Disreputable Car Dealers, Beware: You're Being Watched -- United Consumer League Puts Buyers In Driver's Seat

Last year they picketed a car dealership, alleging disreputable sales practices and forcing it out of business; this year they're sending people undercover to spy on unsuspecting car salesmen. The tables have been turned on unscrupulous Seattle-area car dealers.

"They" is the United Consumer League of Washington, a watchdog group inspired by abuses the five co-founders say they experienced at the Thomason Ford Toyota dealership in Kirkland, including bait-and-switch schemes and deceptive advertising.

The group picketed for six months, the attorney general's office investigated, and the dealership is selling out and moving back to Oregon.

"People were taken advantage of, and the general attitude of the salesmen was, `You were stupid enough to sign the contract,' " said consumer league co-founder Teri Worley. "Somebody really needs to watch out for these people."

Although their own car-buying problems are resolved, Worley and her husband, Jeff, have decided to do just that. A Texas couple that moved here five years ago, they formed the league in February with three other people and send out monthly newsletters endorsing some dealerships and condemning others.

Jeff Worley is a general superintendent for Chaffey Homes; Teri Worley does most of the auto research from her Federal Way home, juggling the paperwork with homeschooling four children. "I've never been involved in anything like this," she said. "I was a hairdresser for 10 years. A year ago, if someone had told me I'd be doing this, I'd have said, `Yeah, right.' "

"Without a doubt, dealers in King County are far more afraid of the United Consumer League of Washington than they ever have been of the attorney general's office," said Rick Ockerman, an attorney who's also a league member.

The league is conducting "secret shopping" at some dealerships, with members posing as car buyers interested in purchasing a vehicle. They collect information on sales tactics and, based on that, either endorse or denounce dealerships.

Endorsements include logos, certificates and nice write-ups in a league newsletter. The league also accepts - but doesn't demand - $1,000 sponsorship fees from dealers who pass muster.

As stated by one new sponsor, Kirkland Nissan owner David Swanson, "It's better to have them with you than against you, as Mr. Thomason found out.

"I think the public is looking for someone to trust," he added. "It's not hard to abuse a customer. In fact, it's real easy. Most salespeople are schooled on how to do it, how to get advantage over the consumer."

Swanson said the sponsorship will help identify dealers who don't abuse customers, but others aren't so sure.

"Sponsorship?" No way, said Ashly Knapp, a local consultant who runs an auto-buying service called AutoAdvisor, Inc. To be independent, he added, "you cannot accept one damn thing from dealers. No way."

He is echoed by Doug Walsh, an assistant attorney general who led the Thomason investigation, which resulted in a record $385,000 fine last year. (Of that, $100,000 was suspended, conditional on Thomason refraining from illegal practices.)

"I would be concerned an endorsement could lead consumers to believe they're insulated from unfair practices," Walsh said. "I think it's a risky business to endorse auto dealerships."

Concern understood

Teri Worley said she understands the concern over sponsorships but is unwilling to abandon them. The money helps put out the newsletter, which is sent to 100 people, and sponsors will be re-evaluated each year. Plus, "We endorse guys that are good, whether they sponsor us or not."

She said the league has about 20 consumer members, and two sponsoring dealers. Consumer members pay a $25 per year membership fee.

The Worleys are an independent-minded couple and did not take their own car-buying experience lightly.

"We were totally lied to," said Teri Worley, who had bought a car at Thomason Ford Toyota for $16,000, only to discover months later that its market value was $12,000. They had also purchased another Thomason car at 19 percent interest, well above market rates but something they agreed to because they had weak credit at the time.

The salesman assured them they could return in a year and finance any car at lower rates, but a year later, they were told the salesman had lied.

Angered, they began picketing in November, showing up each weekend at Thomason Ford Toyota, which was part of the Thomason Auto Group, the largest-volume car dealership in Washington.

Other buyers joined the demonstration, motivated by similar experiences, and the picketing spread to Thomason Nissan in Bellevue.

One couple thought they were buying a 1993 Toyota Camry for $17,600 but later learned they'd obligated themselves to spending $33,000 through a lease.

Moreover, attorney Ockerman already had sued Thomason on behalf of a number of different clients. While reviewing 7,000 transaction files, he discovered many of the cars being advertised at discount rates had been sold or leased long before but were still being advertised to lure people to the lot - an illegal "bait and switch" scheme.

As other shoppers heard these stories, business began to drop. Owner Scott Thomason decided to sell his three Washington dealerships and return to Oregon, where he runs the largest car dealership in the state. He has denied most charges of wrongdoing, but he settled a suit brought by the Worleys and personally guaranteed the payment of any judgment or settlement won by any consumer.

"Obviously, there was some misunderstanding between my people and consumers," said Thomason, who had sued the Worleys for defaming the dealership and tried to have a court halt the protesting. That request was denied, and Thomason now says "I got some horrible legal advice. They told me to take them to court (for picketing). That was stupid. I'd never dealt with picketers before. It just made them more angry, and it took another six months before I could sit down and talk to them."

Teri Worley said the group is investigating two dealers. One has 66 complaints filed against it with the attorney general's office; another is repossessing cars left and right.

If history repeats itself, there could be another picket line outside a Puget Sound car dealership soon.

CONSUMER LEAGUE ---------------------------- The address for the United Consumer League of Washington is P.O. Box 25631, Federal Way, WA 98093-5631. Phone 661-6548.