Scammed by a sleazy car salesman? It is no secret that some car salesmen have a bad reputation. Recently, our firm represented a disabled Vietnam Marine veteran who purchased a used car from an Illinois auto dealership. The dealership claimed that the car had no rust, but it was actually painted to conceal extensive rust. The dealership also claimed that the engine and transmission had recently been rebuilt. Our client later discovered that those items had not been rebuilt, and needed expensive repairs.
Last week, our client won his case at an arbitration hearing against the dealership and the salesman who sold the car to him. The total dollar award, which was over 500% of the purchase price of the vehicle, included punitive damages pursuant to the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act as well as an award of our client’s attorneys’ fees.
Here are two important legal concepts that helped our client and may help you if you have been deceived by a car dealership:
1. An “As-Is” clause is NOT a defense to fraud. In other words, just because you signed a document that says you purchased a car “as-is”, the salesman cannot make untrue statements to you about the condition of the car in order to convince you to buy it.
2. A car salesman may be liable for consumer fraud even if he did not intend to deceive you. For example, if a salesman misrepresents the condition of a car in order to convince you to buy it, he cannot escape liability by arguing that he was merely repeating what someone else had told him about the car.
The attorneys at DeBlasio Law Group are experienced in the area of consumer fraud claims involving many types of businesses, including car dealerships and home repair contractors.
To schedule an appointment to speak with one of our attorneys, call us at (630) 560-1123 or visit us at our website www.DGLLC.net/contact.
We are here for you.