Automobile Sales & Automobile Repair Fraud
When you purchase a vehicle, if the dealership fails to tell you things about
the actual condition of the car, or if they misrepresent the condition of the
car that may constitute fraud. These include failure to tell you that the car
was previously in an accident, was damaged in some way by a prior owner or that
the mileage on the car is not accurate. It may also be fraud if a dealership
makes promises regarding the financing of a car, and later demands that you
return the vehicle.
Consumers can also be harmed when a dealership does not accurately disclose the
odometer reading of a vehicle. Federal law requires that certain disclosure be
made as part of any automobile sale.
Like many states, Wisconsin has a “lemon law.” A lemon is a new or nearly new
automobile has a serious defect that a dealer has been unable to fix in four
tries, or has been unavailable to you for at least day since you bought it.
Wisconsin’s lemon law protects consumers who have bought new vehicles and
provides consumers with an opportunity for a replacement or refund on the
purchase.
If a repair shop charges you for items that you did not approve or refuses to
release your automobile after it has performed unauthorized repairs, it may
violate state law.