Hello, I’m attorney Hunter Cavell, and today I’m going to talk to you about what could be one of the most stressful decisions that the normal person makes, and that is buying a new or new to you car from a dealership. It’s usually one of the biggest purchases people make. So that means there’s usually a loan involved. People may feel rushed or pressured to buy because the bank says they can purchase a certain amount of car. And dealers may add certain things like rust protection or paint protection or extended warranties.
I’ve also seen cases where people take cars for test drives and the engine sounds a little rough, but the dealer promises to fix it and the car dies in three days, and the dealership doesn’t take it back. With the paint protection, the rust protection, it may not cover exactly what you want, or the warranty may not even be issued for your car, which I’ve seen as well.
So what happens when the motor dies or the paint protection doesn’t work? Well, a lot of people think know it’s buyer beware, and they bought the car as-is, so they can’t do much about it. However, that’s not always the case. In Ohio, there’s something called the Consumer Sales Practices Act, and that helps consumers against sales people that have shoddy business tactics. And what it involves is whatever your damages are, such as not getting your warranty or having the engine blow up, however much that costs to fix.
Multiply that by three and possibly add a $5,000 statutory fine, as well as all of your attorney fees on it, which can be a very daunting, insurmountable claim against certain dealerships. And they’ll take notice, of course.
Why is it so high? It’s because we want our car dealerships to be on the up-and-up. And if they make a knowing violation of one of the laws, they have to pay for it. It acts as what’s called a deterrent. So it seems harsh, but it keeps dealers honest.
How can I help? Well, if you feel you didn’t get what you bargained for, give me a call, look at the contact information, and send me an email, and we’ll set something up to talk about it. Typically, what happens is you’ll call. If you retain me, I’ll send a demand letter on your behalf saying, hey, dealership, you’ve broken the law, and here’s what you’re owed. And if you want to get out now, pay us. If that doesn’t work, then we file a lawsuit. Now, how this works is I’m an attorney. Attorney fees are involved. I take a little up front to get the initial document process, but then I work on what’s called a contingency and that means that I get paid out of what you get paid on the back-end. So there’s a little bit up front for a possible writing of the wrong. And if you feel you’ve been wronged by a car dealership, please give me a call at 440-940-6441 or email me at hcavell@cavelllaw.com. Thank you and have a great day.
