After car breaks down,
Iraq vet wages new battle -- with dealer

By Marjie Lundstrom – Sacramento Bee Columnist

Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 14, 2005

A while back, I told the story of a young Army man from Colusa, who returned from Iraq, only to find that his car had been repossessed by a dealer near Fort Bragg, N.C.

All was not lost, as a Sacramento dealer stepped in last year and - despite the soldier's credit dent - gave him interest-free financing on a used SUV.

Now here's another side to the story.

About the same time last year the Colusa man was picking out his 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Marine lance corporal from Orange County - also back from Iraq - was shopping for used cars in Oceanside, near Camp Pendleton. Jonathan Palmer's own car had been stolen and he needed wheels.

Less than a month after buying the 1994 Mitsubishi 3000 GT, he said, the engine died.
Ch-ching: $3,000.

The dealer wouldn't take it back.

The car had repeatedly failed emissions inspections and was designated a gross polluter, yet it was sold to Palmer with a smog certificate. The dashboard lights didn't work. The running lights didn't work. Same with the horn.

Then went the head gasket. Ch-ching, ch-ching.

The dealer still wouldn't budge.

So with his car in the shop - indefinitely, it seems - Palmer, 22, now shares a two-bedroom apartment in Anaheim Hills with his 13-year-old brother and his parents, who drive him to work daily at his construction job.

"Here's a guy who deserves a break, who deserves a pat on the back, and he just gets ripped off," said his lawyer, Aurora Dawn Harris of Orange, who is suing the dealer.

For Palmer, who is no longer in the Marine Corps, this is now a personal legal fight. But to those who see a pattern of abuse in California - service members getting scammed by unscrupulous dealers - the issue is bigger than a single lawsuit and a stack of repair bills.

Last month, the Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance heard testimony about financial scams aimed at members of the military.

John Irons, director of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society in San Diego, told lawmakers his informal survey of Navy lawyers found "the number one issue they are confronted with is used car dealers who are taking advantage of military personnel." Among the alleged problems: loans with excessively high interest rates; sale of "certified" junkers; expensive add-ons with questionable value; and so-called "yo-yo financing," in which dealers try to change financing terms after a buyer has taken the car.