Gordon returned the Jeep to the automotive business on Metacom Avenue and thought they had fixed the problem, but the issue persisted. Over nearly 12 weeks, he went back to the dealership nine times, asking them to find out why the light was coming on and to fix it.
“I couldn’t drive it more than 6 miles before the check engine light would come on,” Gordon, a Portsmouth resident, said in a recent interview.
Neronha says he’s cracking down on unfair auto sales practices
Gordon’s experience is among four cases that Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha cited in a lawsuit accusing King Philip Motors of violating the state’s consumer protection law.
Neronha alleges, in the lawsuit filed last Thursday in Superior Court, that the business and its managers, Neil and Tammy DeAlmeida, have “engaged in a pattern of unfair and deceptive trade practices targeted at Rhode Island consumers.”
The lawsuit claims the defendants have “engaged in the sale and advertising of potentially unsafe vehicles to unsuspecting consumers, which can lead to dire consequences for consumers who are put in a potentially dangerous situation.”