OKLA. CITY – Single mom, Kelsey Marks, is out a bunch of cash and a used car.
Her old car was breaking down.
She sold it, then used the cash to purchase a 2009 Jeep Commander from Cane Hernandez, a guy who buys, fixes up and resells used cars.
“He was supposed to buy it at auction and it was wrecked on the front fender, so he was supposed to fix it,” Kelsey said.
4 months later there is no sign of the used Jeep or Kelsey’s $4,000 refund.
She says Hernandez keeps stringing her along asking for more cash to cover insurance and title transfer work.
“And then another $116.27 for [the] Oklahoma title. Then he said since it kept breaking down apparently and in the shop for over 45 days that it went to the Oklahoma Lemon Law, so I paid him another thousand, because he said a deposit [was required] for the lemon law to be in effect.
That makes zero sense considering our state’s lemon law mainly applies to the sale and purchase of a new car. It won’t cover Kelsey’s Jeep.
Hernandez created and signed a purchase agreement.
On it he’s still using an old Arkansas address for his business, Cane Auto Spa, but supposedly lives in Northwest Oklahoma City.
We eventually got Hernandez on the phone.
“I am fixing these uh, problems [and] this is a courtesy call to let you know I am solving it,” he said.
He told us he had already talked to Kelsey and the two agreed to meet Thursday to handle the refund.
He missed that deadline, which means Kelsey can’t put down a down payment on another car.
Right now she’s borrowing her mom’s SUV to get her to and from work.
“Every time I drive it, it’s leaving my mom who is a diabetic and my two kids at home alone,” Kelsey said. “Gas mileage sucks and I drive almost an hour to work every day.
Kelsey is in the process of filing a complaint with the state.
Once they receive it the state can investigate whether or not Hernandez was acting like an unlicensed dealer.
We’ll keep you posted on Kelsey’s refund.
Don’t buy a car on impulse. Really take your time to inspect the car and the seller.
Kelsey has still yet to ever see her Jeep in-person.
You can ask to take the car on an extended test drive to let a mechanic you trust check out the condition of the car.
File complaint with Oklahoma Motor Vehicle Commission.