A local mother left without a job or a way to search for one after, she said, she was duped by Everybody Rides Automall, a used car dealership on Jacksonville’s Northside.
Jasmine Anderson said that, three days after she drove the car off the Automall lot, it stopped working.
She spoke exclusively to Action News Jax’s Courtney Cole, telling her about her nearly $3,000 loss.
Anderson thought the trip she made to Everybody Rides Automall on April 2 was a step in the right direction.
“We took it for a spin. Everything’s good on the car, so I said, 'I’ll get it.'”
But three days after buying it, she found out she had been wrong, when the car wouldn’t start.
“I missed job opportunities. Now I’m trying to scramble around on the bus with a baby,” Anderson said.
She said that William, the man who sold her the car, told her it was in good shape when she bought it.
But when she tried to go back to him for help after it wouldn’t start, William referred her to a mechanic, who told her otherwise.
“The mechanic’s, like, 'He sold you a bad car because this car was flooded. The engine is rusted,” Anderson told Action News Jax.
Cole checked CarFax, which says no flood damage has been reported.
After that, Cole went to the automall to find out what else could be wrong with the car that was sold to Anderson.
When she arrived and asked to speak to William, the man at the entrance of the business, he said William wasn’t in at the moment.
Cole showed Anderson a picture of the man she had spoken with, and Anderson positively identified him as the man who had sold her the car.
William told Cole that, legally, in the state of Florida, Everybody Rides Automall did nothing wrong by selling the car as is.
But Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson said there’s a fine line between Florida law and fraud.
According to Carson, here's how you can protect yourself:
“If you’re going to buy a car, shop around. Don’t but the first car you find, and have an independent mechanic -- they’re in the phone book and online -- take the car to them.”
Carson said if you feel that you can’t trust the person you’re buying the car from, or if the car dealer is hesitant to have the car checked before selling it to you, those are both red flags.