On June 18, NBC 10 reported that prosecutors are investigating a Burlington County, New Jersey car dealership.
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Autosmart on Route 73 in Palmyra was served a search warrant and investigators took license plates from the company’s garage and boxes and computers from the office.
Prosecutors could only confirm that the dealership is under investigation and did not speak to specific charges. They did, however, tell the news station that they’d received several complaints that customers were scammed at the dealership.
What’s interesting, though, is that NBC 10 was already looking into Autosmart after a viewer reached out with a problem she is facing. And the recent investigation could be related to it.
Susan Noble asked NBC 10 to investigate an issue related to a car she bought and financed last September through Autosmart.
“I bought a used car from Autosmart in Palmyra,” Noble told NBC 10. “They said they would work with me to get the monthly payment that I wanted at the price I wanted … they said, ‘You can buy the car and in a couple of months you can refinance with us.'”
Noble said she financed the purchase with American Credit Acceptance (ACA) and went back a few months later as planned to refinance.
“They said they sent the payoff check to the first company that I financed with,” said Noble. Payoff amount is the total needed to satisfy a debt, including interest and fees.
But then ACA started texting Noble saying her monthly payment was due or late. She also couldn’t get the title to her car.
Noble said ACA told her they never received the payoff payment for her loan from Autosmart.
“They didn’t actually do it, but they continued to make monthly payments on my behalf,” she explained.
That left Noble with two car loans in her name totaling over $50,000.
This, she said, is hurting her ability to buy a home.
“They know how hard I work. They know that I’m a nurse, they know I’m a single mom … for them to do this to me is just unconscionable,” she told NBC 10, getting emotional.
NBC 10 reached out to Autosmart to find out why Noble’s original loan wasn’t paid off when she refinanced through them. A representative from SmartSource, who said they were a consultant for Autosmart, responded and blamed the financial institutions involved.
On June 3, that representative said the payoff payment would be processed and take 10 days to be paid in full. But Noble said that didn’t happen.
“I would like to see them, you know, held accountable,” she told NBC 10.
The news station was not able to get an answer about that or the investigation into Autosmart. ACA and Autosmart also did not respond.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement on the Autosmart investigation saying, “No charges have been filed. Members of the public who wish to speak with an investigator concerning their experience with this dealership should contact us at tips@co.burlingtonnj.us.”
It’s worth noting that Autosmart also has an “F” rating on Better Business Bureau with 27 complaints filed against the business.
One complaint from April 2025 says, “I traded in my 2021 Kia Seltos in December of 2023 and that car loan has not been settled. We signed a contract stating the they would pay the loan off. The company has been paying monthly until January 2025. I have been calling and seeing why that loan hasn’t been paid. The loan has defaulted which has severely damaged my credit score along with the loan company seeking the vehicle and or payoff.”
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What Noble says happened to her may be an honest mix-up or a sign of a serious mismanagement of funds and fraud. Auto loan refinancing scams are common enough for the Federal Trade Commission to have a page dedicated to them.
Scam refinancers either promise they’ll get you lower payments on your auto loan, but ask for an advance payment, or they tell you to make your loan payments directly to them and say they’ll pay your lender for you while they negotiate a deal.
“In reality, scam refinancers aren’t negotiating with your lender or anyone else,” says the FTC. “If you make your monthly car payments to the refinancer instead of your lender, those payments will likely go straight into the scammer’s pockets — not to repay your loan. You may only find out about the fraud when your lender contacts you about missed payments, or your car is repossessed.”
These scams hurt borrowers and can make their financial situations even worse. For one thing, falling behind on an auto loan could put you at risk of having your car repossessed. It could also damage your credit score, making it harder to borrow money the next time you need to.
For this reason, it’s important to be careful when dealing with refinancing companies.
Auto dealerships have different ways of luring in credit-challenged buyers. They can promise low vehicle prices and low financing rates only to hit you with surprise costs.
One good way to avoid getting taken for a ride is to read the fine print on your loan documentation. Sometimes, auto dealerships will offer a seemingly attractive interest rate on an auto loan but hit you with hidden fees that drive your costs up.
Another popular tactic is the yo-yo scam, where you’re told your auto loan is final and you’re allowed to drive the car away. Then, days or weeks later, you’re told that your financing didn’t come through, and that your only option is to sign a new loan with less favorable terms or give back the car.
You should know that any time you’re pressured to sign a car loan quickly, it should be considered a red flag. Another thing you should know when you’re shopping for a car is that you do not have to finance it through or from the dealership.
It pays to shop around for your own auto loan to compare rates and there may be advantages to dealing with a lender directly.
It’s also a good idea to research dealerships before moving forward with a car purchase. Look at the Better Business Bureau, as well as sites like Yelp, to check for complaints and reviews.
However, if you do get scammed, file a report with the FTC as well as your state attorney general’s office.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
