Habberstad Nissan, Kings of Auto Fraud, Huntington Station, Long Island New York

To Whom It May Concern,

In a press release on August 4, 1999 about Deceptive Practices, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer pursued action against three Long Island car dealerships for deceptive sales practices in which include Oyster Bay Nissan of Syosset, Major Nissan of Inwood and Hempstead Nissan of Hempstead.

Mr. Spitzer stated that, "Unscrupulous businesses should take note of our actions," said Spitzer. We will not tolerate deceptive practices in any industry, and we will be closely monitoring consumers' complaints, A car is no longer a luxury item for most families; it is an expensive necessity, said Spitzer. These dealerships have profited by preying upon vulnerable consumers using high pressure sales pitches and deceptive marketing. We will not allow consumers to be defrauded by these business practices.

Just as these consumers complained of being lured into dealership showrooms by deceptive ads and coerced into purchasing cars that were more expensive than they could afford, I too experienced just that, I was deceived and coerced into purchasing my current vehicle by Habberstad Nissan of Huntington.

I originally went to look at cars. . . Mitra Mottghian the sales person with whom I was dealing with offered to give me an estimate on the value of my car. After looking around for a half an hour, She came back to me and stated that the trade in value was $7,000. This compelled me to continue to look around further.

I had seen a 2000 Nissan Altima GXE that I liked and she proceeded to write down the stock number and when I asked her about the price she told me to let her work out the numbers and she would be right back. About a half hour later she told me to follow her to her desk and she told me that the payments would be $365 per month.

Mitra immediately turned me over to Georgia in the finance department. After signing some of the documents, I then looked at the financial portion of the paperwork and had seen that the trade in value of vehichle was $2,000 and the actual total of sale was around $16,000 and that was more than I could afford. I stated this to both Mitra and Georgia and they told me that they, nor I were able to do anything to negate the sale because I had already started to sign the paper work and I then demanded to speak with a manager, his name was Sam. He also told me that there was nothing that could be done.

I then called someone to find out if there was anything I could do and they didn't know. I then finished paperwork and during that time they also tried to get me insurance and they could not find one company that would carry me. The next day I found out from my insurance broker what the insurance was and it wound up being almost the equivalent of the car payment (over $700 per month.) I told them that I couldn't afford the insurance they have to help me into a car that I could afford. Simon Israelian, another manager at Habberstad Nissan of Huntington, Told me that he would be more than happy to assist me in that. He even granted me $800 to help with the insurance till I received the title, until that could be accomplished. I thought that I was getting somewhere at this point.

However, when I received my title and I went to Mr. Israelian he told me that he couldn't get me out of the Altima until I pay another $4,000 more off the amount financed. He then stated to me that he never said that to me. I have had nothing but trouble with this company. I have even looked into the Better Business Bureau and I have found that they have had 11 other complaints, 9 of which had been in the past year. I am unable to afford the basic costs of living. . . Apartment, Food, Phone.