'Honda of the Bronx' reaches $130K settlement after overcharging customers
According to the settlement, the dealership admitted to more than 350 violations of consumer protection laws.
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A Bronx car dealership is paying $130,000 in a settlement with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The city agency announced the settlement with “Honda of the Bronx”, legally known as 2541 E. Tremont Ave. Auto.
According to the settlement, the dealership admitted to more than 350 violations of consumer protection laws.
The settlement includes about $61,500 in civil penalties paid to the city and $68,500 in restitution going back to customers.
City records show 24 out of 35 vehicles reviewed during the investigation were sold above the advertised price. Investigators say customers were overcharged by an average of more than $2,800 per vehicle.
News 12 spoke exclusively with DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine ahead of the announcement Thursday.
"We've all had this experience where you see a really good price advertised in the lot, you walk in, test drive, fall in love with the car... two hours later when you're going through the paperwork, there's a $200 fee for this, a $300 fee for your tires, a $500 fee for rust proofing," said Levine. "And by the time you're out of the dealership, you're paying thousands more than was advertised. That is not fair to New York consumers,” he said.
The city says the dealership also failed to provide some customers with required financing disclosures, cancellation forms and information about open federal safety recalls on vehicles.
Levine says the dealership was also operating without a valid secondhand auto dealer license during part of the investigation.
The owners of “Honda of the Bronx” declined an on-camera interview with News 12 but said many of the violations happened shortly after they took over the business from the previous ownership group last August. They said they were still learning the dealership's operations and did not yet have access to some website pricing systems.
"We have zero tolerance for ripping off the people of the city," Levine said. "If we find that a dealership is overcharging people, even if they just opened a week ago, even if they just got new ownership a week ago, we are going to take action."
The owners told News 12 they have since replaced most of their staff, moved paperwork systems online and made operational changes to prevent these issues from happening again.
DCWP says consumers who believe they were overcharged or misled can file a complaint through 311 or at NYC.gov/consumers.
