WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. — A Memphis couple says answering a car ad on Facebook led to a headache. Now, they’re warning others.
Eric Caviness wanted his girlfriend’s first car experience to go off without a hitch. But after answering an ad on Facebook and being directed to check out a car at Nationwide Auto Sales in West Memphis, that hope vanished.
“They never not one time said this was an insurance total loss, this is a salvaged vehicle, there’s an issue with the title. None of that,” Caviness said.
He says he paid $5,500 in cash. The salesman, Andrew Collins, told him he couldn’t find the title but promised he’d get it to them. That’s when Caviness says he began to suspect something wasn’t right. “Every phone number I called and looked up, it says the mailbox is full. The others just ring, and some are disconnected,” he said. “According to Carmax, it’s only worth $2,000. And that’s if I actually had a salvaged title, which I don’t.”
We introduced you to Collins and other customers who accused him of running a scam in 2018. People accused Collins of selling cars and failing to disclose that they’d been damaged.
Back then, Collins and his business partner were forced to pay $90,000 to Tennessee regulators for acting as unlicensed dealers. Fast forward to 2019 and it’s the same car dealership and the same owner at a different location.
“I just want my money back or the title of the car, so I can get tags,” Caviness said. He also wants other potential buyers to get all of their paperwork they need before they hand over the cash.