JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A Rogersville man purchased what he was told was a used 2019 F-250 truck from Chaparral Buick-GMC, Inc., and two months later, investigators from the Tennesse Department of Revenue and the Tennessee Highway Patrol seized the truck as a stolen vehicle.
20-year-old Don Berndt told News Channel 11 that he not only traded in his 2017 F-150 into Chaparral to make the deal, he took out a loan for $40,000 and is still making payments on that loan.
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Berndt said the investigators had badges and paperwork for the truck with another VIN on it. He says the investigators looked through his truck and were able to find the original VIN number under the dash.
Turns out, it wasn’t even a 2019: it was a 2017 F-250 reported stolen from Atlanta, Georgia, according to a spokesperson with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
Frustrated and in shock, Berndt said he thought, “Surely the dealership would make it right.” But he says that didn’t happen.
“They said ‘No, we’re as much as a victim as you are,’” he said. “You know, that’s … for somebody go up there and believe in them. Their motto is ‘used cars no bull’, but that’s some bull if you ask me.”
Berndt has filed a lawsuit against the dealership, as well as a complaint with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.
In the suit, Berndt claims a dealership should have known to check for multiple VINs and asks for a trial by jury and $125,000 in damages, among other things.
“You’d think they go over that stuff every day; buying and selling vehicles so, especially a big dealership like Chaparral, they should know if VIN is fake or know if a title is real, you know?” added Berndt.
Though unable to comment on camera because of the pending litigation, Chaparral’s President and CEO Freddie Gonzalas told News Channel 11 over the phone some of the accusations in the lawsuit are inaccurate, however, he will “Make every attempt to make it right.”
Gonzalas also said that in 31 years of business, this has never happened, and they have already changed their procedure of checking the multiple VINs on vehicles.
Gonzalas also says he hopes to settle this case before it goes to trial.
And really, that’s all Berndt says he wants.
“I just hope it doesn’t happen to no one else, you know, [they need to] make things right, do the right thing, I’m all about doing the right thing,” Berndt said.
In the meantime, Chaparral has also filed its own lawsuit against the Kingsport woman they say traded the truck to them. Her attorney, Jeff Miles, said she bought the truck from a private owner in South Carolina, not knowing it was stolen. Miles said they intend to file a similar lawsuit against that seller.
News Channel 11 has made public records requests to the Atlanta Police Department for more information about the initial theft. The name of the owner listed on paperwork given to Berndt from the THP lists USAA of San Antonio, Texas as the rightful owner of the truck.
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Source Agencies
