Used-Car Lot Problems Reportedly Tied to Title, Sales Tax Issues

Customers with complaints about a used-car lot in Fenton that abruptly closed in December have gotten the ear of Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, whose office previously sent a formal warning to Suski Used Cars.

Andy Suski, the president of Suski Chevrolet-Buick in Birch Run, voluntarily surrendered licenses for the Fenton dealership – Suski Used Cars, 16555 Silver Parkway – and four others after learning “there were some deals that weren’t completed” with paperwork and sales tax forwarded to the state, MLive-The Flint Journal reports.

“s soon as we saw a deal was not processed … it wasn’t something I took lightly,” Suski told the newspaper. “I had to correct the problem by shutting those used car lots down.”

Also affected in the Dec. 30 closing were used-car lots in Flint, Mount Morris, Lapeer and Holly. Four of the five dealerships were the subject of consumer complaints, according to the report.

At the time of the complaints, the dealership in Flint had been operating since April 30, 2013, with an agreement called an “assurance of discontinuance” in place.

The agreement, which would expired in April 2015, is essentially a formal warning – a less severe reprimand than a probation – from the Secretary of State’s office in which the dealer is notified of violations, told not to commit them again and subjected to future inspections to ensure compliance, Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for Johnson’s office, explained in an email to the newspaper.

The agreement was put in place when the state received “a few complaints that dealt with title work,” Woodhams wrote in the email. “The violations included record keeping and the improper use of temporary registrations (paper plates) and dealer plates.”

Inventory from the five dealerships has been moved to Suski’s dealership in Birch Run and will either be sold at retail or wholesale. Suski is still licensed to sell new cars and no problems have been reported at the Birch Run dealership, the newspaper said.

In the meantime, five limited liability corporations are overseeing operations at the lots: Bentley's Best of Fenton, LLC; Bentley's Best of Lapeer, LLC;  Bentley's Best of Mt. Morris, LLC; Bentley's  Best of Oakland, LLC; and Bentley's Best, LLC.

Cheyenne  Usewick, who worked for Suski until recently as comptroller of his companies, is listed as the resident agent of each of the LLCs.

"We would like her services to help us with the cleanup," Suski said.