Customers of a Halifax-area used car dealership are sounding the alarm after they say the business left them on the hook for loans on vehicles they’ve already traded in.
Some say it’s ruined their credit and put them in financial peril.
“So right now on paper, it looks like we own three vehicles and are paying for three vehicles, even though we only have two,” said Laureen Rushton.
Rushton says she traded her old Mazda and purchased a truck from Race Auto Group in Lower Sackville in September 2025.
She says she was told by the company at the time to put a stop-payment on the Mazda’s loan and they would pay off the remaining debt on the vehicle.
But in January, Rushton says the financial company responsible for the lien on her Mazda started reaching out and demanding payments.
“Our credit is gone. There’s no going back from that when you look at it on paper and it looks like we have just been delinquent on a loan,” she said.
Rushton apparently isn’t alone. Multiple people are now speaking out online about their situations with Race Auto Group.
“I’m now reaching out to a lawyer, and I’m off to the police after this to find out my options,” Chris Wisen told Global News.
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“I’m not going to be paying for two cars and only own one.”
RCMP are already involved.
On Wednesday, a large group of frustrated customers arrived at the Sackville Drive location demanding answers. In a statement, RCMP confirm they were called at around 11:30 a.m. after the owner of the business reported “several customers and employees had attended the location demanding money and property, and had caused damage.”
Officers were called to de-escalate the situation.
RCMP say no charges have been laid in terms of the damage but confirmed they are investigating 20 reports of fraud from the both Race Auto locations in Lower Sackville.
The company’s website indicates they serve Lower Sackville, Halifax, and Truro, N.S.
“The reports that we have received is that these customers have not received the service that they were purchasing and it was misrepresented. So that what’s under investigation,” said spokesperson Cpl. Mandy Edwards.
The RCMP/HRP Integrated Criminal Investigation Division Financial Crime Unit is investigating.
Race Auto Group did not respond to Global News’ multiple requests for comment by deadline on Thursday.
A sign on the door of one of the locations said the business was closed.
BBB accreditation suspended
On its website, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) said it had suspended Race Auto Group’s BBB accreditation as of Tuesday “due to a failure to address marketplace disputes quickly, professionally, and in good faith.”
“The matter will be reviewed by the BBB’s Board of Directors at its next meeting,” the BBB wrote on its website.
The BBB also listed a pattern of complaints, including trade-in lien payouts that were “not completed or significantly delayed,” and “consumers continuing to be pursued by lenders for outstanding balances related to trade-ins.”
The BBB noted it had submitted a written request to the business back in January “encouraging them to address the pattern of complaints.”
The business responded on March 21, the BBB said, and advised they were taking several steps including hiring an accounts payable representative “dedicated to processing loan payouts and improving timelines of lien and loan payouts.”
For now, the customers allegedly left on the hook say they’re angry and looking at what legal recourse is available to them.
“What I can say on TV, I guess I’m ticked off,” said Wisen.
“It was definitely a slap in the face and not really the way I wanted to start my day. It went from being a great day to now so many unanswered questions.”
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