ORLANDO, Fla. – Eddie Ortiz and his wife have been four-wheeling through the Nevada, Arizona, and California backcountry for about 15 years. However, their older Jeep Wranglers need parts that are becoming harder to find.
“Some of these parts for our older vehicles are starting to become scarce and hence why we have to start looking at salvage yards,” Ortiz said.
When the transmission on his 2008 Jeep Wrangler overheated on a run, Ortiz started searching for a used replacement. A rebuilt transmission would cost around $2,000, so he turned to the internet looking for a better deal. He came across an ad on Facebook for Affordable Quality Used Car & Truck Parts, which was offering a used transmission for $800.
Ortiz said he took his due diligence seriously. He looked up the company online, visited their website, and even used Google Street View to check out the address listed on the site.
“I did my research, I looked online,” Ortiz said. “I went so far as even do a Google search on their address just to find out where they are located and sure enough it was there.”
He paid $800 via wire transfer. The transmission never arrived. When he tried to follow up, there was no response. He is unable to recover the money.
“When you do a wire transfer, it’s like giving cash — you just don’t get it back,” Ortiz said.
He says he has since purchased a transmission elsewhere and fixed his Jeep.
Jeremy Burch of Lynchburg, Virginia, has 34 years of experience in industrial sales. He drives throughout much of Virginia for work every day, which is why he needs his 2018 Ford F-150 running.
After spending $5,000 on engine repairs the previous year, Burch was hit with a new problem, his 10-speed transmission started slipping. He says a rebuilt transmission at a shop would run $8,000 to $9,000. He spent about three weeks researching used options online before landing on Affordable Quality Used Car & Truck Parts.
“He dropped a couple hundred dollars off of his asking price, which made me feel like the guy wants to work with me,” Burch said.
After negotiating, Burch says he agreed to pay $2,400 for a used 2019 transmission with 33,000 miles. The seller promised free shipping, a warranty, and delivery within 10 to 12 business days.
Burch paid by credit card on April 6. He received two invoices, one being from Affordable Quality Used Car & Truck Parts under the name Mike Greene.
He says everything seemed normal.
However, after a more than a month, the transmission never came. Weeks of follow-up messages were met with delays and excuses. Eventually, calls to Mike Greene went straight to voicemail.
“This phone is not taken any phone calls from this number,” Burch said the automated message told him. “So he blocked me.”
Burch asked a coworker to call from a different phone. A man answered, got agitated, and hung up.
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Burch said. “I knew, you got my money.”
Burch called Capital One, which credited his account $2,400 while investigating the charge. He also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
“They said, we’ll reach out. If we can’t get it resolved, we’ll give you money back,” Burch said. “Capital One said don’t sweat it.”
Burch was eventually made whole. He later purchased a remanufactured transmission with a warranty for $6,000 from a different company.
“Everybody needs to be warned,” Burch said. “These guys, they got answers to everything. It takes me a long time to get an extra $2,400. They make it in 10 minutes. It makes me sick.”
The address listed on the Affordable Quality Used Car & Truck Parts website shows a salvage yard in Orlando. The business owner there had never heard of the site.
State records show Leroy Council is the sole owner of the registered company. News 6 tracked down his listed office address in Orlando, where no one had ever heard of him or the business. Then News 6 went to his home in Ocala.
Council told News 6 he got into business with a man he knows only as “Mike” someone he has never met in person and only communicates with by phone. Council says Mike handles sales, and his own role was simple: receive money into his bank account and wire it to a third-party supplier.
Council estimates he wired roughly $10,000 while earning only a few hundred dollars in commissions. He said he believed the operation was legitimate.
“I’m under the pretense that I’m doing... I don’t see nothing wrong,” Council said. “I’m not knowing that the people is not getting their parts.”
News 6 asked Council to call Mike directly during the interview. A man who identified himself as Mike Carter answered.
Carter claimed another business was impersonating the Affordable Quality Used Car & Truck Parts name and was responsible for the complaints.
“There’s another business impersonating the same name. We already get complaints about that on BBB and everything,” Carter said.
Carter also claimed he had contacted the Better Business Bureau and provided documents proving parts were delivered.
“I did get a call from BBB and I also provided all the documents to them,” Carter said.
News 6 contacted the BBB after the call. BBB officials said they never spoke with him. Carter also promised to email business documents and invoices — News 6 never received them.
The Affordable Quality Used Car & Truck Parts website has since been taken down. The BBB offered several red flags to watch for and steps to protect yourself before sending a payment.
Check the email domain. The BBB says a business communicating through a personal Gmail address instead of a company-linked email could be a red flag. Legitimate businesses typically use email addresses tied to their own domain.
Compare prices. Before buying, check the same part on multiple sites. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Watch how they ask you to pay. The BBB says form of payment is one of the biggest red flags in schemes like this. Both victims in this story were asked to pay via wire transfer. Never pay by wire transfer or gift card, those payments are nearly impossible to recover. To better protect yourself, pay with a credit card, it gives you the ability to dispute a charge. Burch paid by credit card and got his money back. Ortiz paid by wire transfer and did not.
Look for a no-core-charge policy. Burch noted that most legitimate used transmission dealers charge a “core fee” - they want your old part back so they can rebuild and resell it. This operation charged no core fee, which in hindsight he said was a red flag.
Check the reviews carefully. Burch went back to the site after losing his money and noticed several reviews posted on the same day, a pattern that can signal fake or manufactured feedback.
Look them up first. Visit bbb.org/scamtracker to search whether a business has been reported for fraud before you hand over a dollar.