Recently, Lindsey Thompson brought her Ford Taurus to Cherokee Auto Sales in North Knoxville, Tennessee – a used vehicle, “buy here pay here” sort of establishment – for service after experiencing some transmission issues. This made perfect sense given the fact that she also purchased that same Ford Taurus from the same dealer back in June 2023, along with a 12,000-mile two-year service contract. However, that routine task soon turned into a nightmare for Thompson, it seems.
According to WATE 6 news, just 10 days after dropping her Ford Taurus off for those repairs, Thompson returned to the dealer only to discover that her car had been sold at an auction. As one might imagine, this came as a bit of a shock, especially since she also received a letter from the state informing her that the vehicle was still registered in her name and didn’t have liability insurance anymore – months after it was sold at that auction. The dealer did give Thompson her license plate back, but couldn’t really provide her with a good explanation for what had transpired.
Instead, Thompson says that Cherokee just kept referring to the mileage on the car, an apparent reference to the fact that she had driven more than 12,000 miles in the time she had owned the Taurus. She states that she never missed a payment, however, and when the news channel attempted to get some answers from the dealership, an employee called police instead. Thus, Thompson is speaking with a lawyer to explore her options after paying around $2,700 on the car, though Cherokee Auto Sales did respond to the case in a statement posted to Facebook.
“It is important to understand that when a customer has a lien on their vehicle they do not own the vehicle until it is completely paid off,” the post reads. “The lien holder, in this case Cherokee Auto, is the owner of the vehicle. The vehicle was looked at by a mechanic and was not able to be fixed. And was sold at our discretion at a dealer auction. The vehicle had a bad transmission, excessive mileage from the customers driving habits, and bullet holes in the engine we had previously fixed for the customer that happened while the vehicle was in her possession.”
“We try our very best to make sure our customers are taken care of hence the contract but we cannot give vehicles away when the outlined contract is broken. Seeing how she had broken the contract we thought it was best to part ways and not extend an offer of financing another vehicle with us in the future.”
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Comments
Out of warranty, simple as that.
I do believe that the dealer should have made more of an attempt to contact the customer.
If they sold the car instead of repairing it, they owe her money.
Well just goes to show ya never trust a jeep dealership used or new because I’ve never seen an honest one they are notorious for hiring swindlers no matter where I’ve lived or what city
Read the story. It’s a used car dealer, no Jeep franchise.
This is really fishy: she doesn’t have the right to drive as many miles as she wants? If it’s not repairable, they needed to offer her money or another car. If this is legal in Tennessee, there is a real problem.
She really took this whole thing pretty good considering their lack of concern for her. I for one wouldn’t have been so kind! I think that the State of Tennessee need’s to tale a long look at this whole thing. People have been greatly harmed for less than this and I personally would not blame them!