2 Eastside car dealerships close

Two more Eastside car dealerships — Melody's Kirkland Subaru and Melody's Kirkland Hyundai — have closed and were taken over by a new owner.

Two other Melody's dealerships — Kirkland Nissan and Bellevue Nissan — closed last year.

Eastside Nissan bought the Hyundai dealership and renamed it Eastside Hyundai and is buying the Subaru operation, which it is calling Eastside Subaru.

The Washington Department of Licensing revoked business licenses for Kirkland Hyundai Sept. 20 and Kirkland Subaru Oct. 23, when their bonds expired. Dealerships are required to carry a minimum bond of $30,000.

Both dealerships owed back taxes. Melody's Kirkland Hyundai owed the state $158,230.23, and Melody's Kirkland Subaru owed $369,145.73 as of Oct. 25, according to the Washington Department of Revenue's Public List of Delinquent Taxpayers.

David Swanson, one of the dealerships' principal owners, said all delinquent taxes have been paid and the two businesses were sold when his wife, Melody, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year. "It just wasn't worth it to run the dealerships anymore," he said. "When the opportunity came to sell, we took it."

Last November, Melody's Nissan dealerships closed because they were unable to renew bank financing. At the time, Swanson said he would reopen them when he could secure more money.

The Hyundai dealer had been in business since June 1989, but the Subaru dealership was fairly new, opening in September 2001.

The Attorney General's Office has received 15 complaints this year for problems with title transfers and refunds on extended warranties. All but two of those complaints have been resolved. The licensing department has processed 25 complaints since September from Melody's customers who said they didn't receive titles. Dealerships have 45 days to complete paperwork for titles. Swanson said all consumer complaints were resolved.

One customer, Glen Kowalski, said he turned in his leased Saturn car a year early and bought a car from Melody's Hyundai in April. Payment for the rest of his lease was included in the new-car loan. When GM sent him a bill requesting his monthly payment, he said Melody's told him they would take care of it. But five months later, Melody's had not paid off the lease. He now owes $2,700.

"If I had known this was going to happen, I would have kept the (leased) car," Kowalski said.

Kristina Shevory: 206-464-2039 or kshevory@seattletimes.com.