Why these Delaware motorcycle dealers are under review by state investigators, DMV
It’s been nine months since Leslie Carl bought a used 2020 Indian Challenger Dark Horse motorcycle from Indian Motorcycle’s Wilmington location, but she hasn’t been able to take it for a spin.
Carl says the dealership has failed to provide the proper plates, title and registration for the used motorcycle purchased in December 2022, and now, after months of outreach to get the necessary documents to legally drive the bike, the dealership won’t respond.
“We have called, texted, and emailed several times and were given excuses and then ghosted,” she wrote to Delaware Online/The News Journal. “I have filed several complaints with different places and, come to find out, so have many people and he is still selling bikes and staying in business.”
Carl is certainly not alone.
Dozens of Indian Motorcycle customers say they’ve had issues getting titles and other records needed to plate and register bikes purchased at the dealership’s locations in Wilmington and Seaford.
The Delaware Better Business Bureau has logged over a dozen complaints combined at the two locations, and the state Department of Justice has received 13 complaints since March 2022, prompting state attorneys to examine the matter further.
“I can confirm that we have received complaints about title problems with both Indian Motorcycle and Intellicar (which are owned by the same person) and that we are following up appropriately based on the facts of the complaints,” said Mat Marshal, a Justice Department spokesperson.
HOME IMPROVEMENT FRAUD: Scammed by a contractor? You're not alone. Why home improvement fraud is so hard to prove
Intellicar is a used car dealership in Newark, which is owned by Mark Lillard. He also owns Indian Motorcycle dealerships in Wilmington and Seaford.
Lillard returned a call made to the Wilmington location on Wednesday afternoon, balking at the allegations. He would not answer questions, told a Delaware Online reporter his attorneys would call and hung up. No one has responded since.
Customers say dealership staff and Lillard himself blamed the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles for the delays, along with giving other excuses for warranties no longer being honored or loans from trade-ins not being paid off.
According to Carl, who filed a complaint with the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, that state entity has received over 200 complaints about the dealership. Division spokespeople only confirmed they’ve received “numerous complaints” that they’re “actively investigating.”
Kathryn Beasley, chief of communications for the division, said they’ve received consumer complaints for “a number of dealerships” operated by Fain Auto Sales LLC and IMC of DE LLC, which includes the two Indian Motorcycle dealerships.
“While DMV cannot comment on active investigations, our Compliance and Investigation Unit (CIU) is in contact with the dealerships and DMV is taking those actions authorized by law,” she said.
Customers given bogus temporary tags
In late April, Pennsylvania resident Erin Krivulka visited the Seaford dealership location to test drive and purchase a motorcycle.
“We realized once we got in the car and were 10 minutes away, we had no paperwork, not one single thing,” she said. “Just the temporary tag.”
PARKING LAWSUIT: 'Wilmington can't have it both ways,' federal judge orders towing suit to move forward
Since the beginning of May, Krivulka has contacted the dealership regularly to find out what is going on with the records. She’s asked employees to send the file directly to her so she could get the needed documents to the DMV and settle the issue once and for all, but has been denied.
Krivulka later discovered the temporary tags were never submitted to the DMV, making driving the bike illegal.
Delaware law allows dealerships to issue “only one temporary registration plate (tag) for a vehicle” sold. Only in “unusual circumstances” can a second tag be issued, and in those instances, the dealer must call the Dover Administration Office’s registration supervisor for approval.
Licensing, ticketing issues for new vehicle owners
Indian Motorcycle customers and former employees say many customers have been issued multiple temporary tags with some on their eighth or ninth tag.
“I cannot ride the bike,” Carl said. “I verified the only temporary tag that was legal was when we purchased it in December, and they’ve issued four to us.”
One customer was pulled over and given a ticket because the tag was never submitted to the DMV.
Other customers were plagued by licensing issues when they later discovered the loans from their traded-in bikes were never paid off.
A Maryland resident who purchased a bike from the dealership's Seaford location in April 2022 was told the dealership would send in the customer's Maryland plates from the trade-in and secure Delaware plates.
DID YOU KNOW?: Delawareans will be automatically registered to vote during certain DMV transactions
The customer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation and further harm, said that never happened.
"My license was suspended because they never turned the tags in. My insurance company is after me asking, 'Why did I do this?'" they said. The dealership “did not pay the bike off that I traded in for three months, so I was in arrears there."
Four months after purchasing the bike, the customer received their old Maryland plates and an illegal Delaware tag in the mail.
"All I wanted to do was ride, and I couldn’t," they said. "I know my (traded-in) bike was off the floor quickly, but I’m certain whoever that poor soul was went through the same thing because for months they didn’t pay off my bike so there was no title."
The customer can now legally ride the purchased bike, but it took nearly six months and a lot of frustrated phone calls to get there.
Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com, or by calling or texting 302-598-5507. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Indian Motorcycle dealerships logs dozens of complaints with DOJ, DMV
