New Rochelle Toyota has agreed to pay $135,000 to settle claims it misled customers with an administrative fee tagged onto the sale price of used cars.
The dealership charged buyers $499 for an “administrative fee” and listed it on sales agreements alongside other fees and taxes that customers are required to pay when purchasing a vehicle, according to state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. Schneiderman announced the settlement with the dealership last week.
“By charging a bogus, illusory administrative fee, New Rochelle Toyota was deceiving its customers and creating an unfair marketplace,” the attorney general said.
The dealership will pay $86,826 to 174 customers who were charged the fee between January and July 2012. New Rochelle Toyota is set to pay an additional $50,000 in penalties and cost to the state and agreed to reform its advertising practices, Scheiderman said.
According to a press release from the attorney general, the dealership also had put out a number of misleading or contradictory ads. These included ads for “$0 Down” leasing when payments were in fact due at the beginning of the lease. In other ads, the dealership claimed it had an “A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau when it actually had an “F” grade.
We bought a car from them during that time. Thanks for the report! I wonder they’ll contact the customers themselves, or the customers have to get in touch with them…