Wichita used-car dealer banned, ordered to pay $418K. Here’s why
A Wichita used car dealership that was previously fined for not telling a customer that the vehicle they purchased had a blown airbag now faces a roughly $418,000 penalty after it was discovered that 13 more customers were sold vehicles without airbags, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
The DA’s office learned about a dozen of those customers after another one bought a vehicle and later “found an airbag simulator device installed in the car which disabled the airbag light on the dash, concealing the fact that the airbag had been deployed,” a news release from the DA’s office says. Those 12 vehicles were purchased in the first quarter of 2023.
CarNation LLC at 1301 E. Lincoln is also now banned from doing business.
A man who answered a phone at the business and said he was an owner said the $418,000 would put them out of business and they plan to sue for the money they will lose out on. He did not say who they would sue.
The man said his name is spelled Kaydee and hung up after being asked to spell his last name. A 2023 filing with the Kansas secretary of state says the business is owned by Kayode D. Ajibolade of Park City and Abidemi M. Aluko of Bel Aire.
Court records list Ajibolade, who also goes by Olukayode Ajibolade, and CarNation as the defendants.
The man said customers know and are given paperwork showing that the vehicle had been in a accident.
“It clearly shows that,” he said. “We don’t hide that.”
He said some customers don’t feel comfortable buying a wrecked vehicle, so he recommends they buy a new vehicle or a certified used from another dealership.
About reportedly disabling the light on the dash, he said “the people who make the car look as good as it can be, they do all of that. They make the car look and feel like there is nothing wrong with that.”
He added: “I have no knowledge of any lights. I do my due diligence. I check if there is any mechanical faults with the car, but as far as airbags, we always tell them that we don’t guarantee anything with the airbags. Airbags are not part of what we fix.”
He said they buy the vehicles wrecked then “we make them look a little better and drive the way it’s supposed to drive. That’s the only thing we guarantee the customer, mechanical reliability.”
He said the dealership signed the $20,000 consent judgment back in 2019 because they didn’t know any better.
“The first time they got us because we are a minority owned company and didn’t have adequate legal representation,” he said, adding he believes they were targeted ever since and again had trouble finding a lawyer.
The 2019 agreement came after a customer took their 2006 Honda Accord to a shop for routine maintenance and learned the airbag had been deployed and replaced and that the frame of the car was damaged. It happened after they had the car for several months.
The latest incident started after an Olathe man purchased a 2015 Lincoln MKX for his daughter from CarNation in Feb. 2023. He paid about $12,400. Ajibolade told him it had an “easy hit to the driver’s door,” according to court records.
The father later tried to replace the lift gate strut motor and found an airbag simulator diagnostic tool hanging from a wire harness, court records show, adding that disabled the airbag light on the dash. It was later discovered both side curtain airbags had been deployed, the records say.
“Defendants did not disclose the missing airbags ... verbally or in writing on the bill of sale,” court records say.
The case was filed in February. The other victims involved were discovered when the DA’s office ran a search of vehicles sold by CarNation between Jan. 1, 2023 through March 31, 2023, court records say.
Thursday’s announcement says the $418,197 default judgment happened after the business engaged in “deceptive acts and willfully violating (the) previous court order.” The case was investigated by the DA’s Consumer Protection Division.
“(CarNation) failed to disclose these blown airbags when selling the cars to consumers,” the release says.
The money includes $2,000 to 12 customers; the Olathe family already got a partial refund of $1,600 from CarNation, court records show. About $390,000 will go to civil penalties, court costs and investigation fees.
“The court also revoked (CarNation LLC)’s license to do business in the State of Kansas and issued a permanent injunction against (CarNation LLC) from selling any motor vehicles within the State of Kansas,” the release says.
