Cumberland County auto dealer agrees to nearly $51K settlement over deceptive practices

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A used-car dealer in Silver Spring Township has settled a lawsuit with the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection over years of deceptive business practices, including selling vehicles without a valid dealer license and misrepresenting the mileage on a used motorcycle it sold.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Wednesday that New Kingstown Auto LLC has agreed to pay nearly $51,000 to settle the civil lawsuit, including more than $25,000 in restitution to victims impacted from June 1, 2014 through 2018. The attorney general cited a dozen restitution claims in court documents — ranging from $836 to $3,584 — against the business.

Business owner Harry Laughman and employee Dana San signed the settlement. Their attorney, John Glace, said Wednesday that his clients are adhering to the settlement and have corrected any advertising or leasing defects.

Shapiro’s office listed several issues.

For starters, investigators said New Kingstown Auto advertised 18 used vehicles for sale without disclosing the business name and address of the advertiser, or even the word “dealer.”

The Cumberland County business also failed to forward to PennDOT in a timely manner money and forms submitted by a consumer who purchased a vehicle with temporary registration tags. In addition, investigators said the company engaged in leased transactions with consumers that did not include required lease disclosures.

The business also accepted installment payments from consumers on vehicles without holding an installment seller license or the proper contract to offer those payment plans.

And in one case, the business willfully sold a used motorcycle as having 69,000 miles when, in fact, the motorcycle was titled with 153,000 miles.

Glace said New Kingstown Auto is no longer doing any title work to avoid potential issues in transactions. He also said the business will be subject to multiple audits to ensure compliance. Furthermore, he said all customers will be clearly made aware that sales or leases are for “as-is” vehicles that can be fully inspected by the customer’s mechanic and test driven.

“There is always inherent difficulty when dealing with high mileage, older vehicles,” Glace said. “New Kingstown Auto provides cars by lease or sale to persons with more limited resources. Often potential customers in such circumstances were and are referred to New Kingstown Auto. These vehicles aren’t warrantied and sometimes they break down.”

Shapiro’s office is urging people who believe they were victims of the dealer’s past practices to contact the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or to email [email protected] within 90 days.