Action 9: DMV investigators visit car dealership accused of mislabeling vehicles

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Armed agents with North Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicles showed up Friday morning at both locations of the Auto House use car dealership.

Auto House has two lots -- Mooresville and Salisbury -- between the two of them, investigators spent more than 10 hours on site Friday and then left with boxes and computer equipment.

In Salisbury, Channel 9 saw agents load about two dozen boxes into an SUV, and then remove computer equipment from the business.

At the company's Mooresville location, an agent carried boxes from her vehicle into the dealership.

Action 9 spent five months investigating Auto House before airing its first report three weeks ago.

Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke found vehicles, window stickers and ads on Auto House's website mislabeled, including several Nissan Altimas that had SL emblems on the back, but were actually lower-end S models.

Auto House overcharged some customers thousands of dollars apiece, based on the vehicles' Kelly Blue Book value.

Agents didn't say exactly what they were looking for Friday or what they found, but one customer, who showed up hoping to get his car serviced, said the agents told him it was an audit.

North Carolina's Attorney General also started investigating after Channel 9’s initial report.

A spokesman for the office told Action 9 it is looking into whether Auto House broke any consumer protection laws.

“Certainly part of that is looking at the complaints we've received from consumers. You know, sometimes we will reach out and try to get more detail from consumers and complaints are -- you know, you know, continuing to come in,” said Kevin Anderson from the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

PAST COVERAGE:

• Action 9: Dealership advertises another mislabeled car while 2 state agencies investigate
• NC Attorney General investigating dealership after Action 9 reports
• Used car dealer accused of mislabeling models to look higher end

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