 Executive Park Blvd                    AND                 3560 Pentagon Blvd
Fairborn, OH 45324                                                        Beavercreek, OH 45431-1706
937.912.7000
937.912.8148(Fax)

CEO Douglas Fecher dfecher@wpcu.coop
SVP, Chief Lending Officer Tim Mislansky tmislanky@wpcu.coop        
CFO Matthew Davidson mdavidson@wpcu.coop
VP, Consumer Lending Eric Bugger ebugger@wpcu.coop
VP of Marketing & Business Tracy A.  Fors tfors@wpcu.coop
VP, Internal Audit David Bowser dbowser@wpcu.coop
General Counsel Scott Everett severett@wpcu.coop

Capital One Auto Finance, Inc.              General Electric Credit Union
CEO Richard D.  Fairbank                               CEO Patrick L.  Taylor
3901 Dallas Pkwy                                               10485 Reading Rd.
Plano, TX 75093                                                Cincinnati, OH 45241
800.946.0332                                                     513.243.4328
800.689.1789
866.722.0410 (Fax)

Santander Consumer USA                           CEO Thomas G.  Dundon
Customer Complaints                         AND         SCUSA Holdings Investor Relations
Office of the President                                          PO Box 961245
PO Box 961245                                                       Forth Worth TX 76161-1245
Forth Worth, TX 76161-1245                               800.493.8219
888.222.4227                                                          investorrelations@santanderconsumerusa.com
OOPOFFICE@santanderconsumerusa.com

TD Auto Finance
CEO Timothy D.  Hockey                  AND                        Customer Resolution
27777 Inkster Rd.                                                                 PO Box 1622
Farmington Hills, MI 48334                                             Roanoke, TX 76262
248.427.6300                                                                       800.556.8172
248.427.6600 (Fax)

Mazda North American Operations
7755 Irvine Center Dr.
Irvine, CA 92618
949.727.1990

Customer Center
PO Box 19734
Irvine, CA 92623-9734
800.222.5500

CEO Jim O’Sullivan
Director of Public Relations Jeremy Barns

Chrysler Group
1000 Chrysler Drive
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
248.576.5741

General Motors
300 Renaissance Center
Detroit, MI 48265
313.556.500

CEO Mary Barra
General Counsel Michael Milikin

Mitsubishi Motors North American
6400 Katella Ave.
Cypress, CA 90630
714.372.600
888.648.7280

Mailing Address
PO Box 6400
Cypress CA, 90630

CEO Jeff Young
Chief Legal Officer John McElroy
Public Relations Alex Feorak

Nissan North America
One Nissan Way
Franklin, TN 37067
615.725.1000

Chief Customer Officer John Spoon
General Counsel Andrew Tavi

Did you get ripped off with an EasyCare contract by your car dealer? Here's where to complain -

Larry Dorfman, CEO
EasyCare - APCO
6010 Atlantic Boulevard
Norcross GA 30071
info@easycare.com
800.458.7071

Motor Trend
831 S.  Douglas St.
El Segundo, CA 90245

Edward Loh Editor-in-Chief
http://www.motortrend.com/staff/edward_loh/

It might help to complain to the Dayton Better Business Bureau too. Here is their contact info -
15 W.  4th St.  Ste.  300
Dayton OH 45402
937.222.5825
800.776.5301
937.222.3338 (fax)
CEO John North
jnorth@dayton.bbb.org

Mark Graham, Executive Director of Business Ethics
mgraham@dayton.bbb.org

Melissa Cutcher, Vice President of Business Relations
mcutcher@dayton.bbb.org

Christy Mauch, Director of Operations
cmauch@dayton.bbb.org

Jeanne Porter, Founder and Director of WiBN
jporter@dayton.bbb.org

And don't forget to complain to Ohio's chief law enforcement officer, the Ohio Attorney General -

Mike DeWine
30 E.  Broad St.  14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
614.466.4986

Cincinnati Office
441 Vine St.
1600 Carew Tower
Cincinnati OH 45202
513.852.3497

Chris Wagner, Assistant Attorney General
Sandra Lynskey, Chief Consumer Protection
Melissa Wright, Assistant Chief Consumer Protection
800.282.0515

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Angry car buyers who were ripped off by a car dealer or who end up with a lemon, often ask who they can write or call or email to complain about what happened to them. Often your complaint may be answered and your problem worked out. And if not, well, at least you tried.

So, who ya gonna call? Well, here's a list of some people who need to know when you get ripped off or when you end up with a lemon. Complaining may not get you the result you want, but it will probably feel good to give your opinion about your dealer or the manufacturer's representative that you dealt with, at the very least.



Remember, the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the grease! You want them to read your complaint, care about what happened to you, and do something about it for you! So if you are going to complain, then keep it short, keep it simple, keep it accurate! And don't give up. If they won't help you out and you were ripped off by a car dealer or you ended up with a lemon you can't get rid of, call or email us. We know what to do.

Ripoff Report http://www.ripoffreport.com

Dealer Rater - http://www.mydealerreport.com/rateDealer.php

Car Dealer Check - http://cardealercheck.com/

Cars.com, Car Dealer Reviews - http://www.cars.com/dealers/reviews/?contest=true

Edmunds Car Dealer Reviews - http://www.edmunds.com/dealer-reviews/

Miami Valley Better Business Bureau, submit a review by clicking on the car dealer's name from a list, then scanning down the page to the "submit a review" link halfway down the page - http://www.bbb.org/dayton/business-reviews/auto-dealers-new-cars

Google Places Reviews - do a Google search for the name of the dealer and then look to the Google Places info on the right of your screen and for the "review" link (it is explained step by step at this link: https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2622999?hl=en)

Yelp, Write a Review - http://www.yelp.com

Dayton Daily Newspaper Google Plus Page - https://plus.google.com/103336035898501112818/about

WHIO-TV Google Plus Page - https://plus.google.com/100075856944361011392/posts

WDTN-TV - http://wdtn.com/about-us/contact-us/

And don't forget Facebook and and Twitter. The dealer or the manufacturer may have a page where you can go to complaint or write your own review.

Get it free. Use it to protect yourself.

You have more legal rights than you know. And now there's a free book that tells you all about your legal rights as a consumer in the marketplace.

There are a lot of consumer protection laws in every state and, frankly, most folks have never heard of most of them. Heck, a lot of lawyers and judges don't even know about all of them either.

Well, now is your chance to learn what they are and how to use them to protect yourself and your family.

When you have a question about buying something for your personal or family use or if you want to avoid being scammed, there's  an easy-to-read guide book that tells you all about the 9 areas of law that you and your family need to know to stay safe and avoid getting ripped off. It's called Consumer Courage.

It's free. It's brand new. And it is written for you to use - not for lawyers. Oh, okay, lawyers can find their "lawyer stuff" (citations and things) at the end of the book in the Attorney's Index, so they can go look up things if they want. But this book is for ordinary folks to use. And use it, you should.

Although this 118-page book deals with Ohio law, you could look up the same laws in practically every state and you would likely find that most of them are the same everywhere. So this law is great for Ohio consumers and consumers elsewhere too.

You can download it for free and ask and they will mail you a copy for free.

Mark Wiseman is the author and he spent a year putting together a solid explanation of the laws and rules that are made to help consumers. And as he wisely says, "you should use it to see what your rights are BEFORE you try to buy something, borrow money to buy something, or hire someone to perform a service for you."

There are chapters dealing with Ohio's "Udap" law, the Consumer Sales Practices Act, which gives consumers powerful legal rights that most merchants and businesses don't know about but you can use to protect your family and yourself.

Credit cards and credit reports are explained, data breaches and what to do about it, how to handle past due bills and telemarketers, the rules about buying cars, advertising car sales and much more.

Legal rights when it comes to home buying and home rehabbing are explained. And condo's and apartments too.

Retail sales scams and legal rights are explained, including rain checks and layaways, rent-to-own, gift card laws and the rules on health club and dating service memberships.

Helping Consumers Be Financially Safe

There's even a chapter on the purchase rights of people with handicaps and business investing.

And just when you think you've got it all, there are 7 "bonus" buying guides added at the end that are remarkably useful too.

If you want to protect yourself, if you want to know for sure what your rights before you get scammed or ripped off, this book is for you. And the price is oh so right - FREE.

Lawyers working to improve Justice for all.

Wiseman's work is the result of support from the NHS Consumer Law Center, whose purpose is to help consumers and their families make informed and financially safe decisions in the marketplace, and from the Ohio State Bar Foundation, lawyers working to improve Justice for all.

If you want to be safe in the marketplace, if you want to make sure that you and your family don't become victims of crooked car dealers or telemarketers or scam artists, get this book. Read it. Use it. As sure as you do, you'll be glad you did. As sure as you don't, you'll wish you did.

This is an open letter to the Miami Valley motor vehicle dealership employee who sent us the anonymous letter that is attached. And an invitation to coffee and donuts.

Yes, we are aware that there are some dealers in Ohio who apparently have engaged in some deceptive, fraudulent sales practices in the last few years, taking advantage of both consumers and banks and putting everyone at risk while they line their pockets with money they otherwise wouldn't get.

Their lies make them big profits at the expense of everyone else. And the lies - well, that's why they are called Liar Loans. The New York Times interviewed us about it recently because we had so many car sales fraud cases involving this kind of fraud.

You say that after work a few drinks at a local pub they get to talking about what they do to customers and banks to make money. How they can get loans for people who can't qualify for a loan or don't have down payment money or are not making much money, and how the dealer employees "fix" a credit application by "giving them a raise on the bank application stating the customer makes more money than they really do" and that they create fake down payments to get loan approval, among other things.

It's called Bank Fraud and Conspiracy and some dealers are doing it.

And yes, you are right, faking a down payment can sometimes get the dealer people a higher kickback from the banks, because the banks think the buyer has more money invested in the vehicle so the buyer is less likely to default on the loan. And you say that some dealer employees tell the banks that the vehicle being sold has extra-cost optional equipment on it that doesn't really exist? Yes, I have seen and heard that one before too.

And you say that they alter the new vehicle invoice in order to get banks to make loans to people no matter what they owe? And they "laugh at how stupid the banks are," with all their money to loan out and the banks just "look the other way?" Yes, we have heard those stories too. Some banks won't bite the hand that feeds them and they don't want the public to know how easily they were ripped off. Those banks also don't want the bank examiners to know.

It alarms you? It should. This kind of stuff is called "fluffing" in the retail motor vehicle sales industry. The FBI calls it Bank Fraud and it's a federal crime. And when two or more people get together to do it, it's called Conspiracy. That's exactly what some employees at one car dealership found out the hard way. Check out this FBI press release.

"As managers and salesmen in a car dealership, these defendants falsified customer information used to make loans, defrauding the banks who trusted the dealership to present truthful information during the vehicle financing process, and harming customers by fraudulently inflating the value of the vehicles they purchased," said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance in a statement reported by industry magazine F&I Showroom. "This type of fraud is the auto-industry equivalent of the mortgage fraud that contributed to the financial meltdown, and could threaten the security of our financial markets.”

Rumor has it that the FBI (in Ohio and elsewhere) is looking far more closely at this kind of fraud than ever before. Meanwhile, people are getting hurt.

Fluffing a credit app hurts the consumer because it buries them in debt they can't really afford and locks them into a loan payment schedule that many of them are doomed to fail.

It hurts banks because they make loan decisions and take on financial risks based on fraudulent credit information given them by their partnering vehicle dealers. And, as the US Attorney in an Alabama case put it, that is how the financial collapse of 2009 was triggered when these Liar Loans ran wild in the mortgage industry.

And now Liar Loans have come to a car dealership near you. And some Rv dealers too.

In the long run, Liar Loans hurt everyone but the thieves at the dealership, who pocket the big money. And when caught, they often run, leaving a legitimate dealer with an office full of trouble. Of course, that assumes the owner of the dealership didn't know it was going on in the first place.

But then again, we've also heard that some dealers are run by the very persons who seem to be telling the dealer employees how to do these things. It has gotten so bad that we now have about four dozen consumer clients who are victims of this fluffing ripoff. And you can tell when "it flows downhill" when one person owns several dealership locations and multiple locations are accused of doing the same thing to different consumers. Sometimes fraud is not accidental. Sometimes fraud is organized.

An anonymous letter from you is nice, sure. But we really need witnesses who know the truth about what was done, how it was done, and who did it at your dealership. We'll meet with you "off the record" and just as anonymously, if it helps us get to more of the truth. Our door has been open before and is always open to learning the truth about the few crooked dealer employees who make it bad for everyone.

People are getting ripped off. Banks are getting ripped off.

If you know anything about car sales fraud, stop by our office for a cup of coffee and a chat sometime. If you aren't part of the solution, then you may become part of the problem.

Without a doubt, GM is the King of Recalls for 2014. And with 3 more months still to go, CNN says that there are over a million GM vehicles on the road whose recall has yet to be performed.

Two days ago GM announced the recall of Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet Caprice and Cadillac vehicles after disclosing that on some of the vehicles if you hit the ignition key with your knee the key can rotate into a non-running mode. Does that mean it can cause the engine to shut off and the car to go into Accessory Mode? That's not clear but this writer doesn't want to find out. But then again, at least you can still listen to the radio as your car careens down the interstate, folks.

Even worse, the recalled Chevy Caprice model is the police car version.

In fact, the GM recall situation is so bad that GM has set up a special "Recall Center" website so GM owners can go there and find out if their GM-build vehicle is on any recall list. If you own a GM car or truck, having to check a special website for your recalls may not make you feel better about the vehicle's reliability - or about the ability of the company's engineering department either.

Image from USNews

The latest GM recalls total another 60,000 and involve -


2008 - 2009 Pontiac G6
2011 - 2013 Chevrolet Caprice PPV (police patrol vehicles)
2004 - 2007 Cadillac CTS-V
2006 - 2007 Cadillac STS-V
2014 Chevrolet Sonic

So, if you've got a GM vehicle, better safe than sorry so go check the GM Recall Center website and see if you need to call your GM dealer to make a "fix my recall" appointment.