A $42,000 GMC Terrain ended up in the ownership of a then-89-year old blind World War II veteran and his 90-year-old wife with dementia due to the unfavorable acts of their son, David McMurray, via Palmen Motors of Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer.
As this story gains attention, Harold Thompson, the veteran, has passed away. When a representative from the dealership came to collect signatures, Harold was on morphine and in hospice. He died three weeks after signing off on the car. Prior to that, McMurray took his mother, Kristen Thompson, to the dealership from her home in Illinois, where it was determined that more than just her income was needed to purchase the vehicle. So dealer reps came knocking on Harold’s door for a co-signer.
In short, the ailing parents of David McMurray co-signed for a car they didn’t need or couldn’t really afford for their son — who signed no documents. Though in the eyes of the dealership, everything was done “legally.” It’s also legal for the federal government to detain a citizen indefinitely without trial.
McMurray was able to keep the vehicle purchase under wraps until he was arrested for an unrelated criminal case, at which point the GMC Terrain was discovered. (Some people.)
Thankfully, an attorney of Palmen Motors contacted CBS 2 News — the local Chicago outlet that broke the story — and stated that they regret how the transaction played out, and that they will be buying the car back in full.
You can watch the entire report here.
Comments
What the He!! This whole scenario is disgusting, pathetic, etc. etc. They should lock him up and throw away the key.
They should lock up the sales manager and everyone at the dealership that took part in the scam–they’re the biggest scumbags in all of this, IMO.
^If you watch the actual report, that is. This article sort of lets them off. 😀
Obviously this is a moral and ethical question for the dealership. But who are they to judge the interworkings of a family and decide who should buy cars for who. A man buys his obvious mistress a car, is it up to the dealership to inform the guy’s wife. The dealership was following through on paperwork, if they outright new the son was taking advantage of his parents they could have gotten around the co-signing.
I only read this GMA summary, but it doesn’t seem like the dealership should be “under fire”
Iam sure the old man would have chosen the better looking Nox over the Terrain if he had the ability. Sorry for being out of taste; yet another tragic story…
42K for a tiny SUV that’s not even 4WD? Pleaseeee. I can make my dollar stretch further than that.
PS – On a more serious note, those folks son is a scum bag, taking advantage of his parents because of the condition they were in. I bet he was the black sheep of the family and was in a lot of trouble as a child.
Looks like the Salesman seeing the dollar signs of a full price sale did everything he could to conceal how he made the deal happen. He or she should be fired.
All his bosses saw was the paperwork and the check they gave the salesman.
Glad they bought it back.
Sad stuff going on…what kind of son is this????