The headline reads "Auto Dealer Target of Lawsuits"

Burdge Law Office has been fighting car sales fraud in Ohio and Kentucky for more than 25 years and the consumer complaints about Ohio and Kentucky car dealers haven't stopped coming into the office. Headlines in local papers, like the one above, seem to just keep happening.

In fact, we are seeing more complaints about vehicle sales fraud than ever before, many of them alleging a "systematic and organized pattern" of deceptive practices that sometimes have cost consumers thousands of extra dollars in each sale.

Allegations include the use of a "5 finger close" where the finance salesperson holds their hand on the paperwork while getting the customer's signature on a contract that includes extra charges they were not aware of, charging $1,249 or more for rust-proofing that may not even on the vehicle being sold, charging exorbitant prices for window "theft deterrent" etching that consumers and others allege is nearly worthless, among other things.

Some consumers explain that the extra charges occurred in a way that is called "payment packing" in the auto sales industry - where extra charges are added in the dealer's payment amount quoted early in the process without the customer knowing about it. The customer thinks buying the car will cost, for example, $400 a month because that is what the dealer said. But in fact the dealer knew that it would only cost $350 a month but they said $400 so that the finance office would have $50 of "leg" in the deal --- where they could add extra cost products without surprising the buyer when they hear the finance office quote the precise monthly payment amount for the vehicle.

We have seen charges on sales papers that seem exorbitant compared to what other dealers charge for the same or similar products and services. Dealers charge extra for what they commonly call "soft add on" products. They are called that because they add no real "hard" value to the vehicle being sold in the deal.

Soft add on's may include such things as "Personal Assistant," Gap insurance (which in Ohio is not really insurance at all), extended warranties, "dent" repair services, "security coding" (which is really just window stickers or hard-to-see etching), and "key" replacement programs.

The tactic of a salesperson or the finance office misquoting a payment amount to a prospective buyer is widely called "payment packing" in the car sales industry and has been admitted to be deceptive.

In the summer of 2013 one dealer's general manager was quoted in an Automotive News article as saying, "If somebody's numbers have fallen in finance, they know there is a talent pool of aggressive salespeople who want their job." And, the article goes on, if the numbers fall the finance salesman can find himself back on the floor doing ordinary sales work.

The result of the rising tide of consumer complaints about sales fraud is a rising number of lawsuits involving both new and used vehicle sales and leases throughout Ohio as consumers seem to be discovering what happened to them at car dealerships who engage in such unfair and deceptive practices.

If you were ripped off by a car dealer or treated unfairly or with deception, call Burdge Law Office on their Toll Free Car Sales Fraud Hotline, 1.888.331.6422 or email them for free help getting back your money and getting justice.

Window Etching - is it really "theft protection" or is it just another car dealer scam?

If you pay hundreds of dollars to a car dealer and you could get the same thing on the internet for less than $20 - which do you think is the better deal? And is it a good deal for you when it costs the dealer less than $10 and they charge you $300? You could be getting ripped off big time.

It's one of the great ripoffs of the decade - the window etch scam that some car dealers call "Etch Theft Guard" - we call it the etch a sketch scam.



Consumer advocates say window etching may be worthless

Car dealers often claim that window etching is theft protection or is like theft insurance because it might give you an extra few thousand dollars or so it if fails to prevent your car from being stolen. The truth is that a few numbers scratched on your car window are not likely to even be seen by a thief, let alone deter a car thief.

Dealers also sell the etch scam with the claim that the etched number enables police to track the car down and find the owner - that's baloney. Every motor vehicle has a unique serial number put on it by the manufacturer.

You can see your car's "vehicle identification number" by looking at the bottom of the windshield in front of the driver or at the tag installed on the driver side door jamb. The same number is planted in numerous secret places on the car - where only the police know where to look to find it. If your car is stolen it is that factory VIN number that the police will use to find out if the vehicle is stolen and track down the actual owner.

Worse yet, in some cases we are now handling against one Dayton Ohio car dealer network, the internal dealer documents show a dealer cost of less than $10 for their $300 retail charge window etching and they are even installing it on cars that have real factory-installed alarm systems and theft deterrent devices. Folks, you don't need windows etched if you have a real alarm system already. So why do some folks end up with it?

Some dealers apparently aren't telling the customer about the window etch theft guard that is being charged to them in their sales paperwork. One buyer said in her court papers that she wasn't even told about the etching or the charge for it that a Beavercreek Ohio area Cadillac dealer added into her deal without her knowing what was going on. Another angry buyer said in his court papers that he also wasn't told about the etching charges that a Miamisburg Ohio area Chevrolet added into his sales papers without him knowing it.

This car dealership chain apparently doesn't stop there either. Their Beavercreek Ohio area Mazda dealership is accused by another customer of slipping the etch theft guard charge into their contract without telling them about it either.

The etch theft guard problem is apparently so rampant that numerous lawsuits have been filed against Miami Valley car dealerships in the last few months. Don't fall victim to the etch a sketch window etching ripoff.

Be careful what a car dealer does to you so you don't waste your money.