A Hartford used car dealer is in hot water after he allegedly sold multiple customers invalid extended warranties.
Daniel Garcia, 53, the owner of Danny’s Auto World Sales and Service, LLC in Hartford, was charged with larceny after 12 customers fell victim to his scam.
Motor Vehicle Inspectors from the Connecticut DMV say that over a six-month period the 12 victims paid $13,000 for extended warranties that they never received, which they realized when they needed repairs to operate their vehicles and had no money to pay for them.
The warranty company connected to the scheme, Cars Protection Plus of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, confirmed to the DMV that Garcia never forwarded the customers’ money.
The Connecticut chapter of the Better Business Bureau reports on its website that two complaints have been closed in the past 12 months, and a third was closed at some point in the past three years.
Garcia was released on a $5,000 non-surety bond, and his car dealer license was immediately suspended pending a hearing on Oct. 15. He’s scheduled to appear in court on the larceny charge on Oct. 7.
The DMV is advising customers who buy extended warranties for used cars to contact the warranty company directly to ensure the company received the funds to for the coverage-related costs. If there is a problem, you should then contact the car dealer, and a final step would be to report a complaint to the DMV to investigate.
