4 Long Island Nissan dealerships among 8 paying $3.2M for allegedly cheating customers

Four Nissan dealerships on Long Island, along with four others in the state, will pay $3.2 million in settlements for allegedly cheating customers who bought their leased vehicles, the state attorney general’s office said.

Garden City Nissan, Huntington Nissan, Legend Nissan in Syosset, Smithtown Nissan in St. James and four other dealerships in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Rockland County's Blauvelt have agreed to pay a combined $2.8 million in restitution to more than 1,700 customers, as well as a combined $400,000 in civil penalties, the office said in news release Tuesday.

"Buying a car is a major financial decision, and no one should have to worry about dealers using illegal junk fees to drive up the price," Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. Smithtown Nissan, which was at 535 Middle Country Rd. in St. James, is no longer in operation and a different owner runs a Nissan dealership in that area, the office said.

"These car dealers misled their customers with bogus fees and other costs to cheat them out of their hard-earned money," James said in a statement.

Legend Nissan declined Newsday's request for comment, while officials with the other Long Island dealerships did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Investigations into the local dealerships followed consumer complaints made to the attorney general’s office. The complaints alleged that customers who were seeking to buy their vehicles at the end of their lease agreements were being overcharged and were provided with inaccurate receipts "after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic," the office said.

State investigators discovered that the impacted customers had lease agreements in place that provided the option to buy their cars for a set amount at the end of their lease terms, but that the dealerships allegedly "overcharged them," according to the state office.

Customers either had dealership fees or administrative fees tacked on, or the price of their vehicles were inflated on the invoices they received, the office said.

The Long Island dealerships are required to pay nearly $2.5 million in restitution and penalties to 1,190 impacted customers and the state, respectively.

The settlement breakdown for the Long Island dealerships are:

• Garden City Nissan will pay $824,013 to 361 overcharged consumers, on top of a $89,624 penalty.
• Smithtown Nissan will pay $643,640 to 321 overcharged consumers and a $80,250 penalty.
• Huntington Nissan will pay $426,654 to 275 consumers and a $68,750 penalty.
• Legend Nissan will pay $333,482 to 233 consumers and a $20,000 penalty.

The settlements are not the first for Nissan dealerships on Long Island.

In March 2024, the attorney general's office found in a similar investigation that Baron Nissan in Greenvale and Nissan of Westbury had allegedly overcharged leasing customers who purchased their vehicles at the end of their leasing agreements.

Baron Nissan was required to pay $204,656.89 to 186 customers and a $51,190 penalty, while Nissan of Westbury had to pay $102,636 to 72 impacted customers and a $19,440 penalty, the office said last year.

In June, two more Nissan dealers on the Island — South Shore Nissan in Amityville and Nissan 112 in Patchogue — were required to pay more than $350,000 in combined penalties and restitution for allegedly cheating more than 200 customers, according to the state attorney general's office.

The dealerships in the settlement have begun mailing checks to impacted consumers and will continue to throughout the year, the attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

Long Islanders who believe they were provided inaccurate receipts or overcharged when purchasing a leased vehicle at the end of a lease agreement should file a consumer frauds complaint form online with the attorney general's office, or call (800)771-7755.