A California dealership is facing a lawsuit alleging it improperly used police to detain a customer at gunpoint after a vehicle financing deal fell through, according to a complaint filed Jan. 29 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
As reported by Automotive News, the suit, brought by Christine Simpson, accuses Honda of Downtown Los Angeles, along with its general manager and finance director, of wrongfully involving law enforcement in what the complaint describes as a civil repossession matter. Simpson is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for emotional distress as well as alleged violations of consumer and debt collection laws, unlawful conversion and negligence.
According to the complaint, Simpson made a $5,000 cash down payment in mid-September 2025 and took possession of a 2022 BMW X5. She registered and insured the vehicle in her name. About two weeks later, the dealership notified her it could not secure third-party financing and asked her to sign a new agreement with a co-signer, which she did.
The revised contract gave the dealership 10 days to cancel the deal. If no lender took over the contract within that time and the dealership did not cancel it, the store would remain the lien holder and creditor, the complaint states.
About a month later, the dealership demanded the vehicle be returned. Simpson declined but offered to continue working toward a resolution and said she was open to legitimate options, including making an additional down payment, according to the complaint.
Instead of working with her or honoring the sales contract, the dealership’s general manager allegedly threatened to file a police report claiming Simpson had stolen the vehicle. The complaint disputes that claim, stating she took possession under a valid purchase agreement.
“Simpson didn’t steal anything. She took possession under a valid purchase agreement. And even if Simpson had defaulted on some obligation under the contract, California law doesn’t allow dealers to use the police as their personal repo men,” the complaint states.
One of Simpson’s attorneys, Elliot Conn of San Francisco, told Automotive News there are provisions in California’s Vehicle Code that limit when dealerships can report a vehicle as stolen and require a warrant before making such a report. Co-counsel Daniel Abraham of Oxnard said disputes over financing typically amount to breaches of contract, not criminal acts.
“The dealerships will sometimes assert that a credit application includes inaccurate information, but, even if it was true, that doesn’t mean the car is stolen,” Abraham told Automotive News. “It’s even defined as a simple breach of contract in the contract itself.”
According to the lawsuit, the dealership followed through on its threat. The Beverly Hills Police Department pulled Simpson over at gunpoint, handcuffed her and detained her while a police helicopter circled overhead. She was held in the back of a locked patrol car for about two hours.
Police ultimately decided not to arrest or cite her after determining the matter was a civil dispute over financing, the complaint states.
The lawsuit alleges the dealership either filed false paperwork claiming ownership of the BMW or failed to submit registration paperwork to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Police had the vehicle towed, and the dealership later retrieved it from the impound lot.
The store then claimed Simpson owed $836 in towing fees and $7,177 for what the suit describes as “purported” body shop repair costs.
Simpson also alleges the dealership did not refund her $5,000 down payment.
The complaint characterizes the incident as an “illegal gambit” by the dealership to recover the vehicle outside the judicial process. It contends a dealership’s legal options for repossession do not include bypassing the court system or filing false reports to have a customer detained.
Simpson says the incident left her shaken and emotionally distressed. Her lawsuit seeks damages tied to what she alleges was a wrongful repossession effort and improper use of law enforcement authority.
Honda of Downtown Los Angeles is part of Brandon Steven Motors, which operates dealerships in California and Kansas. According to the original report, the dealership group and the store’s general manager did not respond to phone and email requests for comment.
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