The teenager said he had seen an ad in the Thrifty Nickel for Neil's Finance Plaza that promised "Just $59 down and you drive away." But the Brockmans' car purchase in February 2000 wasn't nearly that easy.
Brockman expects to face the dealership in court for a second time this August.
When Brockman and his son were car shopping, he thought of Neil's Finance Plaza as just another car dealership -- despite the fact that its advertising clearly targets consumers in dire financial situations. In late-night TV commercials, folks who appear to have led hard lives praise Neil's for putting them in cars when no one else would. An ad in the Yellow Pages proclaims "WE FINANCE" and promises incredibly low down payments. The dealership also sells Christianity -- on the car lot, salespeople comfort distressed customers by telling them God will provide for them. The bottom of the Yellow Pages ad reads, "We Thank The Lord Jesus For Allowing Our Business To Prosper: To Him Be The Glory!"
Brockman's son, Marcus, was weeks away from his birthday and had lined up an after-school job at a Chuck E. Cheese pizza parlor. He would make just enough to pay for his own wheels.
After work, Brockman drove to the dealership on Bannister Road. There, Marcus showed him a 1993 Pontiac Grand Am with more than 100,000 miles on it.
Brockman could have been a more wary shopper. But he says he was exhausted from all the overtime at his job. After talking payments with a sales manager, he said OK. He figured his son could afford $120 every two weeks.
A Neil's Finance Plaza employee ushered Brockman into an office, produced reams of paperwork and pressured him to sign quickly. "She told me I could read it another time, later," Brockman would later testify in court. He closed the deal, then stuck the paperwork in the glove box.
When he did read the documents, Brockman was stunned. He knew that the car's Kelley Blue Book value was about $4,500, but the documents showed a purchase price of double that -- $9,395. With his $100 down payment and a 19 percent interest rate, Brockman was going to end up paying $13,475 for a car that would probably break down in a couple of years.
Since the dealership hadn't signed over the title to him, Brockman took the car back, offering to pay fair market price. The dealership refused, so he signed a release, left the car and figured that would be the end of his interaction with Neil's.
A few months later, Brockman was at work when a man served him with legal papers and said, "You're being sued by Regency Financial Corporation" -- the financing arm of Neil's.
The breach-of-contract lawsuit claimed that Brockman owed Regency $4,712. The company had been able to "sell" the car back to Neil's, but, according to its lawsuit, "The proceeds of the sale were insufficient." Regency threatened to damage Brockman's credit and garnish his wages.
Jackson County Court records show that Neil's has filed more than 2,000 such lawsuits in the past five years.
Brockman's lawyer, Dale Irwin, characterizes Neil's Finance Plaza as a "repossession mill." There, previously repossessed cars get a stock number that includes an R followed by the number of times the car has been taken back from customers. Irwin says it's common to see cars that have been cycled through the lot four or five times.
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OMG.. I bought a car from them in 1999. Car was worth about $4300 (dealer value) not trade value and bc of my poopy credit and situation I paid over 14,000 for this car.
Please PLEASE PLEASE... THINK TWICE, before buying a car there... It was nothing but royal pain. Just think that you will be buying THREE cars.
I was thinking about buying a car from neil's but I think im going to pass after seeing how they treat people I am yet to see one good thing about them another lot to watch out for is silver eagle auto mall good luck to all in need of a car
I was thinking about buying a car from neil's but I think im going to pass after seeing how they treat people I am yet to see one good thing about them another lot to watch out for is silver eagle auto mall good luck to all in need of a car
i've bought 5 different cars from neils over the past ten years. I still have a pickup, a van, and a harley. all paid off except the harley and i.ve never had any problems with neils. If people sign contracts without reading them, they shoudn't get pissed, it's their own fault. i was never lied to or had anything hidden from me. I think this is a case of buyers remorse nothing less
i've bought 5 different cars from neils over the past ten years. I still have a pickup, a van, and a harley. all paid off except the harley and i.ve never had any problems with neils. If people sign contracts without reading them, they shoudn't get pissed, it's their own fault. i was never lied to or had anything hidden from me. I think this is a case of buyers remorse nothing less
I too, purchased a truck from Neil's Finance with a $300.00 down payment and a 28% interest rate on a 1999 Ford Ranger for I was in need of a vehicle since I was moving to a senior housing complex. Three weeks later they came and repossessed it because they said I violated their rules because I didn't let them know I moved. Sheeesh, I was moving and the day they repossessed it I got a phone hooked up. When I called them to make sure they repossessed it and it wasn't stolen, they would not talk to me but that 'yes' they did repo it. I immediately stopped payment on the first payment that I had sent in the mail. I called again and they were evasive as to the reason why it was repoed and told me that the person who repoed it was in a meeting. Later on I got a letter stating they had sold it and I was responsible for the balance. I guess they will go after my widow's pension that I just got and could afford my housing with; might just put me back on the streets living once again. The funny thing of this is that I had every intention of making all the payments to them and taking full responsibility for owning the truck but they were that crooked and used to scamming everyone that I was just a number of their next repo job....sad. Its almost enough to make you suicidal for being so taken in by these scam artist and lawyers just out to make a fast buck on the innocent and know its all legal.
I too, purchased a truck from Neil's Finance with a $300.00 down payment and a 28% interest rate on a 1999 Ford Ranger for I was in need of a vehicle since I was moving to a senior housing complex. Three weeks later they came and repossessed it because they said I violated their rules because I didn't let them know I moved. Sheeesh, I was moving and the day they repossessed it I got a phone hooked up. When I called them to make sure they repossessed it and it wasn't stolen, they would not talk to me but that 'yes' they did repo it. I immediately stopped payment on the first payment that I had sent in the mail. I called again and they were evasive as to the reason why it was repoed and told me that the person who repoed it was in a meeting. Later on I got a letter stating they had sold it and I was responsible for the balance. I guess they will go after my widow's pension that I just got and could afford my housing with; might just put me back on the streets living once again. The funny thing of this is that I had every intention of making all the payments to them and taking full responsibility for owning the truck but they were that crooked and used to scamming everyone that I was just a number of their next repo job....sad. Its almost enough to make you suicidal for being so taken in by these scam artist and lawyers just out to make a fast buck on the innocent and know its all legal.
Ha ha.. and the story continues. I received a check ($3934.00) FROM Regency Financial Corporation, owned by Tom Moore and yet it had some letter from a research group enclosed telling me that I was to cash the check, do some mystery shopping for them, send them the results and $3500. back to ?________, yet the address on the envelope was from Canada. I checked this whole thing out and "someone" waS trying to scam ME amd REGENCY FINANCIAL CORP... Yet in trying to contact them about this fraud... it seems you can't find an email anywhere... so... in the trash it goes.
Ha ha.. and the story continues. I received a check ($3934.00) FROM Regency Financial Corporation, owned by Tom Moore and yet it had some letter from a research group enclosed telling me that I was to cash the check, do some mystery shopping for them, send them the results and $3500. back to ?________, yet the address on the envelope was from Canada. I checked this whole thing out and "someone" waS trying to scam ME amd REGENCY FINANCIAL CORP... Yet in trying to contact them about this fraud... it seems you can't find an email anywhere... so... in the trash it goes.
Ha ha.. and the story continues. I received a check ($3934.00) FROM Regency Financial Corporation, owned by Tom Moore and yet it had some letter from a research group enclosed telling me that I was to cash the check, do some mystery shopping for them, send them the results and $3500. back to ?________, yet the address on the envelope was from Canada. I checked this whole thing out and "someone" waS trying to scam ME amd REGENCY FINANCIAL CORP... Yet in trying to contact them about this fraud... it seems you can't find an email anywhere... so... in the trash it goes.
Ha ha.. and the story continues. I received a check ($3934.00) FROM Regency Financial Corporation, owned by Tom Moore and yet it had some letter from a research group enclosed telling me that I was to cash the check, do some mystery shopping for them, send them the results and $3500. back to ?________, yet the address on the envelope was from Canada. I checked this whole thing out and "someone" waS trying to scam ME amd REGENCY FINANCIAL CORP... Yet in trying to contact them about this fraud... it seems you can't find an email anywhere... so... in the trash it goes.
This really makes me nervous because I am getting ready to go buy a car from them. I don't know if I want to now. But I am one of those that are down and out and need a vehicle. But the most important thing to me is if they report to the credit bureau. I guess I need to ask a lot of questions and take my mechanic.
This really makes me nervous because I am getting ready to go buy a car from them. I don't know if I want to now. But I am one of those that are down and out and need a vehicle. But the most important thing to me is if they report to the credit bureau. I guess I need to ask a lot of questions and take my mechanic.
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