Moving forward, Sunridge Automotive is increasing the precautions they take when accepting trades and buy-ins, after a truck the dealership had screened was discovered stolen. The vehicle in question had been re-VINed with a VIN that was not stolen, and so it passed the dealership’s normal screening process.
“This is an extremely rare case and I have never seen this before in my 15 years in the business,” Jordan Romeril, General Manager of Sunridge Automotive told CTV News. “When we checked the VIN on the vehicle and registration it came up clean. We pull CarFax and history checks on all vehicles when they come into inventory and again when we sell them to a consumer. We also disclose these checks to every customer and in this case they came up clean,” Romeril added.
Sunridge Automotive has refunded the customer and are working with the Calgary Police Service, which is currently investigating. The vehicle in question was a 2014 Dodge Ram 1500 valued at $33,000. The vehicle had a fake VIN sticker and the VIN on the side of the door had been smudged off. In response to the incident as well as to the extreme weather that’s been experienced across the province, the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council sent out a consumer bulletin this week, providing tips for consumers purchasing used vehicles.
