I talked about the frustration I had with the car dealers in Phoenix on the Car Pro radio show recently. It was a horrible experience for me, and that saddens me greatly because the listeners in Phoenix were awesome and if any market ever needed me, it’s this one. I suspect the lady in this story would agree. However, she is not blameless. If I could get one thing across on my show, or here in the newsletter, it would be to READ WHAT YOU SIGN!
The victim is an Arizona woman says she was left with two car loans and no clear answers after a Phoenix dealership failed to honor what she believed was a completed trade-in deal, raising new concerns about electronic contracts and dealership transparency.
Korissa Morgan told KTVK/KPHO that she originally brought her 2015 Honda to Bell Honda earlier this year for what she thought would be a routine repair visit. While waiting, she said dealership staff approached her with an offer they described as a “buy-back trade-in program,” suggesting she could move into a newer vehicle without putting any money down. Morgan said she made it clear she had no down payment available and could only proceed if the dealership truly intended to accept her trade-in.
According to Morgan, the staff told her everything could be handled through electronic paperwork and guided her through signing documents on a tablet. She said she left the dealership believing the trade-in was official. She turned in her keys, no longer had access to the Honda, and assumed her previous loan would be paid off as part of the deal.
But within days, Morgan received a notice from her original lender stating she was behind on payments for the Honda she thought she no longer owned. Alarmed, she contacted Bell Honda and asked for copies of the contract. Morgan said the dealership failed to send the documents, telling her they were still “working on it.”
When weeks passed with no paperwork, Morgan went back to the dealership in person. There, she said employees produced a contract she had never seen — one that did not include a trade-in at all. Instead of accepting her vehicle, the documents showed only a straight purchase, leaving her responsible for her old loan and the loan on the new vehicle.
Even more confusing, Bell Honda told her it had never taken possession of her Honda. Morgan disputed that, saying she had handed over her keys and had not driven the vehicle since the day she signed. Investigators with the station’s consumer-advocacy unit later located the Honda sitting on the dealership’s lot, despite the dealership’s claim it wasn’t responsible for the car. Shortly after the discovery, Morgan received a letter from Bell Honda demanding she retrieve the vehicle from its property or face consequences.
Caught between two lenders and unable to resolve the dispute, Morgan said she ultimately surrendered the Honda because the debt burden became unmanageable. “I never thought I’d be in a situation like this,” she told the station. “I did what I was told. I trusted the process. And now I’m stuck.”
Morgan said the ordeal has set her finances back significantly and hopes her experience serves as a warning. She urged other buyers to demand copies of their contracts immediately, insist on seeing trade-in values and loan amounts in writing, and avoid leaving a dealership without physical proof of the agreement.
Bell Honda and its parent company, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the station over several weeks.
Source: Reporting by Susan Campbell, KTVK/KPHO; Gray News.
Photo: Twinsterphoto/Shutterstock.com.