Kim Muratori documented when a tow truck took away her 2018 Mercedes-Benz E-400. She says it was the first time it had moved in the last 25 months.
A mechanic deemed it unsafe to drive.
“I had to insure it. I was making payments on it until about a month ago,” Muratori said.
Muratori says it took a lengthy legal battle and an order from a judge for Mercedes-Benz of Fort Lauderdale to come get it.
“I have a lot, $17,000 of attorney’s fees that are non-recoverable,” Muratori said.
CBS News Miami spoke to Muratori in August. She told CBS News Miami she discovered the bumper was zip-tied to the frame, and an independent Mercedes-Benz technician found that the mileage on the odometer was lower than the mileage in the car’s computer. She says the Mercedes-Benz dealership could have resolved this much sooner.
“If they had worked with me in the very beginning, before arbitration occurred, I would still be driving a Mercedes. But they ignored me,” Muratori said.
She took them to arbitration last May and won. The arbitrator found the dealer violated Florida law and told it to take back the car and pay Muratori damages and some legal fees.
But she says the dealership didn’t budge, so she had to take them to court.
“They really thought that I was going to walk away and not fight them,” Muratori said.
The dealer argued in court that the arbitrator was biased. A judge ruled there was no evidence of that and upheld the award.
Eduardo Ayala is Muratori’s attorney. He says this case lasted much longer than it should have, and says winning can still be costly.
“Even if you have resources, the way arbitration law is, the way contract law is in Florida. If you have a small case, you pretty much have no case,” Ayala said.
We reached out to the dealer’s parent company, AutoNation, and their attorney about why this took so long. A company spokesperson said, “We can confirm we have fulfilled our obligations following the court’s decision,” the spokesperson said.
Muratori had to buy a second car the whole time. She says she’s just lucky she had the means to fight this all the way.
“Other people may not have that luxury,” Muratori said.
CBS News Miami also reached out to Mercedes-Benz USA about this case. They declined to comment.
Muratori says she’s going to write a letter to the CEO of AutoNation about this.
