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Update: Mazda Dealer That Overcharged Mentally-Disabled Woman Loses Franchise

By Tim Healey
Tim Healey Tim Healey
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14 75,814 views May 17, 2010

2010 Mazda Mazda6

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We've already brought you the tale of Madeline Leonard, the mentally-disabled woman who was overcharged by a Canadian Mazda dealership for a 2010 Mazda 6, when in fact she hadn't even intended on buying a new car.

Well, now Mazda of Canada is severing ties with the dealership, Mazda of Orangeville, due to several incidents in which the dealer violated Mazda's business practices.


Effective immediately, Mazda of Canada has terminated the sales and service agreement for Mazda of Orangeville, meaning the company can no longer sell or service cars. The dealer can't even sell parts.

This comes shortly after Mazda of Orangeville was accused of overcharging a mentally-disabled woman by $25,000 when it sold her a 2010 Mazda 6 that had been used as a demonstrator. She had entered the dealership looking to replace the tires on her 2004 Mazda 3, not to buy a new car. Instead, she spent $66,000 (all dollar figures in this post are Canadian) when the car was worth $41,000.

The company said that several violations were found under investigation, and the overcharging incident wasn't the only violation.

Dealership terminations are rare, and Mazda of Canada will buy back all new vehicles on the lot, as well as any parts. Mazda of Orangeville will still be able to sell and service used cars. The dealership could attempt to file a temporary injuction to keep its franchise agreement.

Mazda of Orangeville has promised to reimburse Leonard, but she says she has yet to receive any compensation from the dealer.

[Source: The Star via Jalopnik]


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Comments (14)

  1. blah Posted: 5/18/2010 11:21am PDT

    and if no one found out they would have got away with it -- criminals dont always get caught the first few times...
     
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  2. Serdar Posted: 5/18/2010 4:38pm PDT

    If only Mazda would reimburse me for the clutch pedal that SNAPPED OFF WHILE DRIVING!! Piece of **** RX-8...
     
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  3. Anonymous Posted: 5/18/2010 4:43pm PDT

    Sick stuff. The dealer sounds like the kind of scum who would post on DirtyPhoneBook and I'm glad that Mazda of Canada stepped up to the plate and terminated their relationship with him.
     
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  4. Michael Posted: 5/18/2010 5:22pm PDT

    Honestly Mazda shouldn't pay that dealership any money. Those people at that dealership are scum bags and should be in jail. Seriously how could you do that to a challenged person...
     
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  5. rbryant Posted: 5/18/2010 9:35pm PDT

    Now that the orangeville Mazda dealership has been closed by Mazda it should be Mazda Canada's responsibility to see that the dealerships promise to refund the trade in value and all payments made in exchange for the return of the car. Get on with it. Further delays are unacceptable.
     
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  6. Chris Posted: 5/18/2010 10:04pm PDT

    How is this women disabled? There seems to be more to this story. They sold a car and made a profit, this is how it works. The original article says that, "after the deal was done, she drove to other dealerships and compared prices". Shouldn't you do that before you buy a car? Oh, I forgot, she's 'disabled'. Maybe the other violations were enough to warrant the dealership loosing its franchise, but this incident alone I'm not convinced the dealership did anything wrong.
     
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  7. Confused Posted: 5/19/2010 12:48am PDT

    What i don't get is the article says "Effective immediately, Mazda of Canada has terminated the sales and service agreement for Mazda of Orangeville, meaning the company can no longer sell or service cars. The dealer can't even sell parts." But then, the article says "Mazda of Orangeville will still be able to sell and service used cars." How does that work?
     
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  8. Dom Posted: 5/19/2010 1:22am PDT

    Theres WAY more to this story, her "disability" is anxiety and depression..right
     
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  9. Dom Posted: 5/19/2010 1:30am PDT

    ok, now that I read more into this article.
    "We are committed to offering honest, unbiased reviews"
    What a joke. Maybe it didn't come off as bias but there is ALLOT information missing.
    * Her "disability" is anxiety and depression
    * She was only changed an extra 11%~ on the car, the other $26k~ extra was because she had poor credit history,
     
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  10. Mike Posted: 5/19/2010 6:08am PDT

    @Confused - any car dealership can sell and service used cars. Any mechanic can service any car that he feels comfortable doing so. What they won't be able to do is say that they're affiliated in any way with Mazda. So it won't be a Mazda-certified repair shop..
     
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  11. HeyDumDom Posted: 5/21/2010 2:38pm PDT

    @Dom "We are committed to offering honest, unbiased reviews" Does this article strike you as a review? What are they reviewing here? Jalopnic? Feel important enough now that you pissed on the blogger?
    Anyway, regardless of whether or not she was competent enough to enter into the agreement, if Mazda decided there was more damage done to the brand that the dealership was bringing in, then good for them. I don't know that any law was actually broken here, as much as we all like to hate car dealers.
    It is sleazy or not? that depends on whether the dealership played on her disability or anxiety or not. As far as I know, all car buyers look anxious cause they are making a large purchase, but its hard to tell just reading the original article or this short summary.
     
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  12. Dan Posted: 6/27/2010 7:45am PDT

    As economic times get tougher Classic Mazda in Orlando is overcharging customers by claiming LOWERED FICO scores thus raising interest rates and down payment requirements. Then they charge for filling out the paperwork.
    Mazda USA does nothing in response. This is a toxic dealership.
     
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  13. Tem Posted: 4/10/2011 2:17am PDT

    How could this dealer extort such amount of money from mentally disabled woman
     
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  14. Chucks Posted: 4/13/2011 7:02am PDT

    Some people are heartless how can he extort such an amount of money from a mentally disabled person! Get advice & detail information from honest & approved car franchise agents nearer to your city before purchasing or replacing an automobile parts. This will enable you to compare the market cost of such parts.
     
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