This is the dealership where we bought our car...



Nissan dealership in Orange raided

District Attorney investigators are looking into accusations of identity theft. Thousands may be at risk, prosecutors say.

By KIMBERLY EDDS
The Orange County Register
ORANGE - A Nissan dealership here was raided Monday by dozens of investigators from Orange County District Attorney's Office and the Orange police department as part of a months-long investigation in complaints of identity theft by the dealership.
The investigation into Douglas Nissan at 1140 W. Katella Avenue is still in its infancy, officials said at a press conference in front of the dealership, but there may have been thousands of fraudulent loans processed with the stolen identities of thousands of unsuspecting people in the scam. The vast majority of victims were Hispanic, prosecutors said.
Douglas Nissan remained open while uniformed police officers carted out more than 350 cardboard boxes packed with lease documents, dealer jackets, and loan applications. Potential customers wandered the lots of shiny new Altimas, Pathfinders and Titans. Salesmen patiently answered questions – about the cars – not the investigation.
“The only thing going on here is a big sale. Everyone knows that,” said a man who identified himself as a manager at the dealership, but refused to give his name. Other employees were pulled inside the dealership office when questioned by a small cluster of reporters and television cameras.
Prosecutors believe pilfered pay stubs, driver licenses and social security numbers were used to apply for – and get – fraudulent car loans at Douglas Nissan, said Susan Schroeder, a spokeswoman of the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
“This is something that frightens everyone – that their identity might be stolen and they're left holding the bad credit,” Schroeder said.
Investigators were looking into whether employees of the dealership were part of the scam.
The multi-agency investigation – which included representatives of the Department of Motor Vehicles - began about three months ago after complaints of fraudulent loans being processed by the dealership flooded the District Attorney's office.
Prosecutors would not say how many complaints were fielded by the District Attorney's Office, saying it was “numerous” and “big enough to have all this effort.”
The Better Business Bureau, which keeps track of complaints customers make against businesses, recorded 42 complaints against Douglas Nissan over the last three years. Eleven of those complaints resulted in a full refund to the customer. Douglas Nissan earned a B rating from the bureau – the middle of the bureau's 12 ratings. According to the bureau's Web site, a B is a good rating that still implies reputability.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim is asked to call the District Attorney's Office at 714-648-3626.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or kedds@ocregister.com

That's terrible,

Reminds me of something that happened when we purchased our house years ago. The company that inspected our house at the time of the deal ended up on the news as a scam months latter. I still sometimes wonder how safe we are.

Please keep in mind that dealerships are privately owned and their private actions do not necessarily reflect the policies of Nissan or the quality of their cars.

I do hope you can find a quality Nissan dealer near you. I guess I'm lucky that I have about 4 of them in under a half hour drive.

Being that they are only 10 minsutes away, Douglas Nissan was the first place I went to check out the new NAH.

I was totally turned off by this pushy little Asian woman whom insisted on calling me "BOSS" even after I politely reminded her of my name.

I was introduced to the Controller, I pulled him aside and told him he was crazy if he thought I would spend 25K and have to deal with this Sales Person.

I asked the Controller why where there so many NAH's in a nearby adjacent lot? None of the cars had "stickers" but appeared to be new and none of these came up on the Nissan inventory search?

Well............ they sell the car, do the paperwork and then the person doesn't qualify for financing (they have 10 days to secure financing) so the deal is dead.

The Salesman at the Dealership I bought my NAH from said it was a well known fact that Douglas does this to make their sales look good to Nissan.

I am glad I followed my gut feeling with that place, something didn't feel right...

Why is this a Nissan problem?

Sorry to here you feel that way. I have become un-phased by scams, crooks, con artists and politicians. I live in New Jersey

Definately not a Nissan problem, they can't be responsible for everything their dealers do.

Yep, plenty of cons and crooks out there, kinda pride myself on being able to sense something isn't cool just by talking to people, body language etc....

I agree. Nothing to boycott Nissan over. But, I'd never go to that dealership ever again.

<Best Tank Economy!><Best Tank Endurance!>

In retrospect... I have to agree. This isn't a Nissan issue... it was the crooks who ran the dealership.

I wrote this when I was really mad.

We love our car, and honestly we are coming to think of the Altima Hybrid as the best car we've ever owned.

Almost 5k miles and we still ours

nissan's still a pretty good make, though.

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