Indianapolis used car dealer sued by AG Rokita

INDIANAPOLIS — A recent lawsuit claims an Indy business named after Abraham Lincoln has not exactly lived up to its name. Now, the car dealer must pay back customers nearly half a million dollars.

Honest Abe Auto Sales, which has four locations throughout Indianapolis, was sued earlier this month by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita with claims that the dealership used dishonest advertising to exploit customers with bad credit.

The lawsuit, filed in Marion County Superior Court, alleged that the used car lots used “bait-and-switch sales tactics, falsely advertised prices and preyed on Hoosiers with subprime credit.”

Specifically, AG Rokita claimed that Honest Abe advertised specific prices on cars and then raised the prices when customers with subprime credit attempted to make a purchase – jacking up costs by thousands of dollars.

In total, over 250 customers reported being affected. Online court records show Honest Abe has already been sued over eight times by individual customers since 2006.

“The fact they call themselves ‘Honest Abe’ makes the facts of this case especially rich,” Rokita said in a release Wednesday. “We won’t tolerate businesses breaking the law and duping Hoosiers into paying higher prices than advertised.”

In a settlement filed July 7, Honest Abe Auto Sales was forced to pay back customers $470,646 in restitution. The business was also barred from using similar deceptive tactics in the future, AG Rokita said.

The dealership’s parent company, Sycamore Companies, LLC, operates Honest Abe locations at the following addresses: 4401 North Keystone Avenue; 5520 West Washington Street; 3201 West 16th Street; and 5422 Madison Avenue.

To read the full judgment filed against the used car dealer, click here.