Metro Car Buyer Stuck With Trade-in Bill

ATLANTA (MyFOX ATLANTA) - Jonathan Baker's financial troubles started in May 2008. Baker was actually trying to save money when he traded in his gas-guzzling pick-up for a more affordable family car. The sales contract Baker signed indicated that Kia of Chamblee would pay off the $9,700 Baker still owed on the truck. That never happened.

By October, Kia of Chamblee was out of business. The dealership, once located on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, took Baker's truck. Baker was then stuck owing more than five months of unpaid car bills.

Bill Cloud said the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs has been flooded with hundreds of trade-in pay-off complaints. Cloud said most of the complaints have come since the downturn in the economy that has seen the closure of nearly 20 dealerships in just the last few months.

Experts say what happened to Baker could happen to anyone trading in a car in this economy.

The issue isn't just affecting dealerships that have closed their doors, but those that are struggling to say open and having problems paying off the trade-ins.

"They might be taking in [the trade-ins and] and not paying them off. Consumers need to check and protect themselves," said Cloud.

After a lengthy legal battle, state consumer affairs officials said the fine print in Baker's contract proved the dealer's lienholder was responsible for the $9,700 pay off. The new lienholder made the payment in March and issued to letters to creditors to help Baker restore his tarnished credit.

On Friday, Baker paid off the last of his fees.

To learn more about what consumers can do to protect themselves from pay-off proplems, go to http://consumered.com/news/Trusting_a_car_dealer.aspx .