ORLANDO, Fla — All Eric Montgomery wanted was to get his car repaired.
“I dropped it off, and then I flew out of town for almost four weeks,” Montgomery explained.
But he claims the repair shop added miles and racked up tolls while he was out of town.
He said, “So obviously, somebody was utilizing the vehicle, you know, the way they shouldn’t have been.”
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Montgomery bought a 2018 Cadillac ATS from a dealership off East Colonial Drive in Orlando called DriveHub. “They really hyped up this 150-point inspection,” he said.
But he had some problems with the car almost immediately after closing the deal.
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Montgomery told Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal, “Honestly, it was like one of those terrible old cartoons where you drive off the lot and the car starts falling apart initially. You know what I mean? Like, almost immediately.”
It turned out to be a brake problem and the windshield wipers didn’t work, but he said DriveHub was responsive. It instructed him to take it to Repair Hub, a shop a short distance away.
Although the companies have similar names, they have different ownership. DriveHub sent an email to Action 9 explaining it frequently collaborates with Repair Hub to resolve post-sale repairs.
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When Montgomery returned to central Florida, he said he still had to wait for some repairs and when it was time to take it home, he noticed the valve caps on his tires were missing.
Montgomery said, “One of the gentlemen went around to other, I’m assuming, other customers’ cars, and just started pulling them off of other people’s cars and putting them on mine, like, oh my God.”
In the days that followed, he received notices in the mail from the Central Florida Expressway Authority showing 107 toll transactions on his car over a 19-day period. They were all dates Eric Montgomery was out of town. The tolls were on a route between east Orlando and Horizon West for at least 9-days. It appears the car was kept overnights and weekends in the Horizon West area.
In an email to Action 9, DriveHub wrote, “there is no evidence that the vehicle was excessively driven or misused while in Repair Hub’s custody.”
So, Action 9 stopped at Repair Hub to ask about the tolls.
Jeff Deal said, “Somebody was clearly driving it. Nine different times kept overnight on the weekends and everything.”
A man who identified himself as Joao, one of the owners, responded, “Because I tell you, I can show you the last owner of the car is a friend.”
He admitted an employee drove the Cadillac, but claimed the employee thought the car belonged to a friend who used to own it and wouldn’t have minded him driving it. He said the employee didn’t realize it had been sold to Montgomery.
The owner said, “I think it was two weeks he used. The once employed here, the guy, don’t work here anymore.”
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While Action 9 hasn’t been able to determine the exact number of miles put on the car while in the care of Repair Hub, Montgomery got stuck paying $196.64 in tolls.
Montgomery said, “You know, my father was a mechanic, and he owned a garage. If I was ever doing that to one of his clients’ cars, I didn’t want to think what would happen to me.”
Repair Hub told Action 9 it has offered to reimburse Montgomery for the tolls and offered him an extra service package at no charge.
DriveHub also said it remains open to assisting Montgomery in finalizing the toll reimbursements and willing to collaborate toward a fair resolution.
Montgomery said he hadn’t heard from anyone at Repair Hub, but Action 9 has now provided him with the direct phone number for one of the owners.
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