Recent Stories
Court: Loose lug nuts didn't violate state repair law

The Michigan Court of Appeals threw out an award of $68,700 in attorney fees against a dealership whose service department failed to properly tighten the lug nuts on a wheel during a tire rotation.
Pa. dealers, OEMs can bargain on warranty labor rates

Dealerships in Pennsylvania that do warranty work can contractually negotiate with automakers to get more favorable labor reimbursement rates than those required by state law, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled.
Court rejects privacy suit

A federal appeals court has torpedoed allegations that SiriusXM violated the Driver's Privacy Protection Act by using information collected in a dealership management system to solicit subscriptions.
Court dismisses service customer slip-and-fall suit

A service customer who fell during a rainy-day visit to a Chevrolet dealership in Louisiana can’t pursue his personal injury lawsuit, the state Court of Appeal ruled.
Legal lane

Kia Motors America justifiably terminated a franchisee that repeatedly failed to staff the dealership's service and parts department adequately, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled.
N.Y. group given OK to sue ex-accountants

More than two years after discovering an office manager and other employees allegedly embezzled more than $10 million, a Queens, N.Y., dealership group can now go after its former longtime accounting firm for the money, a federal judge has ruled.
Dealership ordered to defend disability suit

A California Toyota dealership must defend a lawsuit accusing it of wrongfully refusing to install portable hand controls on vehicles that a customer paralyzed from the waist down wanted to test-drive.
Whistleblower law doesn't apply to fired GM worker

A fired GM assembly plant repairman who told management about concerns with the facility's inspection process isn't protected by a federal whistleblower law because his report didn't relate to defects in the vehicles, a judge in Missouri has ruled.
Dealership not liable for crash caused by loaner user

A dealership's garage liability policy doesn't cover an accident caused by a service customer driving a loaner vehicle, the Louisiana Court of Appeal ruled, leaving the customer's auto liability insurer responsible for defending a crash victim's lawsuit.
Service customer sues store for loaning out her vehicle

A service customer has filed a lawsuit accusing Stateline Nissan in Rhode Island of loaning her car to another customer for a week. Pretrial discovery is underway.
Capital One sues Missouri dealership for misrepresenting consumer payments, vehicle features

A Missouri dealership repeatedly made major misrepresentations about cash down payments, sales taxes, options and features on vehicles it sold, according to a federal lawsuit filed by Capital One Auto Finance, which bought dozens of loans on such vehicles.
California store loses appeal in suit over third-party transaction

A lender was within its rights in demanding that a dealership repurchase a contract after discovering that the buyer's daughter would pay for and use the vehicle, the California Court of Appeal ruled last month.
Customers pursue suit against Toyota captive

An apparent paperwork snafu put car buyers Derek Hindle and Meredith Partridge in credit trouble. And late last year, a federal judge allowed the customers to pursue a Fair Credit Reporting Act suit accusing Toyota Motor Credit Corp. of reporting inaccurate information to credit agencies about the termination of their lease.
Md. dealer's default is $4.5 million, lawsuit says

As dealer Danny Sauro and his two Maryland stores fell further out of trust, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. relayed a persistent message: Pay up. When it didn't, Nissan's captive sued the company for $4.5 million in floorplan default.
Dealership controller embezzles $1.1 million

The controller of a Connecticut BMW store will spend 2.5 years in prison for embezzling more than $1.1 million from the dealership.