Local Dodge dealership trying pass a Hemi CLONE as the real deal....

[ChargerBill]

Man, I'll tell you....this just gets on my nerves. A local dealership has a '70 Hemi orange Challenger convertible with RT badging and 426 Hemi emblems on the hood sitting out front wearing "Pimp My Ride" 20" wheels. So I park on the side of the road and get out to take a look. It has been restored to the hilt and looks great (aside from the lame wheels and tires). So I peek into the dash and see the VIN: JH27G0XXXXXX

Sooo, this is a 318 2bb car...which was obviously NOT an RT and NOT a Hemi...right? I then call the dealership and inquire about what their asking price is and they say $120,000. So I ask, is there really a Hemi under the hood...the salesman say yes. He also repeated himself THREE times that it is definitely an original Hemi RT. I get off the phone and go to the dealers website and write this:

I am a member of the Roamin Angels Car Club here in Grass Valley and have been involved with buying, selling and restoring cars since I was a teen. This week I noticed the '70 Challenger sitting in front of your dealership. It is a very nice car and I pulled over to look at it. After looking at the VIN on the dash I realized that is was a 426 Hemi clone, but still a nice 'vert Challenger (other than the "Pimp My Ride" wheels and tires) nonetheless. I called to inquire about the car and asked if it had a 426 under the hood. The salesman assured me that it was a Hemi, then I asked if it was an "ORIGINAL" Hemi and he said YES it was. I then asked again "Did it come off the assembly line with a Hemi in it?" He then assured me YES MOST DEFINITELY IT DID, but the block numbers don't match. Look, this is exactly why our hobbie is facing the problems that it is. I would think that a dealership of ALL places would know better than to try to pass a 318 2bbl car off as a HEMI car. So, here's the deal, I will send a few of my friends in or have them call over the next couple of weeks or so and have them inquire about the car. Unless each and every one of them are told that it is a 318 car cloned as a Hemi, I will be forced to report this to ALL car clubs in the area and possibly even the Better Business Bureau. Look, I'm not looking to make trouble by any means, I just don't want to see anyone get duped and would like to prevent the hobby from degrading into nothing more than a feeding frenzy for opportunists and scam artists...I hope you understand.

I gave one of my email adresses and am now waiting for a response. I'll let you guys know how this pans out....

BTW: I'll try to get pics of it this weekend.

[Ponch ®]

Good looking out man.

On the other hand...if someone is willing to drop 120 G's on a car without doing any research on it, then they deserve what they get.

[Alaskan_TA]

Can you post or PM me with the whole VIN? I will gladly start a file on it.

Thanks,
Barry

[ChargerBill]

Can you post or PM me with the whole VIN? I will gladly start a file on it.

Thanks,
Barry

I really was looking for the engine code and only memorized the first 6 digits. When I saw the "G" I knew what I was (or wasn't) looking at and stopped there. I'll go back and get the entire VIN in the next couple of days...this car should stay on the radar for sure.

[BigBlackDodge]

Tell'em thats fraud and the FBI will be checking with them shortly!


BBD

[Todd Wilson]

If that dealership is as stupid as ours locally is here they probably gave $95000 trade in on it thinking it was a real Hemi car.


Todd

[Goldfinger71]

Good job!......keep us posted.

[Paul G]

I had my Ram pickup at the dealer (Thomas Dodge) for service. They needed me to come in and explain to the tech what problems I was having with it. I drove my Charger to the dealership and parked right in front of the showroom doors. I had a crowd around the car for sure. The most dissapointing thing was the sales crew did not what it was! At a Dodge dealership no less.

[MassCharger73]

Pretty ballsy....I like it !

[Big Lebowski]

What an idiot, post his e mail so we can all tell him "G" stands for prison time, not a $120,000 Hemi

[Wakko]

You should buy it and sue!!!! 

[Ghoste]

So when was it exactly that car salesmen became honest???

[ChargerBill]

So I drive by the dealership at around 4:45 today on my way to the gym and guess what...a 300 is sitting in it's place! They moved the Challenger all together. Guess the message came through LOUD and CLEAR...LOL

[Paul G]

It would be really funny if the dealer paid some ridiculously high price for it.

[253862656971]

It would be really funny if the dealer paid some ridiculously high price for it.

That's giving me some ideas on how to make money.  Too bad I'm too honest to pull it off. 

[Old Moparz]

Having the salesman "say" it's original doesn't mean squat & if you were to report it. They would either deny it entirely, or say it was an oversight or a misunderstanding on your part. Unless you gave a deposit where the receipt states the car is an original Hemi, then absolutely nothing will become of it. In my opinion, 75% of the salespeople will either be vague, or just tell you what you want to hear to sell something to you. I've been told things that were a lot different than what they wanted me to sign when the papers were done. At that point, I either tell them to rewrite it, or change the document & I initial it, or I leave.

You have to remember Bill, that Challenger is an original Challenger, & they were offered with Hemi engines originally. See, no lying or deceit, now didn't I straighten out your misconception of what the knowledgable salesman told you?

[Charger Aficionado]

Buy it and let them lie to  your face...  Tell them in the contract that you want it written that it is an original HEMI vehicle, or they will have to purchase a legimate restored  HEMI Chally...  I bet the morons would lie all the way to the end... I wonder if the hypothetical "Agreement" would be legimate?  heh 

[last426]

Having the salesman "say" it's original doesn't mean squat & if you were to report it. They would either deny it entirely, or say it was an oversight or a misunderstanding on your part. Unless you gave a deposit where the receipt states the car is an original Hemi, then absolutely nothing will become of it. In my opinion, 75% of the salespeople will either be vague, or just tell you what you want to hear to sell something to you. I've been told things that were a lot different than what they wanted me to sign when the papers were done. At that point, I either tell them to rewrite it, or change the document & I initial it, or I leave.

You have to remember Bill, that Challenger is an original Challenger, & they were offered with Hemi engines originally. See, no lying or deceit, now didn't I straighten out your misconception of what the knowledgable salesman told you?

I wasn't going to chime in but what the heck.  There is likely no actionable fraud -- in legal terms it's called puffing (never thought about it but that's a weird term).  Hmmm, I wonder if another legal term is caveat emptor?  Anyhow, google puffing, sort through all the pot sites, and maybe you will get the gist.  Kim

[Ghoste]

Kind of what I meant by the honesty comment.  I've sold cars and I can tell you that 80 or 90% of the salesmen walking the car lots right now, don't know diddly squat about cars and don't give a hairy rats behind either.  They are there to close deals and that is the only thing they are thinking of.  They don't care if it's cars or cardboard toilet paper rolls as long as they can make a commission off it.
That's not a slam on the profession either, it's just the way it is.  Some have incredible product knowledge and some are fraudulent thieves but most are somewhere in between and if they don't know the answer to a question, they wing it.  They are more interested in your reaction to their questions than anything else so they can figure you out enough to make the sale.

[ChargerBill]

While I agree with caveat emptor, I also think we should keep an eye out for someone trying to pull a fast one. I mean, are we supposed to turn a blind eye...especially when it is blatant and we can do something about it? This dealership OBVIOUSLY knew they were wrong. The Chally had been there for a week and all of a sudden after my email it's gone...coincidence?...i don't think so.

[HeavyFuel]

I like the way you handled it. Nice job.

It would have been entertaining to watch the reaction as your email was being read.

[ChargerHound69]

Are you sure someone didn't buy it???

[Big Lebowski]

Are you sure someone didn't buy it???

   Sucker!!!!

[dkn1997]

I had my Ram pickup at the dealer (Thomas Dodge) for service. They needed me to come in and explain to the tech what problems I was having with it. I drove my Charger to the dealership and parked right in front of the showroom doors. I had a crowd around the car for sure. The most dissapointing thing was the sales crew did not what it was! At a Dodge dealership no less.

Hey Paul, I live about 5 minutes from there.  I pulled up in my 68 there a few years back.  I was buying some race gas from the motorsports shop they have.  nobody looked twice at me there.  Dodge....ugh....

[73dodge]

I think that you did a good thing by pointing it out to the dealer. just imagine this scenario some rich dude with 120k buring a hole in his pocket, buys it tells all his non car buddies he has a real HEMI Challenger. Hangs on to it for 5 years goes to sell it, drives it to Barrett Jackson where he finds out it's not a real HEMI and it's only worth maybe 100k by that time. I would be pretty PO'd at everyone involved....