4 days Ago By Jacob Jaffa
A MAN has been left $15,000 out of pocket after selling his car through a dealership, despite allegedly meeting the required 10-day deadline. The salesman responsible is facing allegations of a scam after a key document was apparently forged . Adam Powell, from Prineville, OR , was looking to sell his 2013 Ram 1500 truck but has ended up locked in a payment row.
To handle the sale, he went to Central Oregon Motors and its owner Mike Smetzer, whom he had known for several years especially as they are both veterans . But now, five months on, he claims he's still waiting for his money. Mr Powell told KTVZ : "I've known him since he's opened his business.
READ MORE MOTORS NEWS "I bought a car from him. "I had him sell another truck of mine, and there was no problems with any of that." But this time around, he wasn't given a consignment agreement and only had a verbal agreement over Facebook Messenger .
The truck apparently sold on August 20 for $15,000 and Mr Smetzer allegedly requested a "10-day payoff" on it. Most read in Motors This is when a driver has a loan on the car and they can trade it in by paying the remaining balance on the loan plus the interest built up over the 10 days to the deadline. But on day 11, Mr Powell started to smell a rat, especially when $3,000 was added onto the loan as he was forced to cancel his insurance on the vehicle.
He now has to continue making payments on the truck or risk "a huge hit" to his credit rating . The furious driver now alleges that the proof of sale provided by Smetzer was forged after it turned out that the buyer listed had purchased a different truck entirely. Mr Powell lodged a report with the local police force, which has since launched an investigation into the dealership .
He went on: "It's a huge slap in the face. "I just don't know how one veteran could do that to another. "His whole motto about his dealership was integrity, which is an Army value.
"And as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't have the integrity to just keep doing this to people. Read More on The US Sun "Basically doing the right thing, which is not what he's doing." Smetzer, via his attorney, declined to comment on KTVZ's report.
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