PHOENIX — Tedious paperwork, haggling over price, time and money spent on advertising - trying to sell a car can be a big undertaking. That's why some consumers opt for a consignment dealership.
A consignment company acts as a middleman between a seller and potential buyers. The seller pays consignment fees to the company and in return the entire sale is handled by the company on the seller's behalf. Then, the consigner accepts the buyer's payment and gives it to the seller. For many people it helps save time and can ease stress rather than trying to sell a vehicle themselves.
That was the case for several Valley consumers. Jake wanted to sell his vehicle because he was traveling more for work.
"With the increasing costs of insurance, interest rates, and things like that, I didn't want to have a car that kind of just sat in the garage," Jake explained.
Meanwhile, after a serious diagnosis, Ryan needed to sell a vehicle as well.
"What I wanted to do was sell our vehicles for money for a surgery and for health reasons," he said.
Both Jake and Ryan chose to sell their cars through Arizona Specialty Motors, run by Alfredo Panell, a place they had done business with before.
"I've kind of developed somewhat of a relationship over the years, just trusting this company," Jake said. While Ryan stated Panell made him feel comfortable at first, explaining "he went into great detail, talking about how there's a lot of fraud out there, there's a lot of con artists, and he knows what to look for, so he can make sure to sell these vehicles for us and avoid those pitfalls and make sure we get our money."
After leaving their vehicles with the company, Jake said communication became a challenge and he rarely received a response from the sales representative he had been working with. Ryan says he often had to reach out first for information, but says he was told by Panell that his car had been sold and they were just waiting for financing.
It's now months later, and Ryan's never seen a dime.
As for Jake, he went on a hunt to get answers. However, while searching the company's website he received an unexpected shock.
"Every car on the website said 'sold' and that threw up the big red flag for me. Once I did that, I googled the location. It said 'permanently closed'," Jake said.
The Arizona Specialty Motors' website is now shut down. The business location in Tempe has shut its doors, posting a note on the front telling customers to email an attorney.
"No one can tell me where my car's at or what's happened with it," said Jake, voicing his frustration.
Cars have been taken off the lot and some customers, like Ryan, whose vehicles were allegedly sold have not been paid.
"The whole reason we gave the car to him was because we would have less stress," Ryan explained.
The Let ABC15 Know team called and emailed the lawyer listed on the company's door and reached out to Panell by phone and email. We didn't hear back. We knocked on the home listed as his address, but no one answered.
However, The Collins Law Firm emailed us stating they have been retained to represent Mr. Panell and Arizona Specialty Motors, Inc. Here is their statement in full:
Regretfully Arizona Specialty Motors, Inc. has closed. Arizona Specialty Motor, like many motor vehicle dealers, was not able to adjust its business model quickly enough as the motor vehicle market rapidly changed and the value of vehicles plummeted. The owner of Arizona Specialty Motors apologizes to its customers who have been inconvenienced, or to whom monies may be owed. The vehicles were turned over to the flooring lenders if it had a lien in a vehicle, and to the owners of consigned vehicles.
The owner of Arizona Specialty Motors, Inc. has committed to doing everything he can to pay consumers who may have claims against the company. This includes his pledging his personal assets to pay these claims and a commitment to fund from future income and other sources of funds. This is still being formulated and more information is still needed in order to complete a plan. The plan would try to include all consumer claims in the plan. The plan's main goal is to pay the consumer claims, including payments from future sources of funding.
Jake and Ryan say they hope customers are made whole.
The Let ABC15 Know team has found Panell may currently be linked to another vehicle sales company, listed on the Principal Information for "The Roamster, Inc" according to the Arizona Corporation Commission.
We reached out to state agencies who are looking into the situation. Customers who may be impacted by this situation are encouraged to reach out.
Consumers can file with the Tempe Police Department and with the ADOT Office of Inspector General.
