Indianapolis-based Honest Abe Auto Sales has agreed to pay $470,646 in customer restitution over what authorities describe as deceptive advertising about the price of its vehicles.
The Office of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed its complaint last week against Indianapolis-based Sycamore Cos. LLC, which operates four Honest Abe used-car dealerships. Marion County Superior Court Magistrate Ian approved a consent agreement between the parties on Monday.
Honest Abe’s operates dealerships at 4401 N. Keystone Ave., 5520 W. Washington St., 3201 W. 16th St., and 5433 Madison Ave. Sycamore Cos. was founded in 2009 by Ibrahim Saad Alfaran, the company’s president.
Honest Abe offers what is known as buy-here-pay-here financing—in-house financing that is usually targeted at consumers with subprime credit scores.
In its complaint, the attorney general’s office alleged that the vehicles at Honest Abe’s dealerships were posted with flyers that advertised both their cash price and their significantly higher buy-here-pay-here price. But the company’s website advertised only the cash price, the complaint alleges.
“If a consumer wished to finance the vehicle, as almost all of Sycamore Cos. LLC’s consumers do, Sycamore Cos. LLC would significantly raise the price of the vehicle above the advertised cash price, often by thousands of dollars,” the complaint says.
Additionally, the complaint alleges, Sycamore told customers that its buy-here-pay-here financing option was a zero-interest loan with no finance charges, even though the buy-here-pay-here price was significantly higher than if customers had paid with cash upfront.
More than 250 consumers were affected, the attorney general’s office says.
Sycamore Cos. did not return a message left Wednesday morning seeking comment.
This story is by Susan Orr.
