COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Charly Darnell knew the car she bought from the Colorado Springs AutoSavvy dealership came with a past. But she wouldn’t find out the extent of that past until a minor fender bender nearly two years later.
Darnell bought a used 2019 Dodge Durango in 2020 with 3,100 miles on it and said the dealership was offering "almost-new" cars with low mileage at a cost 20% lower than other dealerships.
AutoSavvy is a nationwide used car dealership that advertises itself as the country's largest dealer of branded title — or salvage title — vehicles that have had insurance claims because of hail, water, theft or crashes.
"It looked brand new. It smelled like a new car," Darnell said of the Dodge Durango.
While buying the vehicle, she said the salespeople told her about a panel replacement and a repair to the bumper.
Skip ahead to 2022 — Darnell was involved in a minor crash and brought the car to a repair shop. A receipt shows the collision center refused to make repairs because "this vehicle is a structural loss to do poor prior rprs (sic) on a salvage rebuilt vehicle."
Despite the photos showing drywall screws, zip ties and missing foam in the repairs, Darnell said an AutoSavvy manager told her on a recorded call that they could not do anything for her.
So, she called an attorney and filed a lawsuit.
Recently, an arbitrator found in Darnell’s favor, awarding her more than $300,000, stating that “false or misleading representations” about damage “could potentially affect tens of thousands of consumers.”
AutoSavvy is fighting the award.
Hidden damage revealed
AutoSavvy states on its website that the cars selected by its experts are the "cream of the crop," "professionally repaired by authorized AutoSavvy rebuilders," and pass a 151-point inspection.
But when the collision center repairing Darnell's bumper called her, she said she couldn't believe what the mechanic had to say.
The mechanic said it was the “biggest piece of s*** repair" he had ever seen. They then showed her photos displaying damage to the frame, missing safety foam, bumper sensors attached with zip ties and drywall screws in the car's frame.
The receipt from the collision center shows they refused to make any repairs, declaring the vehicle a structural loss to do poor repairs on a salvage-rebuilt vehicle.
“I had nightmares about it," Darnell said. "I would have never bought a car that was dangerous like that.”
Going undercover: What do salespeople say?
Darnell said that is when she decided to go undercover at AutoSavvy's two Colorado locations in Colorado Springs and Windsor, posing as an interested customer to record what salespeople promised to shoppers.
Her video shows salespeople assuring her that cars are rebuilt to factory specifications and that AutoSavvy takes more responsibility for their cars than other dealers.
"I even asked a couple of them what they would do if a car was in a wreck that I bought from them, and they found out that it was completely repaired wrong," Darnell said. "And all of them were, like, ‘Oh, we'll take care of it. We'll make sure, you know, we would never leave our customer like that.’"
But when Darnell submitted the report from the collision center alleging substandard repairs on her vehicle, she said AutoSavvy refused to help her.
In a recorded phone call, an AutoSavvy representative said he had reviewed her claim and that, other than the missing foam, the car was safe to drive and that there was nothing the company would do.
“It's all very shocking. It's all very surprising,” said Trent Wallace, a consumer protection attorney who took over Darnell's case, accusing AutoSavvy of deceptive practices and fraud under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. “What we found out was that during this inspection process, they don't pull off the bumper. They don't look under the car. So, when you're buying a car from a third-party, you're really taking them at their word.”
Similar complaints, similar lawsuits
Denver7 Investigates found other people who have made similar accusations.
Mayura Kulendra's fiancé bought her car there and said they discovered their Subaru leaked after a car wash.
They took it to a collision center, where the general manager estimated a minimum repair of $10,000, reporting "visible bare welds," which "compromises the safety of their vehicle."
Eventually, Kulendra said, AutoSavvy offered to buy back the car.
"It was just terrible," he said. “Her driving around in a car that's not safe. It just worried me the whole time."
Meanwhile, in a 2022 lawsuit, an Aurora man accused AutoSavvy of fraud after buying a car alleged to have undisclosed structural damage, and court records show the company settled.
Another lawsuit alleging undisclosed damage at AutoSavvy was filed earlier this month, using the same law firm as Darnell.
Denver7 Investigates also obtained a dozen closed complaints from customers filed with Colorado’s Auto Industry Division through an open records request. The complaints alleged that their cars purchased from AutoSavvy were unsafe and that warranties were not being honored.
One person said the AutoSavvy salesperson told them the car had hail damage only to later learn it was flood damage. In all of these complaints, the state either found that AutoSavvy did not commit a violation or determined that the issue should be handled in civil court.
AutoSavvy CEO responds
AutoSavvy's CEO Brett Parham disputes the arbitrator's findings in Darnell's case, and court records show his company plans to file a motion to vacate the award.
While the arbitrator's findings said AutoSavvy had opportunities to inspect Darnell's car, Parham said they were never given the chance.
“If somebody wants to return a product to us, or wants to have something repaired, or even for us to buy a vehicle back, they have to bring the car back to us," Parham said. "We have to sit down and take a look at it. And if there's something that can be repaired, we'll figure that out.”
Parham said after 20 years in business, 100,000 cars sold and thousands of positive reviews, AutoSavvy's reputation speaks for itself.
However, he said the company is not perfect. He said they no longer use the rebuilder who repaired Darnell's car, and they are reviewing disclosures and sales processes.
"I think we need to take some time to review our triple inspection process and see if there's anything else that we can do to make it more thorough and more exacting," Parham said. "We'll certainly be looking at this internally to figure out, 'Hey, how can we do better in the future?'"
Salvaging the situation
For Darnell, that’s a win.
While she doesn't know if she will ever see the arbitrator's $300,000 award, she believes the message it sent may make a difference.
"It's going to show up on the ledger, and that means somebody's going to go, 'What the hell is happening?'" she said. "This, I think, is enough for them to care, right? And that's what's important to me."
- Denver7 Investigates' Jaclyn Allen shares tips on how to protect yourself if you're looking to buy a salvage title vehicle:
