The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "car dealerships" ...
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Company's Choice Made Cars Less Safe
General Motors removed the side airbags, at request of fleet customers, from the standard package Impalas to save money for these fleet customers. In doing so, they risked the safety of thousands of people. Enterprise Rent-A-Car was one of these fleet customers, who bought “65,000 vehicles” knowing that the airbags had been removed. Enterprise not only rented these out, but also sold them online using false advertising. After this was revealed, Enterprise and many car dealerships issued apologies and bought back these vehicles above book value.
Tags: automobiles; cars; Chevy; used cars; safety feature; consumers; transportation; restraint system; build sheet; auto safety
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The rise and fall of Denny Hecker
Denny Hecker is one of the” biggest, most well-known businessmen in the Twin Cities”. He owned car dealerships, a national car rental company, and was the star of many advertisements. Behind this perfect exterior is a story of criminal behaviors and massive debt. All these details were revealed after Hecker filed for personal bankruptcy, which began the “collapse of a massive empire”.
Tags: loans; revenue; money; fortune; recession; deal maker; financial; finances; assets; FOIA; lawsuits
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Is it true?
"For several years a local car dealership ran advertisements on the radio, television and in newspapers offering deals on cars that it could not live up to". As a number of complaints mounted, the investigation into the dealership began. The investigation revealed the dealership used false advertising and "even increased the interest rate on finance documents after they were signed by the customer".
Tags: Mike Young Motors; bait-and-switch advertising; advertisements; ads; false; car dealership; dealer's claims; violations; automobiles
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Lemon Cars
Freedman and Kubinec examined how cars that were declared lemons in the United States, "are being sold in Canada as 'clean' cars." "As a result of the story, several provinces, including Manitoba, are in the process of drafting similar laws..."
Tags: car; lemon laws; car auction; dealership; consumer
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NewsChannel 5 Investigates: Bill Heard Chevrolet
A five-month investigation into the self- proclaimed "World's Largest Chevy Dealer." Hearing complaints from customers in Middle Tennessee after they bought cars from the Bill Heard Chevrolet dealership, an investigation found similar complaints in other states. NewsChannel 5 examined sales contracts and loan documents of customers and compared them with documents that had been submitted on their behalf to lenders by the Bill Heard company. The reporters found that the personal and financial information had been altered so loans would be granted. After the story was aired, the Tennessee Attorney General and the state's Motor Vehicle Commission regulators opened an investigation. The investigation is on going.
Tags: car sales; Chevrolet; loan; finance; automobile industry; Bill Heard, fraud
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Tricks of the Trade
This hidden camera investigation looks at the automobile industry as a whole, and finds that more than 52,246 customers in dealerships across 39 states have been ripped off. Dateline talked to Duane Overholt, who was a finance manager at Sonic Automotive, a major corporation that owns 187 dealerships across the country. With Overholt's help, Dateline was able to find an overwhelming amount of fraud and deception within the industry. Dateline also bought a car for the investigation and reported on the whole process, including fraud they encountered along the way.
Tags: Car salesmen; Finance
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Hell on Wheels
An ex-felon schemed up a plan to buy wrecked rental cars, patching them up and roll back the odometers, then sell the tainted autos to a used car dealer. The dealership passed off at least 11 autos on area customers. A few customers took the dealership to court on fraud charges and won. But a few of the cars may still be on the road.
Tags: felon; car; fraud; car dealer; transportation
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Escambia County Commission
The News-Journals investigates bribery and Sunshine Law violations at the Escambia county government. The stories reveal that the county commissioners voted for the purchase of a dilapidated soccer complex "real-estate agent Joe Elliott, a buddy of then Commission Chairman W.D. Childers, the former Dean of the Florida senate." The county later proceeded with a second purchase from Elliott, a defunct car dealership. The land purchases totalled $6.2 million, at a time of tight budget and halt of major county projects. As a result of the publications, the Attorney General of Florida started an investigation that ended with indictments of four of the five county commissioners.
Tags: bribes; land transactions; money laundering; secrecy; reals estate; elected officials; financial disclosure statements; Willie Junior; public office
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Lemon on the Lot
KWTV-TV examined how "vehicle manufacturers buy back cars which can't be fixed, declaring them lemons. Almost all of those cars are auctioned off and put back on car lots. But some of those cars have serious mechanical problems which aren't fixed before they're resold. We found that the automobile industry is laundering lemons and taking advantage of a lack of state disclosure laws."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; automobiles; cars; lemons; car dealerships; safety
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The Car Dealer's Secret
"In a joint investigation - ABC News 20/20 and The New York Times looked at two class-action lawsuits out of Nashville, TN that accuse two of the nation's most prominent automobile finance companies of credit discrimination. The lawsuits, filed under seal two years ago and unsealed in August 2000 on legal motions by 20/20 and The New York Times, accuse the General Motors Acceptance Corporation and the Nissan Motors Acceptance Corporation of participating in lending arrangements with car dealers that result in African-Americans paying higher finance charges on dealership-arranged loans."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; racial discrimination; car dealerships; loans; automobile manufacturers; General Motors; Nissan