Car Dealership Fraud Albuquerque, NM
Car dealership fraud is a broad term that describes the illegal and fraudulent practices by car dealerships against consumers. The fraudulent practices by car dealerships cost consumers millions every year due to repairs, loss of use, loss of time, and other maintenance. Car dealership fraud is a prevalent in Albuquerque, and beyond, unfortunately. Bradley Law is here to help fight the big Albuquerque car dealership and get you justice for the wrong it committed.
All too often you will not know you are a victim of auto fraud until well after your purchase. You may discover the fraud after a repair or maintenance, from problems you are having with the car, or some other fluke occurrence. The fraud against the consumer is a well thought out plan by the car dealership—all to improve its profits, at the expense of you, the consumer.
If you feel you have been a victim of car dealership fraud in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contact Bradley Law to get you fair compensation.
In New Mexico, car dealerships have strict regulations and statutes that they must follow. However, often times, the visions of profits interfere with the dealerships following these statutes. In other words, Albuquerque dealerships often times choose profits over honest and fair business dealings. In Albuquerque, many scams are seen in dealerships not disclosing previous accidents; therefore, charging a higher price for a vehicle than it is actually worth. There are many other tactics that car dealerships use to optimize their profits at your expense. The statutes and regulations require material facts to be disclosed to the consumer, and that the dealership conduct business in a fair and honest manner.
Car dealerships get away with a lot of fraudulent activity because the car buying process is often complicated and usually with a flood of papers to sign. Numbers on the contract are often lumped together to prevent consumers from really knowing what the numbers mean. Disclosures are not made, that should be made. Dealerships provide clients with accident notification documents such as CarFax and WreckCheck, but often accidents are not recorded with these reporting companies, thus showing no previous damage. If a proper inspection by the dealership were conducted, which is required, the dealership would most likely know about previous accident damage and is required to pass that information along to the consumer.
There are other frauds committed by Albuquerque car dealerships as a way to charge top-dollar for their vehicles. Odometer fraud sadly occurs when a dealership misrepresents the actual mileage on the vehicle. Not only is tampering with the odometer fraudulent, but it is also illegal. This, however, does not stop some car dealerships from committing odometer fraud. Odometer fraud can be done by physically altering the odometer to reflect lower miles than are actually on the vehicle. It can also be done by the dealerships representation on the title, or other documents of the mileage on the vehicle.
Warranty fraud can take many shapes and forms as well. The dealership may represent that a used vehicle is under a manufacturers warranty, but that may not be the case. Or, another dealership scam is to offer an extended warranty that does not provide the coverage that the salesperson has led you to believe. Unfortunately, these dealership scams are usually not caught until your car requires repair. When you learn that the warranty you thought you had is no good, you must pay for repairs out of pocket—which can be costly.
There are many other practices that fall under the category of car dealership fraud. If you think you may be a victim of car dealership fraud in Albuquerque, or anywhere else in New Mexico, contact Bradley Law today.