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It’s fair to estimate that public sentiment places “car salesperson” pretty highly along the list of unscrupulous professions. Still, even most dealers have standards; namely, that the new cars they sell are in fact new and have not been used. Evidently, this is one line in the sand that LaFontaine Chevrolet Buick GMC of China Township, Michigan, allegedly saw fit to cross, as the state has suspended its dealer license for selling previously loaned products to customers as new vehicles.
That was the determination of the Michigan Department of State, following an investigation from September of last year. Still, the department and the Michigan Auto Dealers Association claim they gave LaFontaine an opportunity to come good and stop the practice. Both parties notified the dealer that it would “risk administrative action by the department and a suspension of the dealer’s license” if it continued to pass off loaner cars as new, per Automotive News. The state also supplied the retailer with “educational materials” and served it a $3,000 fine to go with an 18-month probationary period.
Unfortunately, when the state followed up this past September, one year later, it found that LaFontaine had still listed more than 20 vehicles as new that previously served as loaners. Just as they warned, the regulators said enough was enough and iced the company’s license.
A spokesperson for LaFontaine denied the allegations to Auto News on Nov. 4, saying both that “a paperwork issue” was to blame, per the publication, and also that Michigan’s statute on these matters is “outdated.”
See, LaFontaine’s stance on this reads less like a denial of the alleged illegal activity and more like an opinion that it shouldn’t be illegal. Max Muncey—the LaFontaine spokesperson, not the World Series-winning infielder—wrote in a statement that “vehicles utilized in manufacturer-approved rental or service loaner programs fully qualify as new vehicles” in the eyes of GM and lenders, and that “in nearly every other state, modernized statutes reflect this reality and allow these vehicles to be titled and sold as new. However, Michigan’s outdated titling laws still require such vehicles to be classified as used, even though they meet all qualifications for new vehicle incentives and warranties.”
Muncey singles out this predicament as “a regulatory inconsistency unique to Michigan,” while urging the state to collaborate with OEMs and dealers to “modernize” its rules on the books. In the meantime, LaFontaine and the state are working together to resolve this, and who knows? Maybe this time it’ll result in a $6,000 fine.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
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