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On June 18, NBC 10 reported that prosecutors are investigating a Burlington County, New Jersey car dealership.
Autosmart on Route 73 in Palmyra was served a search warrant, and investigators took license plates from the company’s garage and boxes and computers from the office.
Prosecutors could only confirm that the dealership is under investigation and did not speak to specific charges. They did, however, tell NBC 10 that they’d received several complaints from customers alleging they were scammed by the dealership.
Meanwhile, NBC 10 had already been looking into Autosmart after a viewer reached out with a problem with the dealership. And the recent investigation could be related to it.
Susan Noble asked NBC 10 to investigate an issue related to a car she bought and financed last September through Autosmart.
“I bought a used car from Autosmart in Palmyra,” Noble told NBC 10. “They said they would work with me to get the monthly payment that I wanted at the price I wanted, and so they said, ‘You can buy the car and then in a couple of months you can refinance with us.’”
Noble said she financed the purchase with American Credit Acceptance (ACA) and went back a few months later as planned to refinance.
“They said they sent up the payoff check to the first company that I financed with,” Noble said. That payoff amount should have been the total needed to satisfy a debt, including interest and fees.
But Noble said ACA told her they never received the payoff for her loan from Autosmart. That left Noble with two car loans in her name totaling over $50,000. This, she said, is hurting her ability to buy a home.
“They know how hard I work. They know that I’m a nurse, they know I’m a single mom … for them to do this to me is just unconscionable,” she told NBC 10.
NBC 10 reached out to Autosmart to find out why Noble’s original loan wasn’t paid off when she refinanced through them. A representative from SmartSource, who said they were a consultant for Autosmart, responded and blamed the financial institutions involved.
On June 3, that representative said the payoff payment would be processed and take 10 days to be paid in full. But Noble said that didn’t happen.
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What Noble says happened to her may be an honest mix-up, or it may be a sign of a serious mismanagement of funds and fraud.
Scam refinancers either promise they’ll get you lower payments on your auto loan, but ask for an advance payment, or they tell you to make your loan payments directly to them while offering to pay your lender on your behalf while they negotiate a deal.
According to the FTC: “In reality, scam refinancers aren’t negotiating with your lender or anyone else. If you make your monthly car payments to the refinancer instead of your lender, those payments will likely go straight into the scammer’s pockets — not to repay your loan.”
These scams hurt borrowers and can make their financial situations even worse. Falling behind on an auto loan could put you at risk of having your car repossessed. It could also damage your credit score, making it harder to borrow money the next time you need to.
Auto dealerships have different ways of luring in credit-challenged buyers. They can initially promise low vehicle prices and low financing rates, only to eventually hit you with surprise costs.
One good way to avoid getting taken for a ride is to read the fine print on your loan documentation. Sometimes, auto dealerships will offer a seemingly attractive interest rate on an auto loan but hit you with hidden fees that drive your costs up. Other red flags include being pressured to sign a car loan quickly or being hurried through the paperwork.
In Noble’s case, the dealership offering to act as the middleman for connecting to the lender was another warning sign.
You don’t have to borrow from the dealer when buying a car. While they sometimes offer great incentives, the rates are often comparable to car loans from private lenders.
If you pass up dealer financing, they have fewer chances to tack on hidden costs or trick you into a low payment over an extended loan term.
Here’s how it works: Just answer a few simple questions about yourself, how much your downpayment is, the vehicle price you’re targeting — and LendingTree will connect you with two to five lenders from their network of more than 300 lenders.
It’s also a good idea to research dealerships before moving forward with a car purchase. Look at the Better Business Bureau, as well as sites like Yelp, to check for complaints and reviews. And just remember, if you do get scammed, file a report with the FTC as well as your state attorney general’s office.
But purchasing your car is only the first step. After that, you need to secure insurance to be road-ready, and this is another area where you can lose out if you don’t shop around.
The process used to take hours of research, but now free services like OfficialCarInsurance.com can help find the lowest rates for you.
OfficialCarInsurance.com lets you instantly sort through policies from car insurance providers in your area, including trusted names like Progressive, GEICO and Allstate. With rates as low as $29 per month, you can find coverage that suits your needs and potentially save you hundreds of dollars per year.
To get started, fill in some basic information and OfficialCarInsurance.com will provide a list of the top insurers in your area within minutes.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
