Ferrari buyer duped by Arkansas dealer wins US$5.8 million in court

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A man who was defrauded by an Arkansas dealership in the purchase of a Ferrari has been awarded over US$5 million in damages in a lawsuit. Not bad, considering the car was worth just US$90,000.

Automotive News reports that Virginia mortgage banking professional Hamid Adeli bought the 2007 Ferrari F430 from Mercedes-Benz of Northwest Arkansas sight-unseen back in 2016, after having a neighbouring Ferrari dealership run it through a pre-purchase inspection.

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But as soon as Adeli took delivery of the car and got behind the wheel back in Virginia, he smelled gas. So the next morning he had it towed to a separate sports car dealership in Maryland for a second inspection.

This one revealed a different situation under the hood; the Ferrari had suspension issues, a leaking fuel pump and a cracked exhaust manifold.

When the dealership that sold the car told Adeli it wanted nothing to do with the repair bills, claiming the car had been sold “as-is,” he filed suit for breach of warranty, fraud and deceptive trade practices. And then he won. Big time.

The jury awarded Adeli $6,835 in compensatory damages, $13,366 in incidentals and a whopping $5.8 million in punitive damages. Why do we get the impression that this faulty 2007 F430 won’t be Adeli’s last Ferrari purchase?

Mercedes-Benz of Northwest Arkansas and its parent company Superior Automotive Group are appealing the verdict, calling it cruel and unusual punishment and claiming it “shocks the conscience.”