Mr. Rudnick has litigated thousands of claims against hundreds of dealerships throughout the State of New Jersey. A substantial portion of Mr. Rudnick’s practice has been confined to consumer fraud and more specifically, automobile fraud litigation. Mr. Rudnick has also litigated Breach of Warranty cases against all the major manufacturers such as General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Volvo, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Toyota, Lexus, Land Rover and Mercedes Benz.
In addition to Mr. Rudnick’s extensive litigation on behalf of consumers against deceptive automobile practices, he now represents numerous salesmen contesting the dealership’s practice pertaining to their compensation. Right now, Mr. Rudnick is litigating cases against All American Chevrolet, Mack Honda, Mack Dodge, Monmouth Honda, Monmouth Jeep and Monmouth Jeep Eagle. In these cases, the employees are contesting the method by which the dealership principals calculated the commissions.
Mr. Rudnick’s experience in litigating consumer fraud and fraud cases against automobile dealerships has rendered him a well-known and feared adversary in the automobile industry. Many of Mr. Rudnick’s referrals come from salesmen at automobile dealerships. Frequently, Mr. Rudnick will be able to dissect the automobile paperwork to reveal certain types of fraud unknown to the potential client.
Purchasing a car can be a hazardous and economic disastrous transaction if not done appropriately. It is imperative that if you think the dealership has acted unscrupulously in conducting your transaction, you phone for a free consultation.
Common Dealership Tricks
Lie about Financing Status
It is not uncommon for customers to obtain “spot” financing for an automobile transaction. In these circumstances, the consumer leaves the dealership without the finance being approved. Unfortunately, the dealership does not advise the customer as to the status of the financing and the customer thinks they have purchased the car. It is not uncommon that the dealership will sell or dispose of the trade prior to the financing being approved. Two to three weeks later, the dealership contacts the customer and indicates that the financing is approved and that they must come in with additional money for a down payment or must pay a higher interest rate. When the customer demands return of the car, the dealership is unable or refuses to.
Dummy Credit Apps
The dealership will have the consumer sign a blank credit application and fill it in with whatever information is necessary to have the deal approved, despite the customer’s ability to pay.
Damaged Goods
Dealerships will sell vehicles that have been damaged in order to increase their profit.
Bait Switch
Dealerships will advertise a car at a low price which has either been damaged or sold prior to the customer appearing at the dealership.
Divide and Conquer
Dealership representatives will separate husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, as soon as possible and definitely at the time the transaction is being completed.
Swallowing the Trade
The customers think they are receiving substantial value for the trade vehicle when in fact they are receiving only small amount, if anything at all.
Stalling
One of the basic premises upon which dealerships sell a car is they keep the customer there as long as possible and beat them up to breakdown defenses. The dealership will keep you at the dealership as long as they can and even significantly delay the return of a potential trade vehicle under the guise of an appraisal.
The Woody
Also known as a wood duck. This is a person who walks in and, putting total trust in the sales person, believes the sales person is actually helping to get the best deal for the customer. It’s a salesman’s dream because full retail price will be paid.
If you want to see how these tricks operate in practice, please rent or purchase the movie Suckers. Please remember that dealerships are experts in selling cars. The entire exercise in a consumer buying a car is a perfected process which has been practiced by the dealership for decades. The customer, despite their level of knowledge or education, has no chance against an experienced car salesman and experienced car dealership.
Pay Plan Litigation
This firm represents several prior salesmen and finance managers against relatively large dealerships in Monmouth County and Ocean County New Jersey. The litigation arises out of the dealership’s promise to pay salesmen or finance managers a percentage of the gross profits. In these lawsuits, the plaintiffs are alleging that the dealership artificially inflated the cost of the vehicles to reduce the salesmen’s commissions. Frequently, dealerships will add something on to the price of the vehicle called a “pack”. There might be other miscellaneous fees which the dealership claims to add to the cost of the vehicle such as lot fees, bruise fees or dent fees. These are claims which the dealerships submit to their insurance company but rather fictitiously add to the cost of any vehicles. In addition, it is a common complaint amongst dealership employees that the managers refuse to give them an accurate breakdown of any charge backs for vehicles that have been repoed or paid off early. In addition, in one of the cases that is being litigated there is an allegation that the dealership actually added costs on top of warranties which reduced the commissions due to the finance manager.
