Woman says dealer tried to make her pay too much for car

A St. Clair County woman accuses a Cahokia auto dealership and its owner of trying to trick her into paying more than she agreed for a car.

Ryana Jones filed a lawsuit on July 18 against A & E Auto Sales Inc. and Rodney Fults.

Jones says she was visited the A & E Auto Sales dealership on Camp Jackson Road on July 28, 2012 and agreed to buy a 2007 Dodge Caliber. According to the lawsuit, she made a down payment of $3528 and "signed a retail installment contract to finance payment of the cash price of $7496."

Jones says she returned to the dealership on July 30 and was told by Fults, the dealership owner who arranged the sale of the Caliber, that the original installment contract contained "clerical errors." Fults allegedly told Jones the errors had been corrected but that the terms of the contract had not changed.

Jones signed the new retail installment contract, according to the lawsuit "believing it included only clerical changes" from the document she agreed to two days earlier. She says she later learned the new contract required an additional $828 payment.

A month later, Jones says she went A & E Auto Sales to make her monthly payment and was told she was in default because she had not paid the $828 "pick-up charge." Jones says she left the sales lot in the Dodge Caliber and claims Fults followed her to a friend's house who lived nearby. The same day Jones says Fults seized possession of the car and has had possession of the Caliber since.

Jones accuses A & E Auto Sales and Fults of fraud and of violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act for allegedly presenting the buyer with a fraudulent contract that included an additional payment that was never discussed. She is asking to be awarded $3528 in actual damages plus more than $100,000 in punitive damages along with court costs.

Attorney David M. Durree, of O'Fallon, represents Jones. They demand a jury trial.

St. Clair County Circuit Court Case No. 13-L-370