TrueCar Story

THE FOLLOWING IS OPINION AND NOT FACT SO PLEASE DON’T GET AGGRAVATED
DEPENDABLE SALES AND SERVICE, INC., et al.,
Plaintiffs
V.
TRUECAR, INC.,
CASE NO. 1:15-cv-01742-PKC

Epic, big, huge, significant, momentous, ponderous, salient, conspicuous, weighty litigation.

Pointless, ineffective, fruitless, feckless, counterproductive, unproductive, ineffectual litigation?

The choice is yours. You decide.

One hundred and fifteen car dealerships sue TrueCar. Yes. 115, that’s not a typo.

Are you mildly curious yet? Do you care at all? Paying attention yet?

I was curious. I have been a lawyer for 25 years and I have sued many, many, many car dealerships for all types of “misdeeds”. I have seen it all. I have sued a dealership for selling a car to two blind people. Yes two legally blind people. Selling totaled cars, salvaged cars, bait and switch advertising, forgeries, and price packing. You name it and I have seen it.

I had to take a closer look.

Who is TrueCar exactly, and why are so many car dealerships pissed off? What gives? These dealerships are probably looking for a lot of money. Why do they think they are owed money by TrueCar? Did TrueCar spill super, duper hot coffee on their collective laps*? Do the plaintiffs, dealers, have a financial booboo? (*before some lawyer gets really aggravated, I am joking and engaging in chatty banter, there is no personal physical, injuries involved and nobody had their lap burned. NO band aid needed. So let’s relax).

Exactly how did TrueCar cause dealerships damage? Was there some sort of sneak attack; was there a conspiracy orchestrated by the Luminatti? Did TrueCar obtain some super-secret information that they were using to damage these dealerships? And the answer… They lured potential customers away with their improper statements. I say improper (alleged improper statements) but the complaint that was filed actually says fraudulent and misleading.

How do you like that! Yes the plaintiffs are “ALLEGING” (and must prove) that TrueCar somehow wrangled customers away and TrueCar profited and the plaintiff’s lost money. That’s it, that’s all.

Chutzpa! And a lot of it. Over 100 car dealers are suing TrueCar for deceiving consumer or potentially deceiving consumers, and this has damaged the dealerships, as opposed to just hurting their feelings. (Cover my A^^, this is my opinion only so please take a breather).

I am going to assume that you are brilliant since you have gotten this far, yes you are a genius! And if you agree with me you are a super genius! So we are now in the same club. Should we continue?

Do you find it amusing or even ironic that 115 car dealerships (the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs only) are suing, what is in essence a lead generation company, for damages? They did not blame the other 9,000 dealers in the TrueCar network from profiting from TrueCar BUT they sued the marketing the company!!! Really?? They are making some very serious allegations against the marketing company: False or misleading advertising, bait and switch advertising, false factory invoice claims, false financing claims, false transparency claims, and false rebate claims. That’s it, that’s all, had enough yet?

You might have reached you own conclusion before all the evidence is in so you can stop reading or take a break. If you want to look at some of the specifics please stay tuned. Maybe just take a break. Tune in here The Thoughts Room. Just relax.

Let’s figure this out.

We need to take a look at 1) who is suing/being sued 2) what they are saying (theories) 3) how they claimed they are hurt by these bad, bad words (damages) 4) what laws permit this full on frontal assault on this poor marketing company. Since we are now in the super-genius club (I will e mail you the secret handshake later), we can do these types of things.

Let’s continue.

The plaintiffs, complaining parties, appear to be car dealership and car dealership groups from around the country: I count 115 dealerships started but as many as 25 have removed themselves from the lawsuit. The following is a list of those dealers that started the lawsuit.

Dependable Sales and Service, Inc., Drew Ford, Port Jeff Chrysler Jeep, Inc., Allen Gwynn Chevrolet Inc., Beaver Motors Inc., d/b/a Beaver Toyota of Saint Augustine, Key Chrysler Jeep & Dodge, Inc., Beaver Motors Inc. d/b/a Beaver Toyota of Santa Fe, Westbury Jeep Chrysler Dodge, Inc., Rafferty Subaru, Inc., Valley Motors, Inc , Catanese Volkswagen, Inc. d/b/a Volkswagen of Salem County, TTV Motors, Inc. d/b/a Bill Kidd's Toyota Volvo Scion, Arnold Chevrolet, LLC, Bellavia Buick, Inc., World Auto Group, Inc. d/b/a Autoworld Kia, Paul Miller, Inc. d/b/a Paul Miller Audi, Paul Miller Performance, L.L.C. d/b/a Paul Miller BMW, Paul Miller GT, Inc. d/b/a Paul Miller Rolls-Royce, Paul Miller Sportscars, Inc. d/b/a Paul Miller Porsche, G.S. Autoplex, LLC d/b/a Garden State Honda, L & S Motors Inc. d/b/a Huntington Honda, Westchester Autoplex, Inc. d/b/a Honda of New Rochelle, D.L. New Rochelle Auto Sales, LLC d/b/a Mazda of New Rochelle, N.R. Automotive, Inc. d/b/a New Rochelle Toyota, Haldeman Ford of Kutztown, Inc., Hoover Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, Genesee Valley Motors, Inc., Genesee Valley Ford LLC, Tustin Buick GMC, Inc., Sam Boswell Motors, Inc. d/b/a Sam Boswell Honda, Cascade Auto Group, Salerno Duane, Inc., Freehold Automotive Limited, Inc. d/b/a Freedom Hyundai, Freehold Chrysler Jeep, Inc. d/b/a Freehold Chrysler Jeep, Tenafly Kia, Park Ford of Mahopac Inc., Cobb Auto Sales, Inc., d/b/a C&C Toyota, Cobb Auto Sales, Inc. d/b/a C&C Dodge, Hoffman Ford, Inc. d/b/a Hoffman Audi, Hoffman of Hartford, Inc. d/b/a Hoffman Lexus, Hoffman Motors of New London Inc. d/b/a New London Audi, Hoffman of Simsbury, Inc., d/b/a Hoffman Honda, Hoffman of West Simsbury, Inc. d/b/a Hoffman Toyota, Hoffman Ford, Inc. d/b/a Hoffman Porsche, Infinity of Manhattan, Inc. d/b/a Infinity Manhattan, Manhattan Foreign Autos Inc. d/b/a Acura Manhattan, Bay Ridge Nissan, Inc. d/b/a Bay Ridge Nissan, Bay Ridge Luxury Automobile Inc. d/b/a Bay Ridge Lexus, Bay Ridge Foreign Auto Sales Corp d/b/a Audi Brooklyn, Nissan of Manhattan, Inc. d/b/a Nissan Manhattan, Manhattan Luxury Automobiles, Inc. d/b/a Lexus of Manhattan & Lexus of Queens, Route 22 Nissan, Inc. d/b/a Route 22 Nissan, Hudson Auto Sales, Inc. d/b/a Hudson Honda, Route 22 Automobiles, Inc. d/b/a Route 22 Honda, Hackettstown Auto Sales, Inc. d/b/a Hackettstown Honda, Route 22 Auto Sales, Inc. d/b/a 22 Toyota Scion, Hillside Automotive, Inc. d/b/a Route 22 Kia, Westchester Foreign Autos, Inc. d/b/a Westchester Toyota/Scion, Skyline Automobiles Inc. d/b/a Toyota & Scion of Manhattan, Fordham Auto Sales, Inc. d/b/a Fordham Toyota, Bay Ridge Motor Sales, Inc. d/b/a Bay Ridge Toyota Scion, Hoffman of East Hartford, Inc. d/b/a Hoffman Used Car Superstore, C.S.I. Motors, Inc. d/b/a Pueblo Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, Fitz Motors, Inc. d/b/a Pueblo Toyota, Sendell Motors, Inc., Biener Auto Group, Inc. d/b/a Biener Audi, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a MAG Audi, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a Bentley Columbus, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a Lamborghini Ohio, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a MAG BMW, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a MAG Mini, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a Ferrari, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a MAG Maserati, Brentlinger Enterprises dfb/a Land Rover Dublin, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a MAG Aston Martin, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a MAG Porsche, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a MAG Lotus, Brentlinger Enterprises d/b/a Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Jim Soutar Dodge City, Incorporated d/b/a Soutar's Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Jim Soutar Dodge City, Incorporated d/b/a Soutar's Toyota, Soutar's d/b/a Soutar's Ford, Soutar's d/b/a Soutar's Nissan, Elk Grove Toyota, Wilson Imports, Inc. d/b/a Wilson Toyota, Wilson Imports, Inc. dfb/a Mercedes Benz of Bellingham, Simon Chevrolet-Buick, Ltd., Fitzgerald Motors, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Matt Countryside Subaru, Fitzgerald Motors, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Countryside Hyundai, Fitzgerald Motors, Inc. dba Fitzgerald Auto Mall Countryside North Chrysler Jeep, FOC, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Annapolis West Street Mitsubishi, FOC, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Annapolis West Street Mazda, FOC, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Annapolis Hudson Street Cadillac, FOC, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Annapolis Hudson Street Volkswagen, Fitzgerald Automall, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Frederick Baughmans Lane Cadillac, Fitzgerald Automall, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Frederick Baughmans Lane Mazda, Fitzgerald Automall, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Frederick Baughmans Lane Chevrolet, Fitzgerald Automall, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Frederick Baughmans Lane Volkswagen, Fitzgerald Lakeforest Motors, Inc. d.b.a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Lakeforest N. Frederick Ave Scion, Fitzgerald Lakeforest Motors, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Lakeforest N. Frederick Ave Toyota, LFO, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Lakeforest Russell Ave Hyundai, LFO, Inc. /b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Lakeforest Russell Ave Subaru, FALPM, Inc. Fitzgerald Auto Mall Lexington Park Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, CDOHY, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall White Flint Hyundai, FBI, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall White Flint Subaru, FBI, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall White Flint Nicholson Buick - GMC, Fitzgerald Motors, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Chambersburg Nissan, Fitzgerald Motors, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Chambersburg Toyota, Fitzgerald Motors, Inc. d/b/a Fitzgerald Auto Mall Chambersburg Scion, ADA Motors Inc. d/b/a Burien Toyota Scion, Burien Chevrolet, Inc., Garber Delray, Inc. d/b/a Delray Buick GMC, Garber Ft. Pierce, Inc., Garber CDJR, Inc. dba Garber Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Sunrise Chevrolet, Inc.

I have been doing plaintiffs work for 25 years and to handle a case like this is a MONSTER. I cannot even imagine how many man-hours have gone into this endeavor by the plaintiff’s lawyers. As an attorney I have the greatest amount of respect for lawyers on both sides of this case. If anyone thinks it is easy being a lawyer and handling a case like this you are out of your mind. Same kudos for the Judge/Magistrate and staff. I seriously wish all the lawyers, Judges and staff good luck on this case.

Let’s take a peek at the defendant, TrueCar the poor marketing company that has gotten mixed up in this BIG mess. (I am not denigrating them, I mean this literally, and this lawsuit has gotten them in this mess).