Everyday, in local newspapers across the country, you can find stories of dealerships having to shut their doors. That alone is sad, but more distressing are the tragic ways some dealers are leaving the business.
Two weeks ago, Nebraska dealer Allen Patch and two managers, comptroller Rachel Fait, and General Manager Rick Covello, failed to show up to work one day. According to news reports, Patch, who owns Legacy Auto Sales, allegededly conspired with Fait and Covello to steal 81 Ford and Toyota vehicles totalling $2.5 million.
Car haulers loaded the vehicles onto trucks over the weekend late at night. The vehicles began turning up at auctions in Nevada and Utah. Patch, Covello and Fait subsequently turned themselves in.
Meanwhile, last month, Gregory Graham, owner of Graham Colonial Motors in Ligonier, PA, died after suffering a heart attack while attempting to burn several vehicles on his store's lot. Graham reportedly owed $720,000 in taxes.
The tragedy continues as his brother Randolph, a general manager at the dealership, was found dead Saturday morning in his car. According to news reports, he had been distraught over his brother's death.
And in what is becomming an all too familiar story, Classic Kia in Texas (no relationship to Tom Durant's Classic Group) allegedly left at least 223 car buyers and their lenders with title problems, according to the Star Telegram. Many customers are learning the loans on vehicles they traded in have not been paid. Officials estimate the dealership owed $250,000 to $300,000 in sales taxes and licensing fees to the state and county.
There's a right way and a wrong way of doing things. Unfortunately, these, and other dealers, see no way out, other than resorting to crime. We'll probably be reading similar stories in the future as the pressure on dealership finances continues to mount.