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IT has been five months since a dealership sold a driver’s Jeep for $24,000, but the outraged owner still hasn’t seen a single cent.
Jeff Peck was horrified to learn his car’s fate after he entrusted it to Central Oregon Motors in June.
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Peck inherited the Jeep from his late father and went to the dealership in Prineville, about three hours outside Portland, to sell it.
The owner, Mike Smetzer, quickly found a seller and told Peck that an elderly couple in Arizona would be taking the car off his hands, the customer told NBC affiliate KTVZ.
However, a few weeks after getting the news, Peck grew concerned when he never received payment.
Smetzer blamed the financing company for the issues and told the anxious customer he’d have to deal with them himself.
But when Peck reached out to the company, he was told they had no record of the sale.
“He told us to contact his bond company, but not to let them know that he told us to contact them,” Peck said.
“I’m like, ‘OK, there’s something fishy going on here.'”
After doing some digging, Peck learned that Smetzer had sent eerily similar messages to other customers who had trouble getting payment for their car sales.
Peck started his own investigation into what happened to the Jeep by tracking the VIN and was shocked to find it had been sold by a different dealership in Missouri.
According to records uncovered by Peck, the car was bought for $24,000 – even after Peck told Smetzer he wouldn’t take anything under $33,000.
“They sold it to somebody, a private party who drove it around for a couple thousand miles, and then they traded it in or sold it,” Peck told the outlet.
Now, the Jeep has been listed for sale in Illinois.
Peck contacted the Oregon DMV, and an investigator with the department was able to obtain documents from Smetzer’s sale.
The driver found that his signature had been forged, and the title was backdated to June 27.
Dealership Tips
Here are some expert tips when purchasing a car from a dealership lot:
- 1. Set your price: Ensure you’ve calculated your monthly budget before going to the lot. You should include the car’s loan payment, insurance costs, fuel, and regular maintenance.
- 2. Research: Make sure you know which cars you’re interested in test driving before you reach the dealership.
- 3. Pre-approval: Secure financing before you go to the dealership. Dealerships may give you a better interest rate if they are competing with an outside bank.
- 4. Test away: Get behind the wheel before making any payments. A car purchase will be worth thousands of dollars – drivers should ensure they like the drivetrain, steering feel, and comfort of the car before taking it off the lot
- 5. Haggle: Drivers should always try to negotiate the price. There are so many good cars on the American market – buyers have a strong hand when negotiating price.
Source: Kelley Blue Book
He handed all of these documents to the Prineville Police Department, and detectives are looking into his findings.
Outraged by the car drama, Peck said he feels “violated” after not seeing a cent from his late father’s car.
“He kept telling us, ‘I would never rip you off, I would never scam you, that’ll never happen,'” Peck said.
“The more we kept digging, the more we were just amazed at how deep this actually went, and then we started finding more people that he had done this to.”
According to a report by the Prineville Review, Smetzer is being sued in Illinois and New York for a combined $1.3 million.
The two lawsuits accused him of selling cars but failing to make loan payments on the previous owner’s behalf.
Smetzer’s lawyer refused to comment on the suits and said they wouldn’t discuss ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Smetzer, but a lawyer representing the owner told KTVZ they had no comment.
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