$307,000 Jury Verdict for Client After Buying Car With VIN Plate Removed

A jury has just awarded $307,000 to one of Kneupper & Covey’s clients after a car dealership in Georgia was found responsible for selling him a vehicle with the VIN plate removed. The judge is currently considering whether to triple the verdict under Georgia law.

The client contacted Kneupper & Covey after having a terrible experience with the dealer, AX Auto of Atlanta, Georgia. Within a day of buying the used car, the client brought the vehicle to a local repair shop to have performance improvements done, and the repair shop initially refused to work on it because it didn’t have the VIN plate and other required VIN markings.

Why? Because the vehicle had been previously stolen and recovered after the theft, and AX Auto re-sold it to the client after buying it at an auction and failing to do anything to correct the VIN issues. When the client went to AX Auto to complain, they told him it wouldn’t be an issue, and he could keep driving it.

But that was wrong. Our client was involved in an accident in his vehicle and the investigating police officer noticed the vehicle was missing its VIN plate. Our client was charged with a felony for owning a car with a missing VIN plate. This felony hung over his head for more than a year. Our client suffered significant emotional distress not knowing how to deal with the felony charge. He suffered physical symptoms including weight loss and hair loss.

The jury found AX Auto liable and awarded him $307,000 for the emotional distress he suffered.

Attorney Jarrett Faber was the lead attorney taking “first chair” in the case, supported by attorney Cyclone Covey. Mr. Faber has handled hundreds of cases against car dealerships and has had several recent victories against solar panel installers resulting in complete cancellations of his clients’ solar panel loans. 

“Our client wasn’t treated the way he should have been, and we’re happy the jury agreed with us,” said Mr. Faber. “A car dealership can’t just leave a consumer with a problem like this and hope for the best. All of this could have been avoided if the customer had been put first. Verdicts like this send a signal that car dealers have to follow the law, and there’s consequences if they don’t.”

Kneupper & Covey fights for consumers of all kinds, including against car dealers. The firm has settled more than two hundred claims against an online car dealer that regularly failed to provide proper legal title to cars it sold. It has also prevailed against used vehicle dealers for breach of warranty.

“We often deal with insurance companies or defendants who don’t take emotional distress damages seriously just because you can’t plug them into a calculator with a formula,” said firm co-founder Kevin Kneupper. “They should, and this case is a perfect illustration of why. When a business breaks the rules and causes harm like this to someone, they shouldn’t be surprised when a jury holds them responsible.”