AG Targets Dealer

By Staff Writer December 30, 2019

The Pennsylvania attorney general announced a new legal action against a Cumberland County used-car dealer who has allegedly repeatedly violated automotive and consumer laws. The motion for contempt, filed in Cumberland County Court, says New Kingstown Auto, Mechanicsburg, and its sole owner and salesman, Harry D. Laughman, have continued their long history of non-compliance with Pennsylvania dealership laws and should be shut down.

In the six months since the dealer and owner were ordered to cease their illegal business practices, and pay restitution of $25,617.29 to consumers, the attorney general said the defendants have failed to meet half of the required restitution payments and sold at least one vehicle that was not roadworthy.

The business’s ongoing, blatant disregard for the law is an argument for the demand that the Court of Common Pleas hit the brakes on the dealership and its owner’s ability to sell more vehicles.

On Oct. 23, a Lancaster County consumer paid $2,000 for a car after Laughman insisted it would pass state inspection, according to the AG’s release. The day after she purchased it, however, the consumer crashed the vehicle after it started shaking and spun out of control off the road. An auto repair shop later said the vehicle could not pass inspection without $1,435 in repairs. According to the state, the defendants refused to resolve the consumer’s complaint claiming the dangerously defective vehicle was sold “as is.”

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Last modified on Monday, 06 January 2020 14:52