Crazy Dealership Stories - Lehto's Law Ep. 2.22

I've heard so many crazy car dealership stories over the years that it is hard to pick out my favorites. But these are some of the best. They are all true - cases that I handled for clients of mine. There is a podcast of this video: / crazy-dealership-stori...
www.lehtoslaw.com
@stevelehto

[@jimmichaels5058]

Possible explanation of Chrome wheel problem: Chrome is very smooth and tires may slip and move to a new positions while driving, they will then no longer be balanced.

[@rymat1427]

Judge Scary Mary was the assigned Judge when I was the victim. I remember something similar. Trial kept getting delayed n I kept having to appear on subpoena. Judge gave one of her famous how dare u's to the defense attorney for delaying trial. I wont forget being called to the podium by Judge. "You are wasting my time the prosecutors time, and this young man who clearly everytime he is dragged down here is disrupting his life." I hope she comes back. She was a good judge that helped alot of ppl.

[@jerryedwards2594]

Dear Steve: If you want to see some examples of hilarious Judicial performance, just attend a Small Claims Court trial in California. I am a Para-legal and worked for a large Ready Mix company in California to handle their S.C cases. I appeared as the Loss Mitigation person assigned to defend the company, generally in cases involving glass damage from rocks kicked up by passing trucks from the road surface. My very first case in San Diego, a Realtor claimed $3500. in damage to her month old Bentley. She claimed that as she was driving on a portion of the Freeway in San Diego (she was very specific as to the time of day and location and the number of the truck and the trailer numbers, as well as the DOT Numbers) as she passed my client's truck a large rock fell out of the truck and struck the hood of her car and the windshield, scratching the hood and breaking the glass. The first thing that I did was to pull the GPS data on the truck/trailers for the date and time she had provided. Next, I pulled the bill of lading slips and signed delivery slips from the locations where the truck had been for a period of two hours before and after the time she provided. I also asked that the driver of the truck to appear with me in court. Armed with this valuable information, I went totally prepared to show that it could not have been our truck, because on the day in question the truck/trailers were no closer than ten miles to the location she claimed, further that according to the billing/delivery records we had only been carrying light sand that day. Ergo, she must have been struck by a stone kicked up by a passing truck or car. She made her pitch, that also she had driven up beside the truck and attempted to get the "Mexican man" who was driving to pull over, failing that she wrote down the information on the side of the truck. She waited three days to contact our company to report the damage. After she was done, I presented my evidence and when it came time for rebuttal, I asked her to point out the driver if she saw him in court. She pointed to a man seated next to where I had been seated, who was waiting for his own case to be heard. Then I asked our driver to address the court, and he was a black man, about 6 foot 3 Inches tall, and he explained that he and his truck had been at least ten miles away when she claimed her car was hit. In California they have a road hazard law, which states you assume the responsibility of driving on California highways if something is in the road and is kicked up by a passing vehicle and hits your car. I explained all of this to the court, and the Judge ruled... Against me... My first loss in court. Ouch, I asked for an explanation and was told by the Judge, "Because your company has appeared in my court numerous times in the past five years and each time have settled the case. Therefore , by reason of Patterns and Practices, I (she) was able to infer that you should have settled, and not wasted the court's time" My rejoinder was, so, if I were to bring another case of a similar nature, you would rule against me, just on principles of "patterns and practices" because no one from my company fought these types of cases before.? She replied, while I was correct on the law, the assumption would be as a practice I should have settled. "You can of course appeal, but as this is Small Claims Court, the case would return to me, how do you think that will go?" Other than the Judge in Los Angeles that was so drunk he kept falling off of his chair ruling against me, second loss in five years, I really enjoyed working in courts and actually saving my company about seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars over the five years. But at almost 80, I am afraid driving all over California now is out of the question. Oldpapajerry Jerry Edwards Lake Elsinore, Ca.

[@carmium]

One of those promotion-handling companies approached one of our few remaining department stores with an idea: a $10.00 coupon good on any purchase from the electronics department, which was, at that time, radios of all sorts, tape players, TVs, etc. They expected lots of people to put it against a planned purchase of a TV or other big item. There were no restrictions. Okay, says Department Store, and authorizes printing the coupons in a local paper. The day after, there was a lineup when the doors opened, and people raced to electronics. What no one had considered were the stacks of $9.95 transistor radios, popular at that time, records and tapes, batteries, et al. Many of the buyers were street people who had scavenged copies of the paper, making repeat visits for items they could resell on the street! Had the tickets read "$10.00 off any purchase over $29.99" or some calculated amount, it would have come off just fine, but instead they lost a ton of money and sued the promo company for restitution.

[@JerryEricsson]

I am a disabled cop after 24 years on the job. I was retrained by workers comp to be a Legal Assistant, have my diploma, graduated with a 4.0 GPA and interned with a district court judge who used me as a law clerk, had me join him in all his chambers meetings, and take notes on his trials using my laptop computer as well as pre-trial exploration of cited cases and search for additional case law for the court Shephard was my friend and Westlaw my Law Library as well as the hard copy in our small law library in the County Courthouse. It was great fun and I wish every cop could spend at least a week or two with a judge, it would surely open his eyes to things we were never trained in the Academy. The college courses were mostly taught by working lawyers so we got a lot of insight from them as well. That makes me very interested in your videos since I suffered another surgery trying to correct my back injury (from a car accident in the squad car) that killed my ability to be a Legal Assistant as well so now and for the past 25 years I have been a seat cushion on a recliner. Thanks a million for the great entertainment!

[@ch4.hayabusa]

In lock smithing, you have oversized key pins and under sized driver and key pins, which can cause the shear line to open with no key present. The firm likely calculated the key probability incorrectly, when in fact many keys could open the car due to lazy lock design. See lock picking lawyer's unicorn lock for details.

[@mrfrenzy.]

Actually for many car models there are only 6000-10 000 different keys that are possible to manufacture. In the factory where they make the locks they have a cabinet with all these different keys so they can try any lock if they know they key number without having to make a new key.

[@Alexagrigorieff]

@@mrfrenzy. The modern cars, though, have an immobilizer chip in the key. The engine will not start if it doesn't match.

[@jbtcajun5260]

My crazy dealership story. In big city and notice base model truck in front dealership with hood open and big sign $15,000 of MSRP. Needing another farm truck tooled in for a look. MSRP 23,000. Found a salesman and said I will take that truck. He asked how much you offering. I said what your asking $8,000.00. He was shocked and i said that's what's on the sign. Ten minutes later over the I intercom an order was given to remove the truck and sign from the road. The manager said the wrong sign was put on the wrong vehicle. In my persistence I got louder and louder so everyone in the showroom could hear about their scame. They called the law and had me removed . A week later in town and same truck, same sign, same place. Same events but this time had pics. Was trespassed from property but never saw that sign again so I did some communal good and had fun.

[@clinthelling3560]

When you chrome plate a rim. The wheel can be balanced. It just won't stay balanced. Unless you take the time rough up the bead area of the rim. I've seen TSBs on the subject. What happens is every time you accelerate or hit the brakes. The tire slides on the bead.

[@TorquinDSL]

In all my days, I have wondered why tires didn't slide on the bead anyway, since they all seem to be smooth around the bead to begin with. But now I know something new and appreciate the knowledge.

[@marshallmcbride5254]

I had a '91 Plymouth Voyager, and worked for a church that owned a Dodge Caravan of the same generation, and it was white with gray interior, just like mine. One day the senior pastor remarked that he had gotten in my minivan and drove off, using the key for the church minivan before realizing his mistake. Sometime later I came out of Wal-Mart, unlocked the van door and started the engine, but something didn't seem quite right. It turned out I had gotten into somebody else's Dodge or Plymouth minivan by mistake, white with gray interior, AND MY KEY WORKED! Here in a small city of 20,000 or so, there were 3 minivans made by Chrysler, same generation, same exterior and interior colors, whose keys worked interchangeably. It seems to me the promotional company would have to be extremely diligent to make sure only 1 key fit a particular car. Or else make all non-winning keys be of a non-realistic shape that couldn't fit any actual car.

[@igorbuckel8060]

Chroming does not throw a rim out of balance, but improper handling (dropping, transport and storage damage, tyre fitting errors, etc.) can damage aluminium rims in particular.

[@bryaneisenhart]

I used to work in a used car public auction in California as a business development center representative over ten years ago. What we would do is field calls from potential customers requesting information about certain advertised cars and set them up on an appointment to come in to look at said cars and possibly purchase them. BDC reps were paid by appointments showing up, not by sales. Common practice was to say, "oh yeah, we've got something like that, when can you come in?" Not only did we never tell them any prices, but we often set appointments on vehicles which we didn't have, or never had. The sales reps would take the customer (who in most cases were pissed) out to show them the cars on hand. The only days the dealership sold in any volume were auction Sundays. These were essentially scam auctions where the attendees were split into two groups separated by a wall. The auctioneer would take bids from both sides starting at $500 and going up from there. Only thing is, often he would take phantom bids from one side against real bids from the other side, driving up the price. It closed down because the owner was engaged in Floorplan fraud. He got caught making it appear he had more cars in inventory by creating fake vins and getting Floorplan loans off the fake Vin cars.

[@SpiralDesignWorks]

That happened with me with a brand new F350 dually. Special ordered it. Picked it up, drove 5 miles turned back and handed them the keys. 20k miles later, 45 days in service over 6 different times for severe vibration. I filled for the lemon law. They replaced the entire front end, every part. Was fine after that. Was a horrible experience.

[@bakedmudstuff1587]

Confirms what I always thought about "key" scams: that the winning key is mailed to a person chosen in advance.

[@RainbowManification]

That’s done to prevent internal parties from fixing the promotion for a family member or friend. See the McDonalds Monopoly scandal in 2001.

[@frankieknuckles9610]

I'm surprised there actually was a winning key.

[@christinestill5002]

While test driving a slightly used Chrysler years ago from one of the most advertised Madison dealerships, I intentionally stopped very quickly. From beneath the driver's seat rolls an old odometer with huge mileage! Dealer was speechless! Wish I knew way to spread the word in my city?

[@themetadaemon]

I had a mid 90's Plymouth Acclaim. My key would open the doors of my buddies Dodge Spirit. It wouldn't turn the ignition, but I can imagine how a key that wasn't supposed to work could work anyways.

[@pratherat]

I've gotten a couple of those mailings with the key, but it's an obvious cheap, fake key, like it's made of aluminum with a thin plastic bit. I've often mused about showing up to the dealership and just shoving into the ignition, and then playing dumb when it jams the mechanism and breaks off. "Hey, I was just trying to see if I won."

[@HyperIonMake]

The whole concept of "we know who the key went to" is fishy as hell.

[@adam_mawz_maas]

Not really, the fullfillment companies track that very closely to prove they've prevented a repeat of the infamous McDonalds Monopoly fraud. They pick the address randomly from their list, then are supposed to ensure the key goes to that address.

[@shananagans5]

I used to race off road. I hated chrome wheels too. The chrome chips off after you use a sledge hammer to knock the wheels back into a roughly round shape. lol :)

[@LEXXIUS]

XD didn't expect the 2nd half of the 2nd sentence!

[@RocketsharK7]

The way you smirked when you said "sounds like a scam to me" was classic. :D

[@dabandel]

On the key story, if they sent out 10,000 keys, then in reality, several sent out where duplicates of the winning key. Car keys have a limited number of "bittings" (combinations), maybe a couple thousand at the high end. It was the promotional company's mistake to think that any single key is unique.

[@davidkohler7454]

I won a Toyota truck with a hole in one shot on a par 3 at a Golf tournament. But I forfitted because my daughter was one of the two judges watching the hole. And there was going to be like 8k in taxes and fees to take possession.. oh well I did get a nice BBQ grill for being closest to the hole.wich was 2nd prize. Been 25 years ago

[@turtleinashirt]

Sometimes I come back and listen to your old videos again, especially if I remember that they were entertaining the first time I watched them. But I just wanted to say, man you’ve really upgraded (complicated) the whole enterprise in the past 5 years.

[@protoc]

There is a such a social hate against car dealers that if it goes to jury or judge I think an individual will most likely win. Thanks for the video, I'll remember the polygraph strategy.

[@etcflyers3760]

Steve you are a rock star, thanks for all the great stories and incites.

[@gkvogt]

Wow! Look at that meager set. WOW!!

[@a_mustache_of_great_repute]

I wouldn't take a polygraph because i already feel like I'm lying even when I'm telling the truth. Especially when I'm under pressure

[@erikgallimore5131]

I had a local west michigan dealer scrape the paint on a 6 mo old car I bought from them replacing a seal under warranty, then told me to file an insurance claim to have it repaired. (never went back to them for anything) and screamed at me when I wanted to talk to presentation. Also had discount tire pay to repair one of my rims after a tech scraped the finish after dropping it and "couldn't find any pre-existing damage on any the wheels, other than what he did"

[@Bill-up9xw]

Lmao! Wow that's hilarious dude put the key in and started the car!

[@hillie47]

Last new car I bought was bought through a broker that deals with the fleet guys. Three emails back and forth and we had the car identified, with price set and an appointment to meet at the bank to hand over the car. Awesome.

[@KLP99]

Me Lehto, Excellent stories. Excellent delivery. Nice overall presentation, too. When I was in 8th and 9th grade, I was a debater. My partner and I never lost a debate during those nearly two seasons. We got pretty good. Our coach figured at least one of us would go to law school. I had no interest. I'm not sure what my partner decided to do. I lost track of him after high school. Keep producing this great content. I hope KZbin isn't changing the rules on you like they did to my wife's channel, taking away every incentive she had to create. She's still getting viewers because people still want to learn how to garden...

[@unclejoe314159]

I love to listen to these videos.

[@patricksanders858]

In 10,000 cars, youre likely to find two cars keyed alike!

[@JimmysTractor]

I've bought about 40 cars. 25 years or so ago a dealer spotted me the credit on my upside down trade on a cheaper car. They called me asking for 4k more. Brought the car back 6 days later with 3200 miles+

[@sammyparrish8651]

In a company that i had we had 3 ford trucks they was not the same years. Two would work on the same key.

[@AlienRelics]

They probably do their best to send the winning key to the person least likely to come in. Someone very old, or on vacation, or something similar.

[@DerekHubbard]

The $1300 auto show Jeep lease special reminds me of a thing I did. My father had bid on a local auction for a Chevy SSR from a local dealership. The T&Cs of the auction specified that an accepted bid constituted a contract of sale and that both parties would be obligated to fulfill the sale unless both parties mutually agreed to withdraw the offers. The sales price was low. Extremely low. Like, the dealer lost ten grand to sell it. So, we go in and of COURSE their managers do everything they can to deny the sale. I had printed out the full T&Cs and highlighted the relevant portion. I handed that over and told them that we had already paid the auctioneer, so we would like to take delivery of the vehicle immediately. We drove off the lot with the SSR. It felt GOOD. Especially considering that the dealer was a scumbag that had done my uncle wrong on a deal shortly before the auction.

[@tedshelton3327]

I had a similar experience with a new 95 Ford with alloy wheels. Lemon law here in VA rescued me and put me in a new custom-built 97 Ford.

[@maniacal_engineer]

Chroming can also cause hydrogen embrittlement, and if the chrome cracks ( a virtual certainty) the crack acts as a initiation point for a fatigue crack and the part will fail in fatigue

[@JimmysTractor]

They sent the winning key to the 97 year old lady.

[@earthjin2000]

I remember there was this brand new truck surrounded by slot machines. Any of those slot machines that got a certain spin/roll. My slot machine mysteriously malfunctioned when it popped it with that exact spin/roll.

[@southjerseysound7340]

The problem with the chrome dipped wheels is the chrome can be slightly thicker around the hub area causing the wheels to run untrue on the car and no amount of balancing will eliminate the vibration.

[@BrightBlueJim]

Sure. Except, there's no such thing as "chrome dipped" wheels. Chromium melts at 3,465°F, which is like white-hot. Wheels are "chromed" by electroplating a THIN layer of chromium onto them. Seriously unlikely that there could be enough difference in the thickness that a lead counterweight wouldn't bring it into balance.

[@imouse3246]

If these Recommends keep coming up I may never sleep again.

[@udave4449]

Great stories I been watching five of your video's so far Steve They get better and better

[@marshallshefler]

Every video of yours I watch, I think "dealerships cant get any scummier" then you release a new one...

[@stevelehto]

+Marshall Shefler They are an endless source of entertainment (and litigation).

[@VideosByAl]

+Steve Lehto Laughing all the way to the bank.

[@TexasNightRider]

I have experienced where a single Ford key worked with two different same model cars. I know the odds of this happening in a car dealership promotion is very rare.

[@TVAntennaTV]

This reminds me of the time a friend of mine wanted me to run an errand using her car which was parked out front of the business she worked at. She gave me the key, told me what the model was and I went outside. I saw the car across the street, got in, inserted the key and started the vehicle up and ran the errand. When I got back 20 minutes later, there was a guy standing on the curb where this car had been parked (he worked across the street) and when I parked the car where he was standing, he asked me what I was doing with his car. I told him it was my friends car. Turns out my friend's car was parked around the corner. They were both the same year and model Ford. We got everything straightened out but it was a pretty incredible event.

[@stupersyn1]

Did the keys have transponder chips?

[@andrewstambaugh8030]

I have heard & read that several car companies have been sued for the issue of having too frequent recurrence of keys (eg duplicate keys on same model or different model with too few variations as to render the vehicles easy to steal/break into). Steve might be able to confirm or discredit that.

[@davidlindgren7605]

Judge says "sounds good to me!" hahaha

[@susanhopemason]

I'm just curious...why didn't the manufacturer just replace the chromed wheels with non-chromed wheels?

[@BReal-10EC]

I am surprised that dealers went that far for bad vibrations. Coworker bought brand new high trim sedan from a local ______ dealership in the mid 2000s. It had a bad tire vibration. The dealership rebalanced them and moved them around several times then told him (the customer that bought the brand new car that vibrated) he needed to contact the tire manufacturer. I thought that was bullsh!t.. but whatever. He ended up buying a brand new set of tire from another tire brand and that fixed the issue. It was the tires.. but the dealership tried twice then "gave up" and made it his problem to fix. I still avoid that dealership.

[@Lambert7785]

great stories

[@gardenman3]

I hope the guy who won the car never took it to that dealership for service.

[@alwallis2000]

Great video !!

[@montel111]

Personal experience: There are 3 possible polygraph conclusions. Pass, Fail, and INCONCLUSIVE.

[@kennethwilson4316]

Have seen wheels removed without even using a jack. They will pull the top and a split second later pull the bottom ... the car falls to the ground This was demonstrated on the Johnny Carson show.

[@j0hnnykn0xv1lle]

BTW Steve the lasagna story had me almost spitting up my breakfast here at Whole Foods. that was hilarious.

[@3611136111]

I love Scary Mary stories. wish she would make more

[@CaudilloSilovik]

Here's a story from about 1991. I was attending an Intelligence course for senior NCOs and junior Officers of all branches of the military. We had instruction from the CIA, NSA, Defense Intelligence, and a few others, the whole show (minus FBI because they are domestic). Before one of the classes, I think it was the CIA one, we students were told we would have to take a polygraph test. Then we were told that the Navy, Air Force, and Marines would take the test but the Army (my branch) said no. We all got the instruction anyway. I was actually disappointed that I didn't get to experience a polygraph test, but I also know that it is all about the psychology of trying to induce fear in the guilty.

[@betaatomic]

As to the keys sent out with the advertised odds of 1 in 10,000 , If it is rigged to have no legitimate winner, the advertised odds of winning should have been listed as Zero in infinity. Fraudulent odds means deliberate and willful criminal intent in my mind.

[@Guyfromhe]

The odds are still 1 in 10000 but since not every one of those 10k people will come in the real odds are much greater that no one will win. They don't have any way of making the winner not come in or picking less likely people but they do track who should be the winner to prevent fraud.

[@wattsenough]

Interesting about the chrome. I have had several vehicles with OEM wheels that were chromed but by a California vendor. One Corvette was done by the dealer (again to a CA vendor). And I had OEM wheels for a SUV done also by a California vendor. Never an issue. I even had a set of rims done in that chrome looking coating. No issues. So the vendor who did that chrome must have a process issue? Perhaps they did the whole rim or coated at an angle?

[@angel727272]

Great story 💯

[@boltinabottle6307]

They purposely send those keys to the house of a snowbird that's not home this time of year. So yeah it's basically a scam (in the south at least).

[@lawrenceanderson6167]

I bought a new 2011 Honda insight from a dealer and was charged a NYS tire waste fee. I asked the dealer why this charge was on the bill. He said NYS law says they have to charge it because when I get new tires, the old tires are gonna take up landfill. When I got new tires from a tire dealer, they again charged me a waste fee for my old tires that I already paid a waste fee on. What the heck

[@roxcyn]

Oh heck no! 😠

[@Cheepchipsable]

Was the charge meant to be levied at the time of tyre change, or just when someone got new tyres? We have something similar in Australia, but afaik you only pay it when leaving old tyres at the tyre place.

[@workingshlub8861]

thats a funny story....we have a major furniture company up my way that was saying buy furniture now and if the red sox win world series its all free..this was few years ago..same type thing.

[@granskare]

I recall the key bit for corn seed :)

[@benalias5766]

If the lock was sloppy or a pin was stuck it's possible that a key of the right type but "wrong" (though close to correct) bitting may have worked

[@tomnisen3358]

There are insurance policies for contest winners

[@dragonsystems5973]

In one year working at a car dealership I learned that ALL the horrible things you hear about car dealers are true.... AND THEN SOME, Seriously, I firmly believe anyone who plans on owning cars in their life should spend at least a couple months working at one of these places, the things you learn on how to avoid the BS in just a few months are absolutely eye opening... none of my friends who know nothing every believes me when I tell them they have no business at these places being on their own there with no idea what game is being played

[@371508129]

Okay it’s been five years, got any new ones?

[@adamryan977]

I bet they normally send the winning key to some vacant lot so no one ever wins.

[@johnhill3706]

That’s crap with casinos a bet made is a bit paid if you owe them and you lose you gotta pay them. But if you happen to win which is not on your side that you will win they should have to pay you a bet maid is about paid. I’m from old school from the old world where if you don’t pay when gambling it doesn’t go very well for you. As a gambler on occasions I always make sure I pay my markers. Because that’s the right thing to do. Casinos should have to do the same

[@boba1024]

Had a dealership tell me they wouldn't honor the warranty I had purchased. Car wasn't running quite right. Took it to a mechanic about 6 months later to clean part of the engine, turned out the spark plug wires had dry rotted and were shorting across each other and the engine block.

[@1jtwister]

Reminds me of a local probation officer nicknamed "vicious Vicky" lol

[@johnhill3706]

Chrysler should pull the franchise license to the dealer

[@scottmaxwell2702]

Talking about Las Vegas casinos if you look at any machine it has a placard on it saying that any malfunction voids play. Also the machine is required to have a certain payout as dictated by the Nevada gaming commission.

[@spinner669]

I remember back in the 60s a local dealer advertised a car for "1,000 bananas". When someone showed up with 1,000 bananas they tried to get out of it, but the local court forced them to accept them. And no, it wasn't 30,000 lbs of bananas...

[@rolfs2165]

1,000 chocolate bananas?

[@compu85]

I know that in the 70s and early 80s Mercedes forbid chromed wheels from being on their cars due to balance, sealing, and strength problems. I think by the late 80s things might have improved, but MB still didn't offer chrome wheels from the factory. That didn't stop a lot of dealers from installing them though!

[@ACabral711]

Having owned one of those MBs with chrome wheels, I understand why. The chrome chips, the wheels corrode, the wheels are difficult to balance, and the coating will cause air leaks.

[@j0hnnykn0xv1lle]

I wish I was a Michigan resident - One of the biggest nightmares out there is the first generation of Volkswagen DSG transmissions and the mechatronics unit - VW used to be based in Auburn Hills now Virginia. I have one and somehow I have to contact VW before my warranty for the transmission runs out in April 2019.

[@stevelehto]

VW still has a pretty large presence in Auburn Hills. I stopped by there to drop something off for a friend who works there. Not far from Chysler's place.

[@j0hnnykn0xv1lle]

@@stevelehto Ah didn't know that, thought they did a full move to be closer to Audi in DC. Another dealership story to add to the pile - I bought a used 2002 VW GTI from Chicago's "largest VW" dealer chain - they have 3 locations - I drove off the lot and within 15 minutes the clutch was burnt out. I smelled circuit board smell. Get the car towed back to the dealer - it's a Friday night, 8:45, the dealer is closing at 9pm. I'm stranded. Thankfully my friend Mike lived in Chicago. The dealer it turned out sold me the car with a bad clutch knowingly, and it was certified preowned! They were hoping not to have to cover it. They knew the backstory on the car - the previous owner had been denied warranty claims by VW of America for abuse. The car astheactically couldn't have been any more perfect. Not a chip of paint. The slotted rotors should have tipped me off that it was an enthusiast car for the previous owner. Within a week of that, the transmission needed replacement because it was meshing gears wrong as I would put it in reverse. Now we're at like $3900 in repairs, all covered - thankfully. But I didn't want the car and the dealer wasn't taking it back. I sat down with the owner, a British asshole , who sits in his Mt Prospect dealer. He admits to me and a friend who was a certified Ford mechanic, that they did know about the clutch being bad ahead of time. He also showed me what they paid for the car - 12,000 and I paid $14K + financing. The sales manager had altered my income to get a lower APR and persuade the deal - when we were talking payments - He didn't tell me this. I got a copy of the credit app and sure enough there was his handwriting altering my income. Shady all over the place. On top of this, the radio was not playing right and when they pulled it out at my dealer in Wisconsin, they found the wires looked all hacked up. So the kid pulled his aftermarket unit apparently before unloading it. The car was a disaster. I learned a hard lesson at 25 years old. 1. I should have never dealt with the dealer and the lying owner - I should have hired an attorney for a fraud case no question about it. 2. Contacting the AG, Lisa Madigan was a waste of time - they didn't do anything to this dealer. and neither did VW of America when I contacted them. After weeks of complaints VWoA sent me a check for one payment $356. All I wanted from the dealer was to get out of the car, get my payments back, and be like I never did business with them. They refused. The owner on the phone, agreed to that, and when I got there to do the deal - and return the car - he did a bait and switch and said he'd only refund my gap insurance. So begrudingly I took it and got the hell out of there. This had fraud all over it - I should have gotten an attorney right away instead of playing nice. I had consulted but never hired one. There was so much evidence of fraud. As I always tell people - dealers aren't built like casinos because they're poor.

[@rhettbaldwin8320]

I won't take a polygraph because that would require me to waive my right to remain silent.

[@dannyzwolf4546]

They may have accidentally cut a losing key the same way as the winning key, or they are just crooks

[@DogsBAwesome]

if it was a time before cell phones one car key can easily start a car it's not mated to, not always but some of the time.

[@todjohnson8253]

Why didn't the manufacturer simply replace the chromed wheels with factory stock? Seems cheaper than buying the whole vehicle back.....

[@wholeNwon]

Great stories. My first rule is NEVER buy a Fiat-Chrysler product of any kind. Second, NEVER buy a new car (when spending your own money). Third, if you do, NEVER give the dealer money until you have test driven the actual car you're buying. Fourth, Inspect the new car VERY carefully. When my company was buying new German luxury cars for me, each arrived from Germany with factory defects...multiple ones. Buy high quality used cars; let some other sucker take the initial depreciation. Oh, and ALL dealers are crooks, including especially dealer "service".

[@jims2267]

There is a chance that any given key will work in any given car even if that key was not made for that car so long as it is the same make.

[@Cheepchipsable]

Toyota were bad for that. Not uncommon for people to mistakenly open someone else's Toyota. These days not likely.

[@donkinzett3961]

I wish we had lemon laws in australia

[@matthewmcintosh4925]

We do. A.C.C.C. Australian consumer and competition commission.

[@Scott_Burton]

I know nothing about chroming wheels. I know this is an older video, so this comment may not get much attention. I do understand "balancing" I do understand centrifugal force. I do understand how velocity affects balance in centrifugal force. I understand gearing to a degree. (I'm primarily a computer tech, but the job I've been in the past 3 years required me to branch out beyond my "general" knowledge and apply that troubleshooting into other areas, and it results in me coming up with "best guesses" that people who've worked with this same equipment for 7 years or longer don't think of, but as I discuss it, I have 2 or 3 ideas they wouldn't have considered, and one of them "clicks" and someone says, "you might be onto something, so let's try 'this'..." a few months later there's a new knowledge base article for our "expert contacts" to refer to, they are all flagged as "in one case" But every problem starts off "in one case" I am sure if the company the dealership was using were properly equipped and conducting the correct testing, they would either conclude "we can not chrome these with our equipment, so we can not take further orders for chroming such parts." or "Okay, this is what we have to do to properly chrome these." It's really all about selecting the right vendor for doing the job, and the right vendor has to be able to determine quality assurance. This dealer seems to have been dealing with someone who could not assure the necessary level of quality, and either didn't know, or didn't care.

[@kaddiddlehopper29]

If the factory knows the wheels were ruined with the chrome, why wouldn't they just supply 4 new wheels instead of buying the whole car back?

[@stevelehto]

Watch tomorrow. I did a video on this.

[@harrickvharrick3957]

I am rather curious if there ever was a case bright before a judge against a casino that refused to pay!

[@yumpinyiminy963]

If a casino refuses to pay a slot machine or any other jackpot. They can lose their license. I have seen them do it for card games but most large machine jackpots are paid by the machine manufacture. It is against the law for a random jackpot not to be paid except for 3 possible reasons. 1 - They state (openly display) the jackpot will not payoff before it gets to a certain amount. I have never seen it because it is not allowed by most governing bodies. 2 - They can prove you cheated the machine. 3 - and worse, the casino says that machine malfunctioned. Good luck getting the machine locked down to be examined by the licensing authorities.

[@downundertruckerusa4733]

I like your old back drop better 🙂🙂🙂

[@TheGregWallace]

What kind of car did he win?

[@jbauerlu2]

wow, you win, they say "this machine was not suposed to win" and you lose? in germany they have to pay if you win. in germany they would get for court about fraud if they act like this.

[@6996brandyl]

They were suppose to send the key to a 98 year old disable blind woman

[@justnik67]

I'm curious about who the key was supposed to go to, and why that specific individual? Was that person chosen because they were the furthest away geographically and the odds were that they wouldn't show up? Or was it supposed to go to someone involved that could not or would not be eligible to collect for some reason?

[@MrJohnm1965]

steve, at 9:42 can you sue the gaming control board if they certified these machines and they fail?

[@stevelehto]

I'm sure they have all the laws written in their favor.

[@MrJohnm1965]

thanks steve, I am from ct what do you think of my states lemon law?

[@stevelehto]

Not familiar with it but most state's are pretty good.

[@bustopherjones2285]

They have an internal record of payouts. When a large win happens they open it up and check the log. If it doesn't say win then it's a display failure and they have to shut down the machine and pay the person a compensation rate set by the state. The state only certifies the main board on the machine and what it says. The display is not and doesn't determine a winner. Two reasons are that most machines run off the same Board or Chip. Easy for the gaming commission to inspect and certify a few boards/chips than every machine ever made. Second is that most hacking attempts only effect the display and control circuits/systems and not the main board in the core of the machine.

[@jimjohnson3076]

I have a storie of the same nature i recieved 1 of those chance to win tickets from car dealer and had 1 no bull the problem was i didnt recieve ticket until a week after the thing was over and i go into dealer and they told me tuff shit ur late i felt like going to news station and seeimg if they would shame them for sending out the wimning ticket 1 week after game ended.

[@andrewstambaugh8030]

probably could have sued on that one, because the odds of winning were false if they failed to mail the winning ticket in time. Though I don't think people should sue over every little thing, I do think it is a community service to bring scammers to punitive judgement.

[@steveblakley5285]

Iv worked for car dealers most my adult life and boy could i tell u some storys. But i cant calls most of them make u sign papers so if i do tell u ill be sued. One no names but i can tell u they are one of if not the biggest in my state of Indiana wrecked a customers car didnt tell them fixed it on the down low in our own shop (as to not show up on the cars report) then 2 years later when said customers wanted to trade in the car my company told said customers that there car had been crashed by some one who knows who and when right, and we couldnt give them shit for the car calls of the fact its been in a wreck. This wreck was fixed on the DL remember so its not on car fax or any thing. The customers who were older didnt even know about it or how it happend. My boss gave them some slick talk to make it beter. Then we resold the car with out telling the new owner about the damage lol. I asked the owner once how he sleeps at night after a different deal ware he sold a lemon car to a retiring school teacher, he said with my head on a bag of money

[@tedwpx123]

👍👍

[@peralta2912]

There is no such thing as a lie detector.

[@stevelehto]

Sorry. Polygraph. And those DO exist.

[@williammassey8212]

peralta2912 Wife. Even before I said anything. 🤔

[@ryanmorgan4300]

an innocent person has nothing to gain by taking a polygraph. They can be wrong, misread, effected by nerves etc. I'd never take one if asked by the police, no matter how confident I was that I was innocent.

[@JPierquet9]

Why wouldn't the auto manufacturer who bought back the auto with the chromed wheels, just give your client a set of the correct non chromed wheels, instead of buying the car back?

[@stevelehto]

I'm guessing they didn't figure it out in time.

[@JPierquet9]

@@stevelehto Given that the wheels were the issue and can be easily fixed, this might be one of the lemons that someone might want to purchase.