Bank Repossesses 50 Alfa Romeos From Struggling Dealership

[mahatmakanejeeves]

NEWS

Bank Repossesses 50 Alfa Romeos From Struggling Dealership

Erin Marquis
Yesterday 7:00pm

Man, the pile of troubles a struggling Alfa Romeo dealership in Dallas has found itself under seems endless. Customer complaints, unpaid rent and now, 50 repossessed vehicles, are reportedly just the tip of the iceberg of problems facing Kamkad Automotive.

Kamkad Automotive owns three dealerships in Texas—Alfa Romeo Fiat of McKinney, Alfa Romeo of Dallas and Kamkad Hyundai of Huntsville. The whole company is in debt to the tune of $35 million dollars, CEO Ken Strickler told CBS 11:

“I’m not trying to deflect the blame,” Strickler said. “It’s on us 100 percent.”

Strickler said he ordered too many luxury cars in 2017 and fell behind with his lender.

“To lower our lender’s risk, we had to increase customer dissatisfaction,” Strickler said.

At his three dealerships, Strickler said he still needs to resolve 26 trade-in issues to the tune of $700,000, on top of 40 tax, title and license transactions.

The company was recently the subject of an exposé after a deal to buy a similarly struggling dealership fell through, which is when it was revealed that dozens of customers had complained about not receiving titles or license plates for their newly purchased vehicles. Some customers told CBS 11 that the company hadn’t paid off their trade-ins either, leaving them to deal with two car payments each month. At least 77 people have complained about the dealership, and it is still under investigation by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and Strickler is facing losing his license to operate dealerships in Texas. When CBS 11 reached out to Stickler, they found a note on his office’s door demanding rent payment.

It sounds like his troubles start in 2017 when he bought waaaay too many Alfas in the first place. Who among us hasn’t bitten off more than we could chew? Luckily, if you’re looking for a great price on an Alfa Romeo the folks at ADESA Dallas in Hutchins, Texas, will treat you to a nicely priced Romeo, with a title and everything. Because if there’s one place not going out of business any time soon, it’s the repo auctions.

[mr_lebowski]

1. I wonder if Strickler fled the interview ...

[NCjack]

2. "To lower our lender's risk, we had to increase customer dissatisfaction," Strickler said.

When you screw your customers (and employees), that is the last stage of a failing business.