Shaver Auto Center review: didn't fulfill contract 14

To Pete Shavers: regarding your posts above about your cars being stolen, sorry to hear, but every business of any type experiences loss at some point or another. Our family business experienced a loss much greater than the value of two vehicles. What's your point? If a customer's complaint is valid, you should help them with the situation to make it right, (repeat clients are your best customers) rather than posting you had 2 cars stolen .

I did some digging and found a lawyer whom fought against Shaver and won! http://mlgautomotivelaw.com/mlg-automotive-law-contact.html

as tom says, "Wow, thats niffty"

Look at this

FOILING FRAUD
Phony deals cost dealers reputation, vehicles and lenders

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Frauds and Fakes
Amy Wilson
Automotive News
September 8, 2014 - 12:01 am ET
When Pete Shaver bought part of Huntington Beach Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in 2012, he immediately found holes to plug in the vehicle sales and finance operation. In the previous several months, fraudulent customers had stolen two vehicles from the dealership worth $65, 000. The store's insurer refused to pay up.

So Shaver, who had put fraud preventions in place at his previous stores, got to work.

"We're not going to put ourselves in a position to have a loss, " said Shaver, general manager of the Huntington Beach, Calif., store.

Fraudulent customers robbed Pete Shaver of two Dodge vehicles worth $65, 000.

For employees in a dealership's finance and insurance office, spotting a potentially fraudulent deal is top priority. A mistake not only can cost a dealership a vehicle, it can hurt the store's reputation and its relationships with lenders. It's a challenge for all dealership groups. Prevention is the key, and dealerships count training, technology and sticking to carefully prescribed processes as their best tools in the fight.

The amount of money consumer fraud costs dealerships each year is hard to come by. But according to a December 2013 report by the U.S. Department of Justice, identity theft alone triggered financial losses of $24.7 billion in 2012 in the United States.

"By the time you figure out you've been hit, those cars are long gone, " said Jenn Reid, senior director for Equifax Automotive Services. "When it hits, it's very expensive [for both dealerships and lenders], and it's very painful."

Case study

At Shaver's dealership, the first loss happened when a buyer using a fake driver's license and fake Social Security number persuaded the sales team to sell her a $30, 000 2012 Dodge Challenger. The deal unraveled when lenders started their due diligence, he said, but the car was already gone and has yet to be recovered.

A $35, 000 Dodge Charger was next when a repeat customer, who had bought three cars in the previous nine months for his employer, came back and wrote a bad check for the fourth. The owner of the business said the person had embezzled from the company and no longer worked there, Shaver said.

One of Shaver's first steps was to install a GPS tracking system, called Morse GPS, on his entire fleet. The GPS units are pricey at $130 apiece -- the dealership sells around 800 vehicles a month and keeps as many as 3, 000 vehicles in stock -- but they enable Shaver to quickly find missing vehicles. They also help employees track down vehicles for test drives, speeding sales and improving customer satisfaction. They are reusable, though Shaver ends up selling some to vehicle buyers.

Shaver also installed a new identification scanning system, eLend Solutions' ID Drive. It flags fake or suspicious IDs and prompts staffers to ask more questions. The store wouldn't have lost the Challenger if that system had been in place, Shaver said.

Dealership procedures were tightened. For instance, a company employee no longer is allowed to buy a vehicle without notarized authorization from company owners. That likely would have prevented the Charger theft, Shaver said. The store also switched to a new insurance policy that would more readily pay on a loss. He's still fighting with the previous insurer over the denials on the 2012 thefts.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a ton, " Shaver said. "Technology is so good today, and there's thievery going on every minute of every day. The employees need the protection of the dealer and policies and procedures to protect the house."

Spotting patterns

LeAnna Cowan, finance director at Team Ford-Lincoln in Las Vegas, has learned to spot certain fraud clues. Among them:

n Customers coming in on Saturday night after the banks have closed with all the materials that may be required neatly in hand. That could be the sign of a fraud ring, she said.

n A customer with credit challenges who readily agrees to increase the down payment when the bank asks for more. A recent customer at Team Ford-Lincoln agreed to triple her down payment to $12, 000, but her cashier's check turned out to be fake. The dealership had delayed delivering the car, so there was no loss.

n Someone who's older than 25 but has no established credit. They may be using a made-up identity.

Dave Robertson, executive director of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals, points out another one:

n So-called Jack and the Beanstalk deals in which the customer tells a sad story -- I'm trying to help my brother, who broke his back at work -- and tries to hurry the transaction. Dealership employees sometimes overlook risk factors because they want to help. These situations often occur online or over the phone.

The best preventions, Robertson said, are slowing the process and getting a complete credit application, which enables the finance manager to check the customer's information against other documentation the dealership might receive.

In suspicious deals, the finance manager should ask out-of-wallet questions -- queries an identity thief can't answer by memorizing the contents of a stolen wallet -- to try to verify identity, he said. One question might be: What is the balance on your mortgage within $10, 000?

And make sure to thoroughly inspect driver's licenses, said Robertson, relaying a story about a recent fraud at a Florida dealership. A customer made a fake driver's license using a photo he had taken at a drugstore photo counter. But his girlfriend jumped into the picture with him, making for a license with two people in the photo. "It worked. I've seen a photocopy of the driver's license, " he said. "They never found the car or the customer. So there's an F&I manager who just failed to check the most fundamental verifiable information available to him."

Training, technology

The expansion of automated compliance tools to help dealers with such requirements as the Red Flags Rule, implemented to prevent identity theft, has made spotting fraud easier, some dealers say. Other tools, such as income verification software or ID scanners that flag fake or suspended driver's licenses, also help.

Customer fraud is "a big issue, and we take it very seriously, " said Jeff [censored], executive vice president of operations at Sonic Automotive Inc., the nation's fourth-largest dealership group ranked on retail sales of new vehicles. "These issues can really be devastating to your store."

Training is key to prevention, [censored] said, as are technology-enabled processes. "We have an individual here in our home office who looks at every Red Flags customer before that deal goes forward, " he said.

That review process, put in place in 2010 as part of Sonic's Red Flags Rule policies, prevented 81 bad deals and almost $3 million in fraudulent loans during its first three years in use, a former company executive told Automotive News last year. The system automatically double-checks a customer's identification when a credit report is pulled. On 11 percent of deals, the ID was flagged as suspicious, prompting a series of questions to verify identity.

Identity theft is the most common fraud at Sonic dealerships, the former executive said. More than a third of the company's fraud cases happen in Southern California.

Falsifying income is also common. In a study late last year, Equifax found that 34 percent of auto loan borrowers inflate income by 15 percent or more. Those loans are four times more likely to go into default, said Reid, who worked for dealerships and automotive lenders before joining Equifax.

Steal it back

At AutoNation Inc., the country's largest-volume dealership group, extensive training and strict processes seem to be doing the job.

"Knock on wood, we have very, very few" instances of fraud, AutoNation COO Mike Maroone said. "I would credit the training with that."

AutoNation's F&I staffers are trained and recertified every year, Maroone said. Store general managers go through the same training and certification. Maroone identifies the customer interview as a critical point. Employees ask questions to determine customer needs, getting as much information as they can to share with finance managers. Then finance managers ask their own questions and seek documentation.

"Anybody can be defrauded, " Maroone said. "But there's a bunch of real basic things you've got to do, from getting the driver's license, verifying income, getting copies of payroll stubs. In cases of subprime, you're looking at getting copies of utility bills, so you could verify the residence." In some cases, a salesperson might go to the customer's house to help gather the documentation necessary, he said.

Because of the requirements for subprime customers, Maroone said, AutoNation dealerships often refuse to let such buyers take possession of vehicles before financing is approved. Anytime a situation has an element of risk, the store is supposed to take a deposit and keep the vehicle until everything checks out. "We have got an obligation to our lenders and our shareholders to make sure that everything is on the up and up, " Maroone said.

Huntington Beach Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram's new diligence is paying off, Shaver said.

A few months ago, he discovered a $35, 000 2014 Jeep Wrangler missing from the lot. The store called police, but they were slow to act. So Shaver's staff activated the GPS on the missing Wrangler, grabbed the extra keys and took off in pursuit. They found it parked inside a gated community, jumped in and drove off. Said Shaver: "We went out and stole our car back."

Jim Henry contributed to this report.

You can reach Amy Wilson at awilson@crain.com.

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Well it looks like mymother-in-law got screwed too.
She bought a new 2007 Jeep Compass and to come to find out that it was sold as a used car. She bought it on January 12, 2007 and we live in the high desert (Apple Valley, Ca)
Well she got the car smog today and its was smogged January 29, 2007.
Now how it it get smogged when it was already with her at home?
Also she paid for extra service and it can't be honor.?
Also the price she paid was more then a new one...

If you were ripped off by Pete Shaver, he is now the general manager for LA Hyundai at Lax, Chrysler and Jeep, get yourselves a good attorney and file a group law suit class action law suit, he should be responsible for something that is written in the purchase contract. He can be reached at LA Hyundai at LAX, phone [protected] or [protected] the address is 970 W Manchester Blv Inglewood, CA 90301 or 308 Hindry Avenue Inglewood, CA 90301. Go in person, bring the police with you, the police of Inglewood are pretty familiar with the deals at this dealership.

URGENT URGENT URGENT! I purchased a 2006 Kia Spectra from their Kia of La Quinta location. When doing so I purchased the GAP Insurance Policy, as well as the Extended Service Warranty... totaling $1400.00. Recently my vehicle was stolen and found totaled. In dealing with my insurance and the finance company I came to awe an additional $1800.00 on my loan once the replacement cost was paid out. In contacting my warranty company it was found that KIA OF LA QUINTA DID NOT FUND MY WARRANTY THEREFORE IT DID NOT EXIST. And in attempting to contact Safe Gap to pay out the remainder owed on my loan is was found that KIA OF LA QUINTA DID NOT FUND MY GAP INSURANCE THEREFORE IT DID NOT EXIST. Please verify that you have a warranty and gap insurance in place before this happens to you as well!

We bought our Sebring after an internet ad quoted $13, 999. When we got there they told us we couldn't purchase the car without the extended warranty which was a few thousand dollars. When they brought the contract they had the car listed at $14, 999. TWICE they brought the contract at this list price, I told them check their internet site for the correct price, they told me they couldn't access the internet. Anyway, we were to get 1 annual detail job a year. Other dealers do not honor this! I will be calling the number as posted on this site by Cindi, I hope it pans out, thanks cindi!

I bought an 07 Jeep Wrangler jk at Shaver Thousand Oaks. I paid cash, got burned because i "Had to have it"! I bought all the bells and whistles, they sold Me a pro-comp lift kit and then sold me an extended warranty...(They failed to mention that the lift kit would void the warranty!) So, after the front tie rod thingy broke, sure enough, they voided my warranty and I'm screwed out of over $2000.00 I paid for the extended warranty! Snakes!

I also had a similar situation in which I purchased a 300C in march of 2008 and sold me the additional oil changes interior/exterior protection and an extended warranty for the vehicle when I called earlier in the month to find out that the dealer is no longer in existence... When I contacted Chrysler about this, I was told that it was unfortunate but that the agreements where made with the dealership and that they were sorry they didn't have a more favorable response for me... So I'm stuck with no warranty, no protection, and a lighter checkbook... If anybody has further info I would also like to take legal action against shaver auto...

email: hjimenez4919@prodigy.net

I had a similar situation which still causes alot of frustration with this outright dishonest dealer. In April 2008 I purchased a Pacifica and also purchaed the oil changes, and interior and paint protection which I have learned is useless with other Chrysler dealers. I also purchased an alarm system which was never installed in the car. I was given the run around from April to September - oh the alarm is not in stock, we have to order it...blah blah blah. I would schedule appointments go to the dealer and be given excuse after excuse after excuse. I returned a final time in November and spoke with their finance person directly about their outright ripoff. She scheduled an appointment for me the following week, telling me the alarm would definitely be installed. Low and behold, when I returned a few days later I found the dealer closed and out of business. They ripped me off for about $5, 000.00 total. I am extremely frustrated that others too have been ripped off and seemingly there is not a thing that can be done. What a rip off. I too am interested in filing a class action against the owner to pursue this. Thoughts?

email address: darmen03@msn.com

That is a terrible shame! I have a different problem, I purchased a 2006 PT Cruiser and I believe that it has had front-end damage, why I believe this is because I have taken the car to another dealership and spent $1000.00 dollars to have the problem fixed and the car still keeps making a grinding noise. At first when I got the car back from the new dealer service department, the car was find no problems but after a few days of driving, the noise was back and the stirring wheel constantly shimmeys when I apply the brakes. The whole braking system has been looked at and replaced but I still have the same problem. I checked with DMV to make sure it didn't have a salvage title but I understand that this car was a "rental" car and that many rental agencies do their own repairs and never report the damage to the DMV. When I first purchased the car it started making this noise in the front end shortly after purchase so, I took the car back into Shaver Auto and after waiting half the day, I got the car back as the service technician assured me that the car was "fixed" but three days later same problem. I feel stuck! I have car payment every month on a vehichle that I don't feel safe in and I constantly worry for mine and my childrens safety. I am throughly frustrated!

The Owner is Peter Shaver. His telephone Number is [protected].
The DMV is investigating him. If he took you for over $500.00. that is Grand Larson. They would want to know about it. Contact Investigato Ryder at 1310 N. Waterman Avenue N
San Bernardino, 92404
[protected]
Shaver told me that they were a free service to get me back. I asked why he charged me $700. He said "I'm out of business"

Shaver wrote the agreement through Guardian Automotive Surety Service. They tell me they are only the administrators. Which means they only provide the paper.
I would like to join a class action suit against him