Auto Dealers Want Refund From County Used-Car Show At Fairgrounds Called Conflict

Three auto dealers want the county to reimburse the $11,000 they paid to rent the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds for a July sale.

The dealers, who also want $6,000 in attorneys fees, contend the county hurt their businesses by leasing the fairgrounds to used-car dealers the weekend before the sale of new cars.

The county violated its policy of not allowing competing events within weeks of each other, the dealers say.

The competing sale may have cost McCollum Ford, George Gee Pontiac and Dishman Dodge $50,000 to $60,000 in sales, said Greg Hatch, whose advertising agency markets the trio’s annual “PrimeTime Sale” at the fairgrounds.

“I don’t want this to come across like the dealers are pounding the table, saying, ‘We’re going to sue.’ They’re not,” said Hatch. “But we do feel that we were wronged and that there needs to be some adjustment.”

Hatch, who wrote a letter to the county outlining the dealers’ request, said he doesn’t know how they’ll respond if the county rejects the claim.

Hatch said the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association unfairly capitalized on his clients’ marketing investment and reputations by scheduling the used-car sale the week before the fifth annual PrimeTime sale.

The legal fees would cover the dealers’ costs for a lawsuit they filed in July seeking to stop the used-car sale. A Superior Court judge threw out the suit, saying the dealers didn’t prove the county has a “non-compete” policy.

“We’ve had an informal policy through the years and adhered to it on individual cases,” said Fran Boxer, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer.

For instance, the county told organizers of the Big Horn Sports and Recreation Show that no more than 5 percent of the floor space could be used to display boats. That’s so the annual show, which promotes hunting and fishing, doesn’t compete with the annual boat show.

But during the court hearing for the dealers’ lawsuit, “we gave examples of 20 to 25 cases where (the non-compete policy) was not adhered to,” Boxer said.

Boxer said the dealers told her they sold 183 cars this year, compared with 214 in 1996.

The temperature reached nearly 100 degrees during this year’s show, she noted. As a result, the dealers moved from the paved parking lot near the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Havana Street to a lawn that’s not visible from any road.

“There were not enough signs to tell people driving by that there was a car show going on,” Boxer said.

Boxer, who has asked the fair board to establish a formal policy regarding competing events, said she thinks the dealers are entitled to a partial refund.

“I think that probably both sides made mistakes,” she said.

“But … they still sold 183 cars, and I would have a hard time offering a full refund.”

The dealers say they’ll return to the fairgrounds for their 1998 sale. But they want assurances that the fairgrounds will host no competing events within 30 days of their own.

, DataTimes