You might think that going after car dealers for shady dealings is just too obvious and easy for the Consumerist. So it’s not just any car dealer story that rises to the top of our hallowed frontpage.

UPDATE: Old Man Sues Ripoff Dealership, Wins $41,679+

Consider Kenneth Hammel, a handicapped Pennsylvania man who’s either 77 or 87 years old, depending on which report you read. He walked into the Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Triplex car dealership last December, looking for a vehicle that could accommodate his wheelchair lift.

The dealership sold him a defective Kia Sedona van, at a price $700 over the MSRP. When he brought the van in a few weeks later for repairs, they gave him a different car, but not as a replacement under the lemon law. Rather, they treated the vehicle as a trade-in, and the “necessary paperwork” he signed unwittingly bought him another, higher priced car.

To top it off, they asked him for his ATM card so they could run a “credit check.” They took $2000 from his account.

It goes without saying that they took advantage of an old man who didn’t know what he was really doing. Whether we want to see anyone like that driving is a separate issue.

The dealership should worry, though. Hammel has retained the services of a lawyer named Craig Thor Kimmel. The guy’s middle name is “Thor,” for God’s sake. May his Hammer of Justice strike the Anvil of Ripoff Artists!

Lawsuit claims dealership pulled bait-and-switch [phillyburbs.com]
87 Year Old, Handicapped Man from Bucks County Sues Cherry Hill Triplex for Fraud, Deceptive Practices and Theft of Thousands of Dollars [press release, via Yahoo]

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