A warning about a dealer

Scyry · July 31, 2006

Earl Kieselhorst thought he owned a 2003 Chevy Silverado -- a truck that he bought from Bill Heard Chevrolet in Antioch.

Kieselhorst says he "paid cash for it. Made the deal. Sales manager signed off on it. Signed all the paperwork. And drove off."

He traded in his car and gave the dealer a check for $8,100.

"I have the keys," Kieselhorst tells NewsChannel 5 investigative reporter Jennifer Kraus.

But he doesn't have his truck.

Bill Heard does.

"I can't see any reason why this wouldn't be my car," he adds.

Just one day after he bought the truck, a salesman from Bill Heard called to say the dealership was having second thoughts about the deal.

He told Kieselhorst that if he wanted to keep his truck, he needed to fork over another $10,000 -- something he refused to do. After all, he says, they had a signed deal.

But the next morning, when Kieselhorst woke up, his truck was gone.

"And I was like I can't believe it," he recalls.

The dealership had come and taken it in the middle of the night.

"I've got a contract. This is a legal contract. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say."

Metro police investigated and wanted to file charges against Bill Heard for stealing the truck.

SoCalChris · July 31, 2006

He's got the keys, a igned sales contract, the cops know what is going on, and the truck is just sitting there on the lot. I'd go get my truck if I were him.

ScottyBoy · July 31, 2006

I would give the dealer a taste of their own medicine. I'd go steal it right back from them. He's got the keys, it cant be too hard.

Polak · July 31, 2006

I'd go steal it right back from them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Uhhhhhhhhh, not really sure that'd be theft, scooter, he'd really just be picking his truck up.

My problem would be not tosing a foot up the dealers a$$ while there.

LousCrew · July 31, 2006

here is that dealership's website.

We should flood them with letters. hahah

http://www.billheardnashville.com/site/index.aspx

asepgrad98 · August 1, 2006

not sure about TN, but in NC there is no 'cooling off period'. a deals a deal.

August 2, 2006

There are two sides to every story.

SoCalChris · August 2, 2006

The dealer's side of the story was in the statement they made to the police. Also, the local BBB says they have literally hundreds of similar, unresolved complaints against that dealer, far more than any other local dealers have.

Both sides of the story sound about the same to me.

The dealer's statement:

http://www.newschannel5.com/content/invest...es/BHreport.pdf

Willys33 · August 4, 2006

There's a Bill Heard Chevrolet here in Tampa too. I don't know anything one way or the other about how they operate because I refuse to buy vehicles from dealerships. That story would make me investigate them carefully before i even went there. BTW, I believe he had a deal. Just shows the car-dealer mentality. Maybe the bad pr will sink 'em. lol Mike

nlmsc33 · October 27, 2006

i live close to that dealership.

they are NOTORIOUS for playing that game.

this is not the 1st time someone has had their new vehicle stolen on the pretense that" the deal wasn't right". usually their trade in is "gone" also.

a friend used to work for the motor vehicle commission & he told me they have people assigned to just that one dealership because of all the shenanigans they pull.

these kinds are the ones that give dealerships a bad rap.

thank god not all of them are run like this one.

uh6077 · October 27, 2006

I live near the dealership as well. They have been around for a long time and I doubt they will be going away anytime soon. They sell lots of basic white work trucks. Most people do not check the business history of the place where they are about to spend their money. Most car buyers are impulse buyers even though they are forking out $20,000 or more. They know that they need a van. Then they just go to the dealership, find the color they like and sign the paperwork. Most don't know that they can save thousands if they just drive a few hundred miles away. We bought out Xterre 4x4 new in 02. I live in a military town and cars are very overpriced here. We knew exactly what we wanted. 4x4, 5 spd, V6, color, all available packages. The dealership could not get a 5 spd at all and couldn't get the color we wanted. There was only one model this side of the Mississippi, and it was in Mass. We flew there and drove the truck home. Tickets were like $500. We saved $7000 and got exactly what we wanted. We even got a nice weekend trip out of it.

ZZ327 · October 27, 2006

I would go take it back. An leave some suprises for the dealer too

MWAHAHHAHAHAAAA

naturalbornmudder · October 27, 2006

I'd pick up my truck and drive off. Plain and simple, with a police escort. Papers in hand, keys in hand, and DMV description of my trade in. Plain and simple. Then I would press charges against the dealership for "stealing" my truck. Then a call to the BBB, and a call as I am sure GM would like to know that a dealership flying their colors was pulling some shady stuff

Clavin78 · October 27, 2006

I would woop some ass hard! And get the cops involved. And get my truck back from the lot and stay up for the next few nights with my shotgun garding my truck