car dealership sold vehicle with drugs inside.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? wv

Someone that I know purchased a vehicle from a dealership 2 days ago, they got the vehicle home and discovered small bags of white powder in the vent, spoke with dealership they claimed it was air freshener. they took the little bags to local law enforcement where it was confirmed to be cocain. there is loose powder blown from the vents all through the vehicle, and theres no way to know if there is more in there. dealership first told the person it was their problem and they wouldnt touch it. Law enforcement contacted the dealership and informed them that the BBB would be contacted, they told the purchaser to wait for a phone call to being the car over, they would set up an appointment to have the sheriff departments drug dog check the vehicle and if he hits on anything they will "make it right". I would like to know what can be done if they wont do anything about this,since they didnt seem willing to even discuss it at first.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

cmb1973 said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? wv

Someone that I know purchased a vehicle from a dealership 2 days ago, they got the vehicle home and discovered small bags of white powder in the vent, spoke with dealership they claimed it was air freshener. they took the little bags to local law enforcement where it was confirmed to be cocain. there is loose powder blown from the vents all through the vehicle, and theres no way to know if there is more in there. dealership first told the person it was their problem and they wouldnt touch it. Law enforcement contacted the dealership and informed them that the BBB would be contacted, they told the purchaser to wait for a phone call to being the car over, they would set up an appointment to have the sheriff departments drug dog check the vehicle and if he hits on anything they will "make it right". I would like to know what can be done if they wont do anything about this,since they didnt seem willing to even discuss it at first.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Click to expand...

It is very possible that the dealership had no idea the drugs were there. You did the right thing by going to law enforcement. Now that the drugs are gone, what else do you what? In what way have you been damaged.?

car dealership sold vehicle with drugs inside

I'm not looking for financial gain. I am more interested in knowing there is no more in the vehicle.The dealership claims to have completely detailed the vehicle,yet there was dirt in it and other signs it wasnt properly cleaned. Plus their claim that it was air freshener when it obviously wasnt. I can sweep up the loose powder blown around easy enough, but who is to say there isnt more in the vent system, and if one of us would be pulled over in this vehicle at some point it wouldnt be found by a dog or search? We have never messed with any kind of drugs in our lives, and really dont plan on taking a chance on going to jail for it because they dont want to check out this vehicle and take care of it.

cmb1973 said:

I'm not looking for financial gain. I am more interested in knowing there is no more in the vehicle.The dealership claims to have completely detailed the vehicle,yet there was dirt in it and other signs it wasnt properly cleaned. Plus their claim that it was air freshener when it obviously wasnt. I can sweep up the loose powder blown around easy enough, but who is to say there isnt more in the vent system, and if one of us would be pulled over in this vehicle at some point it wouldnt be found by a dog or search? We have never messed with any kind of drugs in our lives, and really dont plan on taking a chance on going to jail for it because they dont want to check out this vehicle and take care of it.

Click to expand...

Law enforcement contacted the dealership and informed them that the BBB would be contacted, they told the purchaser to wait for a phone call to being the car over, they would set up an appointment to have the sheriff departments drug dog check the vehicle and if he hits on anything they will "make it right".

Click to expand...

So wait for this to happen.

I am curious as to why "law enforcement" even MENTIONED the BBB (a private entity with no enforcement powers)

car dealership sold vehicle with drugs inside

I wondered the same thing. It was a deputy sheriff that gave us that advise. Then once we told the dealership we were going to contact them, they decided to contact their sheriff, they are in the county bordering ours, and call us to tell us when to bring the car over there to be cleaned, and then searched by a dog. which i dont understand since there is powder blown all over the place from the vents, of course the dog is going to know its there...Something else I dont understand, I also called the state police barracks in this area, and asked them if they could test it to make sure it was drugs. The first time i called i was told they would call back, waited several hours and called back, I was told by an officer that he would look but he didnt think they had a test kit to check it out, and that in this area it would be meth (it wasnt)and that he would call back. He never called, I would have thought the state police would have at least came and confiscated it if nothing else. I guess it all goes a long way toward explaining why there are so many drugs in the area.

Zigner said:

I am curious as to why "law enforcement" even MENTIONED the BBB (a private entity with no enforcement powers)

Click to expand...

to me, the entire situation sounds pretty BS. If somebody walked into the police department with cocaine in hand and a story like this, the cops would be towing the car in pretty quick. They would likely find any remaining coke in the vehicle before they turned the parts over to the owner.

They told the owner to expect a call for an appointment? I don't think so.

The would not suggest they would call the BBB and they would not suggest they would "make it right". The police do not have the authority to involve themselves in a civil contract matter and as such, have no ability to "make it right".

cmb: were the bags little plastic bags or did they look more like teabags?

Zigner said:

I am curious as to why "law enforcement" even MENTIONED the BBB (a private entity with no enforcement powers)

Click to expand...

Probably to get a pain in the rear civilian off their case.

The police are just not going to make a big deal over some forgotten stash in a used car.

And they are not going to start an inquest for some residue in the air vent.

Enjoy you new used car.

car dealership sold vehicle with drugs inside

@ justalayman, I know how it sounds, but thats exactly what happened except for i didnt walk in, i called first, they had me to bring in the little plastic bags (about the size of my pinky nail) the deputy tested it and said it was coke, and he would guess about a gram and a half.We dont know if there is more down in the vents, mom was checking out the ac to see if it got cold and the three bags blew up into the vent, plus a good bit of dust from it, I dont know if there had been more and it busted or what...i really cant help what they "would" have done, or "should" have done, all i know is what they HAVE done. I dont want to get out in this car someplace, especially if it would be away from home and get in trouble for something we didnt have anything to do with.

@zigner, Yes, to get rid of a "pain in the butt civilian" i guess that must be how they feel about everyone that calls and tells them they have drugs in hand since they didnt do anything else about it.

cmb1973 said:

@zigner, Yes, to get rid of a "pain in the butt civilian" i guess that must be how they feel about everyone that calls and tells them they have drugs in hand since they didnt do anything else about it.

Click to expand...

I didn't call you that. The point is that, generally, the police won't involve themselves in a purely civil matter such as this.

car dealership sold vehicle with drugs inside

@zigner, sorry, thats not what i meant (context is lost in text all to often), i meant that was probably exactly what they were thinking, but i wasnt feeling any too civil wondering what was going on, and what was going to happen. if anything.But, i definitely would have never dreamed they wouldnt even show up to confiscate it,I would have thought they would have wanted it out of circulation if nothing else.

all I can say is: if what you say is true, follow up with the police. If you have occasion to be subject to a drug dog search I wouldn't be surprised if the dog hits on your car though.

I think I would be asking for a letter from the police you are dealing with explaining the situation so you can whip it out later when the cops go "sure you didn't know anything about that coke in the vents" if they should find some more.

The dealer has no duty to ensure the vehicle was not used by a drug user, or trafficker that may have left your bonus accessory or to ensure you it was drug free.

car dealership sold vehicle with drugs inside

I assure you, every word of it is true. My parents purchased the car day before yesterday,the lot called back a while ago and they left 30 mins ago to take it over and have it cleaned/detailed then checked by the dog. One of the deputys yesterday mentioned giving her a card to that effect, but said to wait until we found out what was going to happen with the dealership in case she didnt keep the vehicle, so maybe they will give it to her while shes over there. I just hope if there is any more in there they find it.