FAYETTEVILLE – A Virginia man claims an Oak Hill car dealership misrepresented facts about a vehicle he purchased, saying it was displayed at several NASCAR tracks and had been damaged and repaired.
Richard D. Horne of Laurel Fork, Virginia, filed his complaint against King Coal Chevrolet and General Motors in Fayette Circuit Court.
According to the complaint, Horne purchased a new 2019 Camaro on February 20, 2020, from King Coal Chevrolet. He was told the vehicle had 224 miles on the odometer because it had been taken to a “local racetrack” for promotional purposes but otherwise had no prior use. He also was told it never had been damaged.
Shortly after purchasing the vehicle, Horne took it to a detailing shop in North Carolina. Someone at the shop noticed irregularities in the paint. Horne called King Coal Chevrolet, but received no response. He eventually talked to someone with GM Customer Care and learned the vehicle had been driven for a promotional event at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia about 177 miles from Oak Hill. He also learned it originally had been delivered to Jon Hall Chevrolet in Daytona Beach, Florida.
He also learned the Camaro had incurred “minor damage” at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, and was provided photographs of the damage and a repair bill for nearly $2,300 from Carl Black Buick GMC in Roswell, Georgia. He also learned the car also had been repaired at a different dealership before being displayed at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama and at Martinsville before being sold to King Coal Chevrolet.
A GM representative offered Horne either a $2,500 settlement or a trade for a different vehicle. He declined those offers and asked GM to buy the Camaro back from him. As of the filing of the complaint, GM hadn't indicated if it planned to buy back the vehicle.
In addition, Horne says documents provided to him include a Retail Installment Sale Contract-Simple Finance Charge (With Arbitration Provision) dated February 22, two days after he purchased the vehicle. He says it bore his signature in two places, but he says he never signed the document and didn’t authorize anyone on his behalf to sign for him. He says the signatures are not his and are forged.
He accuses the defendants of violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, fraud/fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of contract and violating the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. He also says he revoked acceptance of the vehicle, but the defendants have refused to honor it.
He seeks to have his contract rejected and revoked, and he seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief.
Horne is being represented by Jeffrey Mehalic of Mehalic Law in Morgantown. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Thomas Ewing.
Fayette Circuit Court case number 20-C-83