A woman in California has a brand new, extras-packed Nissan Murano convertible worth a whopping $62,130 sitting unused in her garage. Why? Because she says the car dealership should never have sold the vehicle to her husband, who has been diagnosed with dementia.

The woman, who has power of attorney over her husband’s finances, had actually been meeting with his brother to discuss long-term care options when he drove himself to the dealership and traded in his Altima Hybrid for the new car. She claims he didn’t attempt to negotiate with the salesman on anything, including the more than $10,000 in options.

“He never in a million years would have agreed to this in his sound mind,” she tells the Petaluma Argus-Courier.

Under California law, anyone with an unsound mind can not enter into a contract, so the wife has brought on a lawyer in her attempt to get the dealer to take back the car and cancel the financing contract.

The lawyer explains that the various parties involved are saying conflicting things. The owner of the dealership told him that Wells Fargo, which set up the loan, had offered a settlement. But when the wife called Wells Fargo and was told they had no record of any settlement.

The husband’s doctor described the husband as having “markedly impaired judgment, lack of impulse control, aggressive and compulsive behavior and an almost total lack of insight into his condition.”

But other elder care experts tell the Argus-Courier that dementia is not always apparent to everyone at all times and that the dealership might have had no idea anything was wrong.

“If this guy wasn’t declared incompetent, he had the right to do whatever he wanted,” one attorney specializing in elder abuse tells the paper.

Dealer sells car to man with dementia [PressDemocrat.com]

Thanks to Wayne for the tip!

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