Protecting the rights of car owners: how to sue a fraudulent car dealership?

• Deception (fraud) in car dealerships
• How they cheat at car dealerships (types of fraud)
• Signs of deception (fraud) at a car dealership
• How to avoid becoming a victim of deception (fraud) when buying a car
• What to do if you were deceived at a car dealership
• Where to go if you were deceived at a car dealership
• Judicial practice: deception at a car dealership

Deception (fraud) in car dealerships - this definition fits any situation in which the buyer of a car in a car dealership, as a result of a transaction with a car dealership/bank, purchases a car, additional services, equipment, etc., as well as obligations to the bank at a disadvantage for yourself under conditions.
Unfavorable conditions should be understood as such conditions, knowing which in advance, the buyer would not agree to the transaction and would not even go to this car dealership. Nikita Kharitonov talks about deceptions in car dealerships

Car dealership fraud: first necessary steps

If you understand that the salon employees are trying to deceive you when selling a vehicle, no matter in what way, call law enforcement officials. With their help, you can record an attempt to violate the law. If fraud has already occurred, you will need to file a claim and make your demands in writing. A pre-trial claim procedure is necessary - subsequently, if the case goes to court, you will have evidence that you tried to settle the matter peacefully, which will serve as an additional argument in your favor in the eyes of the judge and will allow you to collect a 50% fine from the violator in addition to the main claims . In addition, it is this claim that will allow you to demand a penalty from the car dealership as well. Most often, dealers refuse to meet car owners, and pre-trial negotiations do not bring the desired result. In 90% of cases, a conflict with a salon can only be resolved in court or by involving supervisory authorities. In this case, the help of a lawyer is necessary in order to:

• Decide on the tactics of conducting the proceedings;
• Correctly file a claim and file it in court, determine jurisdiction;
• Find and establish the sufficiency of the evidence base.

By contacting lawyers through the form on our website, you can receive both preliminary consultation on any issues of protecting the rights of car owners, and legal assistance in pre-trial and trial proceedings.

Where to go if you were deceived at a car dealership

We advise you to take all the documents that you still have in your hands after visiting the car dealership and attend a free consultation with lawyers from the Consumer Rights Protection Society. In commercial law firms, whose goal is only to make a profit, often in such situations they can advise taking actions that seem logical, but will not bring results in terminating the contract and returning money, for example, drawing up letters of claim, complaints to various government agencies, law enforcement agencies, etc. .P. for a considerable fee.

Therefore, it is better to go to a place where consultation is free and where there is already experience in solving similar problems, confirmed by court decisions.

Call tel. and schedule a free consultation with our lawyer who specializes in disputes with car dealerships.

After consulting with a lawyer, you will already have a clear definition of how to proceed in order to terminate the purchase and sale agreement with the car dealership and relieve yourself of debt obligations to the bank, if any.

Typically, the amount by which you were deceived when selling a car consists of various items, such as an increase in the price of the car, the cost of additional services, equipment, interest on the loan, underpayment for the car transferred as a loan, etc. Accordingly, in order to challenge each of these positions and return the money, various legal grounds are required. Their presence is precisely checked by the lawyer of the consumer rights protection society.

When can a car dealership's actions be considered fraud?

The actions of a car dealership can be considered as a crime (illegal act) only under the following circumstances:

• The client was provided with deliberately false information. The salon representative provided the potential buyer with information that the former knew with certainty was not true;
• The original components, systems and/or mechanisms of the vehicle were replaced with analogues, counterfeit spare parts (of which the buyer was not informed);
• Information that could have played a key role in choosing and/or purchasing a car was not specifically communicated to the client.

In other words, you can sue a salon as a fraudster only if the company committed a deliberate deception against you, and one or more of the above circumstances can be proven. If the representative of the organization simply made a mistake or there was a misunderstanding, then there is no corpus delicti in his actions.

Types of sellers

Any vehicle purchase begins with finding the right option. A person has to decide who he wants to buy a car from, from a private owner or from a dealership. Often the used option turns out to be good and profitable. In this case, the price is lower and the quality of the car is not much inferior to new ones. Naturally, if a person chooses the right product. Considering that there are scammers, in order not to be deceived when purchasing, you will need to be vigilant.

Important! Private traders are the best option among types of sellers. However, it is now quite difficult to find an honest seller, so you need to be careful.

A private owner can be identified by the following characteristics:

• The car belongs personally to the person.
• The seller is ready to provide all documents.
• The ad contains many photographs, the license plates of the car are visible on them.
• The description is large and quite detailed.
• The price corresponds to the market price.
• A specific place is assigned or it is not important.
• Exact telephone numbers, addresses and other contact information are provided.

Of course, the owner can hide something about the car.
However, as a rule, transactions turn out to be legally clear. After all, he himself wants to sell his car. There are also types of sellers such as resellers and salons. They are quite similar, so we will consider them together. The advertisements themselves look short, ordinary and of the same type. For “outbidders” they are often written carelessly and with errors. The price is set too low, which does not correspond to the mileage and year of manufacture.

Photos are often taken in one place and are of high quality. As for communications, the contacts are suspicious, they change often. They never provide their address. The exact location of the inspection is not indicated; at best, the city is named. The cars in this case are real, however, the stated characteristics do not closely correspond to reality. Because the main goal is to get more money by deception.

How to sue a fraudulent car dealership?

If the fact of fraud is “obvious”, then you should (depending on the current situation) choose one or more of three options:

1. Draw up a claim and submit it to the court. We recommend this option if you have evidence of the company’s fraud.
2. Write a statement to the Prosecutor's Office or contact law enforcement officials. If you discover fraud before leaving the car dealership, call the police to the crime scene.
3. Draw up and submit a claim addressed to the head of the company, indicating all violations and demanding that they be eliminated. If you are dealing with criminals and the fraud is intentional, this action will not bring the desired results immediately. However, it will work in your favor in court, which cannot be avoided.

If you do not bring the “purchase and sale” transaction to completion, having timely detected an attempt at fraud, you will not be able to sue the salon. Since in fact the crime will not be committed (due to the lack of corpus delicti, the deceivers will go unpunished).

If a loan was issued for the car or less than 24 hours have passed since the transaction

If you made a deal on a Friday evening or over the weekend, or bought a car on credit less than a day ago, contact the servicing bank with a request to cancel the transaction in favor of the dealership. It is quite possible that the banking organization has not yet managed to fulfill the order and has not transferred the money to the account of the legal entity that sold you the vehicle. It will be easier and more productive to talk with a fraudulent company about terminating the purchase and sale agreement if it has not yet received any financial resources from you, and already understands that it will not receive it in the future.

You can cancel a payment order at your own discretion at any time before its execution.

In which court should I file a claim against a fraudulent salon? According to the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”, you can go to court located:

• According to your place of residence;
• At the location of the defendant company.

We recommend that you enlist the support of a lawyer as soon as you realize that you are dealing with scammers.

How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers when buying a car?

In conditions of shortages in the Russian car market, scammers have become more active, offering cars in stock at low prices and without additional options. How to avoid falling for the tricks of scammers and what actions should you take if you become a victim of deception? We addressed these questions to leading experts and car dealers.

Vladimir Semakov , director,:

— I’m unlikely to reveal any special secrets or solutions for all occasions. You just need to remember them if you decide to buy a car.

If you are buying a new car, before looking for that “one and only unique offer just for you”, conduct a market analysis. Look how much the desired model costs from official dealers, what the recommended price is on the websites of automakers. This is the price you need to focus on. Then you can begin to monitor the market in search of the minimum price and optimal offer. You might be lucky enough to snag a special offer from a dealer. But in any case, this will not be a price significantly different from the “official” one. Anything that is 20-30-50% below the market should definitely raise red flags. In the best case, upon arrival at the salon, it turns out that this price is formed taking into account the trade-in discount, a package of additional services and options, and the final cost will be significantly higher.

As an example, one of the advertisements that recently caught my eye: Hyundai Tuscon New with a 2-liter engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission. The price in the advertisement is 2.3 million rubles. The actual price in the showroom is 2 million 967 thousand rubles. Thus, for 700 thousand you will receive an alarm system (for about 20 thousand rubles), winter tires (for 20 thousand), floor mats (for 5 thousand) and anti-corrosive.

Another example is the May offer for Volkswagen Polo, the price in the advertisement is 589 thousand rubles. On the spot, it turns out that this is the price provided that the car was purchased with insurance products, extras, etc. The actual final price that one could count on was about 1.1 million rubles.

But these are options due to which you will simply lose time associated with a trip to the salon. It’s much worse when you run into scammers. In this case, you may find yourself subject to enslaving conditions specified in the contract that you did not notice - a waiting period of several months and the inability to cancel the contract without penalties, a mandatory loan, etc. The advice is banal - read the contract carefully, take your time, ask for help someone who understands this. Don’t be fooled by pressure from the seller (“the showroom will close soon, you need to make an advance, there is still a buyer for this car...”). You need to understand a simple truth: if this were a truly unique offer, you would most likely not get it, especially now that it’s a “seller’s market.”

Another tip: take with you an assistant who is knowledgeable about the issue - unlike you, he will have a cool head, since he is not a buyer. Buying a car for most of us is a stressful and quite emotional undertaking. And the buyer himself is in such a state that he is not always able to adequately perceive reality, notice all the mistakes and pay attention to inconsistencies.

ALL ANNOUNCEMENTS ON CLASSIFIDE ARE THROUGH PROFESSIONALS

As for buying a used car, you should understand that when purchasing a used car, you are entering the territory where professionals work. Therefore, simply by definition, you cannot be the first to see an advertisement for the sale of a used car in perfect condition and at a low price. All newly published advertisements immediately after being placed on classified sites go through those who do this professionally.

But that doesn't mean there aren't good cars on the market. They are. You just need to understand that it will either not be the lowest price, or not the best technical condition, or the seller fundamentally does not want to deal with outbids (and then you may be lucky). Therefore, the first advice is not to chase the lowest price.

CHECKING A CAR ON SPECIAL RESOURCES – ANOTHER PROTECTION AGAINST FRAUDERS

Get your car stamped on special resources for road accidents, liens - you can find out a lot of interesting things (Autocode, Autotek). Carefully check the VIN in the ad with the VIN under the hood - a “random mistake” (as the seller will say) of one character can cost you dearly. And the symbol “5” instead of “S” in the VIN may mean that the car with the real VIN went through the total. Similarly, check the mileage and number of owners on the same resources - taking your word for it in this matter is not the best idea. Even a transmission indicated in the ad as an “automatic” may in fact turn out to be a CVT.

Pay attention to the special labels that classified ads place next to advertisements. For example, on the website avito.ru, some sellers have a “Verified Partner” badge. It, of course, does not provide a 100% guarantee and protection, but it does mean that the seller has been repeatedly checked for the accuracy of the information posted on Avito and has passed the test.

DISTINGUISH REAL FROM FAKE REVIEWS

Look at reviews on websites. Despite its apparent simplicity, it is quite a difficult task to distinguish a real review from a fake one. You need to be able to read reviews and understand whether the buyer is a real one or a “manager on salary/fee”. Perhaps the first piece of advice is to start reading reviews with the negative ones. Don't be afraid if there are any - no seller can please all buyers. Learn to read them and analyze them. Pay attention to what negatives buyers focus on. Then move on to positive reviews and read them in the context of the knowledge gained. And it is in positive reviews that fake ones are more common.

Another truism, but it is true: if you do not have real experience in checking the technical condition of a car, it is better to entrust the selection of a car to professionals. You will really save money. These are probably banal and obvious things, but this is what many buyers fall for.

Sergey Novoselsky , director of marketing and digital products, investment (owns RRT ):

— If you become a victim of scammers in the car market, naturally, you need to immediately contact law enforcement agencies. No matter how loud it may sound, even if you don’t manage to get your money back, at least the chance increases that more attention will be drawn to specific scam schemes, and fewer innocent people will fall into them. If it is possible to attract the media, disseminate information on social networks, this should also be done precisely to prevent such situations in the future. And, just as money should be kept in savings banks, as Georges Miloslavsky said, cars should be bought and serviced from official dealers. This is the only way to be sure that the company that provided the service or sold the product is responsible for it and will not disappear from the horizon, taking the clients’ money.

Maxim Ryazanov , technical director of the car dealership network, Fresh Auto :

USE THE FNP SITE AND THE REGISTER OF NOTICES ABOUT PROPERTY PLEDGE TO CHECK YOUR AUTO

— In 2022, new fraudulent schemes for selling cars appeared on the Russian car market. Several years ago, the most popular way to deceive a new owner was to sell collateralized cars, that is, cars that were essentially owned by banks. Today, the legal status of a vehicle is easy to check on the FNP website in the Register of Notifications of Pledge of Movable Property, but many Russians do not use this, once again falling for the tricks of scammers.

A CAR SELLER CAN BE A VICTIM

Recently, a deception scheme with a purchase and sale agreement (SPA) has been increasingly used. In this case, it is not the buyer who becomes the victim, but the seller. For example: the owner sold his car, received the money, signed the PTS and DCP - the deal took place. A few days later, the new owner of the car calls the seller and, under the pretext that due to financial problems, he is reselling the car to a third party, asks to conclude an agreement again, only with different buyer data, reassuring the seller that he has not yet registered the car. The unsuspecting seller helps out the buyer, but a few days later he receives a claim from “friends” of both buyers that he sold the same car to two people. As a result, the seller faces criminal liability, but the scammers offer to resolve the issue without going to court - to return from 50% to 100% of the cost of the car sold. Therefore, it is necessary to remember that the new owner of the car has the right to sell it to a third party on his own behalf, having in hand a title and a sales agreement with the previous owner.

Also common methods of deception are still misleading mileage, falsifying documents for a car, selling a car with less rich equipment than indicated in the ad, and even substituting a car - when a potential buyer inspected one vehicle, but ended up leaving in another, far from it. as serviceable as he saw initially.

There is a high probability of encountering the actions of scammers when exchanging a car for a trade-in: its cost goes as a down payment, the owner signs the contract and only at home notices that the cost of the new car is twice as high as what was initially discussed. If a buyer encounters such a trick at a car dealership, which is extremely rare and is only possible in the case of unscrupulous players without a reputation, it is worth contacting the automaker whose model was purchased, or an organization authorized by it. If the issue cannot be resolved, go to court or Rospotrebnadzor. According to the law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights,” the buyer has the right to freely choose goods and services, and if they are imposed, the car dealership will compensate the client for all losses. At the same time, the legislation of the Russian Federation also protects motorists from deception in the secondary market - according to Article 179 of the Civil Code, a deal concluded through deception can be canceled.

In general, it is worth choosing proven players and dealers who are responsible and guarantee the quality of the services provided. It is worth reading reviews about the salon and the company in advance - then you are less likely to encounter scammers.

The process of litigation against a fraudulent car dealership

Simplified, the processes of litigation with swindlers in the field of car sales are as follows:

• Collection of documents
  . The car owner who has suffered from the actions of criminals collects all the papers that are directly or indirectly related to the transaction. The documentation package may include claims submitted by him to government agencies, written or electronic responses from the salon (the latter in the form of screenshots), a requirement to terminate the purchase and sale agreement, bank transfer receipts in the name of the company, any agreements with the organization;
• Drawing up and submitting a claim to the salon
  . Once again, we note that all requests should be recorded in writing. The complaint must indicate: the time the transaction was concluded, the duration of the contract with the salon, the reasons why you want to terminate the agreement (fraud, coercion to sign documents, deception, for example, providing an old vehicle or a car with non-original spare parts instead of a new one without prior notice this). The claim must indicate how you want to resolve the conflict - do you insist on eliminating defects in the car, reducing its value, a full refund of all money, or compensation with compensation for moral damages? The dealership's response must be provided to you in writing. Oral statements will have no legal effect;
• Drawing up and filing a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office and/or the police
  . The document must be drawn up extremely responsibly, the style of writing the requirement is strictly official. No mistakes, obscene expressions, or excessive emotional overtones are allowed when forming a business document such as a claim. The document must reflect all of the above data, and also inform law enforcement officers that the car dealership refused to settle the dispute out of court. A copy of the salon's written response must be attached to the complaint;
• Drawing up and filing a claim in court
  . When writing a claim, you can rely on the testimony of witnesses, the evidence base, and also list those articles of the law that were violated against you by the fraudulent car dealership.

In accordance with Art. 131 and art. 132 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the claim must contain information about the plaintiff and the defendant, about the court to which the claim is filed, about the written agreement with the company (agreement number, who is the buyer, who is the seller, the date of the transaction), about the requirements for the defendant, about pre-trial appeals to law enforcement and government agencies, about pre-trial and, possibly, ongoing trials with the salon, about the car and its technical data.

Signs of deception (fraud) at a car dealership

If you have never been a victim of deception at a car dealership, it will, of course, be difficult for you to immediately understand what is really happening to you and you will soon become a participant in a fraudulent scheme. That's why below are some signs that you're likely to be scammed at this car dealership. If there are such signs, it is better to postpone the purchase until another time and call a lawyer and consult with him.

♦ Very attractive price - cheaper than in other car dealerships. However, the car is available. Perhaps even in another city - Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc. You don’t need to think that you won’t be deceived in big cities. They are much more likely to be deceived than in a small town. Here we should give simple advice - if you see an overly attractive price, such that you are even ready to go to another city to buy a car - immediately close such advertisements and be glad that you read this article in due time and did not become a victim of deception at a car dealership

♦ When you are asked to sign a preliminary purchase and sale agreement, a deposit agreement, etc. documents, despite the fact that there is no justified need for this.

If you do not fully know the terms of the purchase and sale agreement or have not seen it at all, do not 100% understand the car’s equipment, additional equipment, services, etc., or have not yet seen the car at all, or do not yet know whether the bank will approve and on what conditions your loan application is, then you should under no circumstances sign this kind of agreement! Do not willingly become a victim of scammers!

First, we get acquainted with all the documents and conditions, get the bank’s approval, understand 100% the terms of the loan, only after that can we talk about signing some agreements, even preliminary ones, and even more so about depositing some sums of money. Rest assured, if the deal falls through for any reason, the car dealership will not return your deposit! That's why he takes it.

In addition, having made an advance payment of 50,000 or 100,000 rubles, it will be psychologically difficult for you to refuse to enter into an agreement, even if, having concluded it, you end up losing 300-400 thousand on bank interest and other positions.

If you are ready to enter into the main purchase and sale agreement and pick up the car, then you will need to sign some preliminary agreements, deposit agreements, etc. there is also no need. If you are ready to conclude a purchase and sale agreement today, pay the full amount and pick up the car, then why do you need a preliminary agreement or a deposit? If the dealership salespeople insist on signing it, this should alert you.

There is only one option for the need to conclude such preliminary agreements and make a deposit - in the case when you need it, and not the car dealership. That is, you are thus asking the car dealership to “reserve” the car for you so that it is not sold to someone else for a certain period of time. For example, when you are 100% sure that in a day or two you will be able to buy it back. But again, you need to rely only on yourself here, you don’t have to hope that the bank will approve your application. Based on this, by making a deposit, you are more likely to agree to receive a loan on unfavorable terms for yourself.

♦ The car dealership salesperson, under various pretexts, delays the inspection of the car you came for, or the presentation of documents for the car - PTS or others. For example, they tell you that they are in another office, they will be brought soon, etc. excuses, but in the meantime they offer you to drink coffee and look at other car options.

♦ The car that you came for and which you were promised was available, suddenly turns out to be reserved by another buyer, or another reason appears why they cannot sell it to you, and a “much more interesting” option immediately appears.

♦ They constantly take away and bring back documents, ostensibly for the director to sign or under some other pretext. Or, after they let you look at the documents, they take them somewhere, then bring them back and ask you to sign them. This is a sign of deception. You can sign something only if you have fully read the document, 100% understand the meaning of the conditions set out in it, and at the same time, after reading and until signing, you have not let it go out of your hands.

♦ They constantly ask to wait for something for 15 minutes, then another 10 minutes, and so on for several hours. Most deceptions in car dealerships occur in the evening, when a person has already spent 2 to 6 hours in the car dealership. Because a person is in an unusual stressful situation, is hungry, plus he is constantly under pressure from the managers of the car dealership, then in the evening the person is ready to sign anything just to go home. Especially when it happens in another city. Very often, people travel from other cities to Moscow or St. Petersburg under the influence of promises that they will have the car they need at a big discount. This is what scammers take advantage of by deceiving the buyer. Therefore, if you are constantly being asked to wait for something or someone, you should be wary.

♦ Employees of the car dealership ask you to sign documents in a “stack”, while constantly reporting or slipping new documents, saying something like: “This is a standard agreement”, “this is a standard form”, etc.

♦ Car dealership employees urge you to quickly read or sign documents, or make a decision faster. If the seller has more important things to do than explain everything to you in detail so that you make an informed, deliberate decision, let him go do these things, and you will buy a car at another car dealership. Believe me, they won’t sell it to you cheaper than at other car dealerships!

♦ The car dealership employees make you feel uncomfortable, that you are taking up their time, or feel that you owe them something, because they have already spent so much time on you and have already done so many things, told you, discussed them, called you somewhere, visited you , found out something. Remember, if you experience one of these feelings, you can turn around and leave. You see these people for the first and last time in your life, and the feeling artificially evoked in you by the seller is not worth being deceived.

Your money is at stake, and all emotions need to be pushed into the background or forgotten about them altogether. When you come to a decent car dealership to buy a car, on the contrary, you should have the feeling that the sellers owe you something, and not vice versa.

Usually the entire fraud scheme is structured in such a way that the client is led little by little, in small steps, to the point that he will no longer be able to refuse to sign the contract, even when he already understands that he is being “taken off.” The client is constantly asked to give small consents to something insignificant, sign some forms, applications, make an advance payment, which in case of refusal will not be returned, etc. actions that gradually break the buyer’s will and ability to evaluate the situation critically.

“Most of the buyers who suffered from deception at car dealerships admitted that even when they already realized that they were being deceived, they still could not help themselves and signed the documents,” says our auto lawyer Nikita Kharitonov.

Results of the won trial

A car owner who manages to win a lawsuit against a fraudulent dealership will receive:

• The entire amount of funds transferred to the company;
• Penalty (1% of the price of the car for each day of delay in fulfilling the legal requirements of the injured party);
• Fine for the salon’s refusal to resolve the case amicably in pre-trial proceedings upon filing a claim;
• Reimbursement of all financial costs associated with the case (money to pay for expert services, a lawyer and other actual costs).

If you are dissatisfied with the court's decision, you can challenge it before it comes into force. This can also be done with the help of our qualified lawyers who specialize in resolving conflict situations with car dealerships.

Please note: you can file a lawsuit against a car dealership and win the case even if the company made an unintentional mistake that resulted in serious consequences for you. For example, during warranty repairs at the service center, the drive belt was installed incorrectly, which caused a breakdown of the entire power plant and the need for an expensive engine restoration or the purchase of a new engine.