Jack Fitzgerald Warns 'What You See Is Not What You Get'

KENSINGTON, Md., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- You want to buy a car. The salesperson shows you a factory invoice. Do you believe him? Jack Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Auto Malls warns that what you see may not be real.  

The Federal Trade Commission and consumer organizations advise you know the manufacturer's invoice price before you shop for a new car.  You do your homework and think you have the invoice price.  But once you get to the dealer's showroom, you may be shown conflicting or even doctored invoices. "It is quite a widespread practice that salesmen will falsify documents to raise the purchase price of vehicles, and the owners of the dealership may not even know it," says Duane Overholt, a national consumer advocate with www.stopautofraud.com

Certain manufacturers contribute to the lack of transparency by preventing dealers from disclosing factory invoice prices.  

The Maryland Senate is deliberating on Senate Bill 511, introduced by Senators Brian E. Frosh and Jennie M. Forehand.  This bill will allow Maryland new car dealers to advertise the true factory invoice price to the public and prohibit any auto manufacturer from taking threatening action against the dealer for doing so.

The Fitzgerald Auto Malls website www.FitzMall.com displays the dealer selling price, the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), and the actual factory invoice price for each new vehicle in inventory.  

The Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection (MCOCP) states that the latter two figures are useful to consumers in evaluating how good Fitzgerald's posted price is, in addition to facilitating comparisons with the prices of other dealers.  Overholt agrees with MCOCP and says, "It works against the salesperson who wants to increase the price on the factory invoice."

Unfortunately, some manufacturers are pressuring dealers to withhold this information from the public.  A letter from the American Honda Motor Company says Honda is opposed to the bill and said, "Further, the bill will lead to the withholding of a benefit for dealers in Maryland and will very likely put Maryland dealers at a competitive disadvantage with other dealers of the same brand in neighboring states."  

Honda seeks to prevent consumers from obtaining information to determine a fair purchase price and further, plans to punish dealers that want to help their customers make informed decisions.  

This scandalous behavior echoes the unscrupulous manner Honda executives acted over a 15-year period when their sales officials received over $50 million in cash and gifts from dealers in exchange for additional hot-selling Honda cars and franchises.  It resulted in the conviction of eighteen of their former executives on federal fraud and racketeering charges between 1994 and 1997.  Federal prosecutors deemed it to be the largest commercial corruption case in U.S. history at that time.

"Staying in business since 1966 has depended on making sure all my customers are treated fairly and with transparency," says Fitzgerald.  "We post the bonafide factory invoice price on www.FitzMall.com so our customers can make apple-to-apple comparisons and not be deceived," he adds.

In addition to MCOCP, the Consumer Federation of America and the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition have written in support of the passage of this bill.

The only winners if this bill does not pass are those salespeople who want to alter documents so as to deceive consumers into overpaying for a car.

SOURCE Fitzgerald Auto Malls