J & J Automotive Cars Reposessed

Some customers got a surprise at home last night. They say cars they just bought a week ago were repossessed. In fact, all the cars at J & J Automotive in Greenville have been repossessed. Court papers say the dealership didn't make payments to its finance company for them. This story may remind you of when cars were seized from the now closed Payless Auto Sales earlier this year. We discovered there one common link between the two dealerships in this Seven On Your Side Consumer Watch.

They came looking for answers. All they found was an empty car lot. Said customer James Molden, "I tried to come back here to get the car back or the money and nothing's turned up. They won't come or answer any phone calls or nothing."

Brothers James Molden and Deangelo Ashley say just last week, they both gave J & J Automotive one thousand dollars each as down payments on cars. Last night, they say the cars were repossessed.

Said Ashley, "About 11:30, I got a call over the phone from my brother saying I need to come home because a towing truck company is here to repossess our cars."

Dale Lee says it happened to her boyfriend, too. Said Lee, "About last night around 2:30, they had loaded the car up."

Dealer Services Corporation, which financed the dealership, acquired this court order allowing them to seize the cars, saying J & J Automotive hadn't paid up.

Said Kathy Barrett, President of the Better Business Bureau, "A lot of the consumers are not aware of the situation, they're not aware the financing has not gone through, so they don't know their car is in jeopardy."

If all this sounds familiar, it is. Dealer Services Corporation also seized cars from Payless Auto Sales this year. The Better Business Bureau says there's a common thread here.

Said Barrett, "The finance manager at J & J was also at Payless Car Sales."

Court papers show Jason Cox and Todd Thrall operated J & J Automotive. Cox was an employee at Payless Auto Sales. Cox received a two year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to pocketing one thousand dollars while at Payless. Now these customers of J & J are wondering if they'll get their downpayments back.

Said Ashley, "I'm upset about the whole situation because I came here as a legitimate customer, expected to get a little satisfaction out of something."

Our calls to J & J Automotive have not been returned.

If you're a customer of J & J Automotive, Dealer Services Corporation suggests you call them at 1 (800) 941-9301 to make sure you're car's financing is in place. If you do not have a tag or title, you can file a DLA-5 form with the DMV by clicking on this link...