—Photo: Matt Eich/Aurora Select
Posted on 08/25/2009 9:06:35 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
Kidnapping. Falsified documents. Hooters nights. Meet the sleazebucket car dealers who prey on our troops.
—Photo: Matt Eich/Aurora Select
ONE DAY in April, a 19-year-old sailor named William Kirkgaard was walking to the store at the Norfolk naval station when a man in a black Ford Mustang pulled up and asked for directions to the main gate. Kirkgaard indicated the way, whereupon the man, who said he was a former Marine, began asking questions: Why don't you have a car? Are you a member of the Navy Federal Credit Union? Claiming he worked there, Kirkgaard says, the man then offered him a ride to the credit union to open an account—the first step toward buying a car. So the sailor got in. But an ominous feeling overtook him as the Mustang drove on and on. "I kinda thought I was gonna die at that point," he says. The real destination, it turned out, was Tidewater Auto Brokers, a used car dealership in Virginia Beach, about 14 miles away. Mustang Man didn't work for the credit union, and the Marines say they have no record of his having served, either. He was a used car salesman.
Kirkgaard had maybe $20 to his name—not enough to get a taxi back to the base, much less buy a car. He'd only been in the Navy 10 months and had never bought a car without his parents. He didn't even have a driver's license on him, which meant he couldn't legally drive off the lot. Still, Mustang Man, whose real name is Jesse Neely, eventually persuaded him to test-drive a 2005 Dodge Stratus with 78,000 miles and a $10,000 sticker price. It shook violently and the "check engine" light flashed. Kirkgaard told Neely he didn't want the car, he says, but he naively agreed to give the dealership his personal information. Afterward, employees asked him to sign some paperwork; the sailor obliged without much thought. "Congratulations," they told him. "You just bought a car."
Kirkgaard says he tried to return the Dodge the next day, but the dealership told him (falsely) that it was illegal to cancel a sales contract in Virginia. A saleswoman did offer to reduce the price to $7,900—hardly a deal given the car's roughly $6,000 blue-book value. Kirkgaard, out of desperation, signed the new contract. He then left the car in the parking lot with the keys inside and sought assistance from a lawyer back at the base. He was legally on the hook for the full price, plus 15 percent interest. "I'm screwed," Kirkgaard told me soon after.
Mustang Man has been busy, apparently. Kirkgaard knows another sailor who was delivered to Tidewater after Neely allegedly offered him a ride to the movies. That sailor ended up paying $11,000 for a 2005 Dodge Neon he didn't want. He, too, abandoned it at the dealership the next day, prompting Tidewater to phone the sailor's superior, Chief Electrician's Mate Larry Gordon. "They called me up saying they wanted to press charges against him because he left the car there," Gordon told me. "They are really preying on these sailors."
Tidewater's owner did not return calls seeking comment. When I informed Neely of the complaints, his immediate response was, "Jesus, are you serious?" He admitted he'd picked up the sailors, but claimed they came voluntarily and seemed eager to buy. "If he's over 18 years of age and he's willing to sign a contract," the salesman argued, "I don't see how you can be forced."
Cash for Clunkers= pushing loans = building more debt = one man's junk said another man's asset, now destroyed.
“former Marine” was the first clue.
Where’re the Hooters?
“If he’s over 18 years of age and he’s willing to sign a contract,” the salesman argued, “I don’t see how you can be forced.”
I love the military and their service to our nation, but this cotton-picking con man does have a point. If you are old enough to serve your country, you should be old enough to know not to sign a piece of paper a car salesman puts in front of you without reading it VERY carefully.
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
Hmmmm...
How can we reward these lovely car dealers...?
What could the government do to boost sales for these poor salesmen...?
I wonder if there could be some sort of government incentive that would get them a lot of customers...?
Maybe the base ought to put some of these places off limits, and have Shore Patrol roll by every hour and roust any sailor on the property.
That and some good guidance from senior NCO’s might help.
And that is precisely why, at least in the Navy, sailors are required to attend briefs on various scams targeting service members and how to avoid falling victim to them prior to ever receiving off-base liberty. And the briefs are re-given throughout a sailor's career.
Nonetheless, you can't always save sailors from themselves and seeing E2s and E3s living in the barracks and driving $70K autos financed on 10 year loans that are eating their entire paychecks is a not at all uncommon sight.
I just attended one of these briefs this week. What is drummed into a sailor's head over and over again is before they sign any contract, bring it to Navy Legal and they'll receive head-of-the-line privileges. What do sailors do? They bring *signed* contracts to Navy Legal! Sorry Shipmate!
Thank you for posting it!
..customers they would probably have had in the first place; but then this would show Americans the auto industry is better off if government gives a helping hand..and who best to give a "helping hand" but the best salesman of all..Obama!
Libs love giving away what does not belong to them..our money! I feel used!
Many dealerships, at least in Jacksonville and San Diego where I've been stationed, are off limits for sailors and they can go to mast for violating a direct order if they're caught at these businesses.
Public opprobrium is a much more effective way of dealing with this, and that begins on base. Gone are the days when a Neely could expect a little midnight blanket party with a ballbat or two. In some ways that was a more civilized age. You have to keep dunning it into the occasionally thick skulls of the young 'uns.
Incidentally, NFCU is, as far as I have dealt with over the space of thirty years, a perfectly clean and reputable organization. Others' mileage may vary.
Should have been a man and joined the Army where the first week in boot camp you learn financial management and a very point blank warning on car dealers outside the gates.... Navy is terrible at taking care of their own....
I like that idea.
Hey I’m in the USAF and we were warned about places like this... i went to tech school at Keesler AFB in Biloxi... and there is a place called Holmes Motors that is E-1 up approved...that they advertise on their lot not 100 yards from the base... we were told in processing to stay away from that place cuz they will only rip u off... just sayin...
Wow! Nothing’s changed in forty years.
When I was in the Navy in Long Beach when I was 17, a used car dealer convinced me that I just “had” to have this car. At that time in California, an 17 Y.O. needed his parents permission to by a car, but that didn’t seem to mater. I didn’t have a drivers license, but that didn’t matter either...
So... I signed the papers and drove off the lot and went about a half block and tried to stop at a red light... and no brakes. I hit a big fancy cadillic that just happened to be driven by the local district attorney. Did quite a bit of damage...
After he talked to me a few moments and discerned that I had just purchased the car halfway down the block (I was in uniform), he marched me back there and after he talked to the dealer for a few minutes, the dealer came over and handed me my $300 back.
I was out of there... Don’t know what happened between to two of them. I took my money and bought a Honda 50 (maybe 90 ... it was in “63).
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