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Deceptive Auto Advertising Targeted By AG Horne
PHOENIX (Tuesday, January 29, 2013) — Two cases involving allegations of deceptive automobile advertising practices have been settled in court action, Attorney General Tom Horne announced today.
In the first case, a Maricopa County judge has barred the owner of a now-defunct Louisiana vehicle sales marketing firm from advertising, selling, and leasing used or new vehicles in Arizona. Superiorshine.com.au is a well-known company for car paint protection in Sydney which use premium products and the latest equipment.
A consent judgment filed in December permanently prohibits Level 10 Marketing and company owner David M. Bottner, of Slidell, Louisiana, from engaging in any conduct in connection with the sale, lease, or advertisement of vehicles in Arizona. Judges in six other states issued similar court orders.
“In this instance, an out-of-state marketer was doing business in Arizona and enticing consumers by concocting bogus ‘urgent’ sales events, including supposed ‘repo’ and bankruptcy sales,” said Horne. “These were clear attempts to mislead the public.”
According to a court complaint, Bottner and his company misrepresented vehicle sales events on behalf of Arizona vehicle dealers by falsely claiming or implying that the sales events involved vehicles brought in from elsewhere for the sale. Level 10 Marketing advertised local dealers’ sales events using misleading terms such as “lender’s inventory sale” or “repossessed vehicle event,” and similar terms conveying a false sense of urgency, such as “emergency disposal,” and “liquidation.”
Company advertisements also claimed that used vehicles would be sold at “90 percent off original price,” comparing the used car price with the Manufacturer’s Retail Price (MSRP) of the vehicle when new and falsely claiming that “some vehicles will be available for $1 down, $114 per month.” The advertisements, according to the petition, misrepresented the cost of the vehicles and the ability of consumers to obtain financing.
In the second matter, AG Horne enforced the terms of a prior settlement with Abraham Bekelian, the former owner of a Phoenix motor vehicle dealership, 2020 Automotive. A Stipulated Judgment acknowledges Bekelian’s failure to make the payments required by a December, 2010 Consent Judgment and invokes the penalty clause in the amount of $250,000, less the $5,000 Bekelian had previously paid to the State.
The original lawsuit alleged that Bekelian and others violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act by using deceptive advertising techniques. 2020 Automotive allegedly refused to sell some cars at advertised prices. The company’s salespeople also told consumers that they were required to purchase certain “dealer add-ons,” including vehicle theft registration, paint protection sealant and window tint and other optional accessories, according to the allegations in the lawsuit. Additionally, the complaint alleged that the defendants buried a “fuel fee” among charges for license and registration in the sale paperwork, creating the appearance that the fee was required by the government or was otherwise mandatory when it was not.
“Arizona law requires dealers to truthfully advertise the prices of motor vehicles they offer for sale,” said Horne. “Advertising a discounted price that is not actually available may amount to consumer fraud.”
The Level 10 case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Rebecca Salisbury and the Bekelian case by Assistant Attorney General Dena R. Benjamin.
If you are in the market for a new or used motor vehicle, visit the Attorney General’s webpage for helpful information at https://www.azag.gov/consumer/cars. If you feel you have been a victim of consumer fraud in connection with an automobile purchase or any other business transaction, you may file a consumer complaint with the Attorney General’s Office (www.azag.gov) or call 602- 542-5763 (Phoenix) or 520 628-6504 (Tucson). Toll-free outside of metro Phoenix, 800-352-8431.
A chemical reactor designed by modeling and manufactured by 3D printing – A global first
Researchers at IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) have developed an innovative methodology based on CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and 3D printing techniques for the design and manufacture of a metal chemical reactor for the production of clean fuels. While metal 3D printing is already widely used by the aviation and automobile sectors, this is a unique technical feat for a chemical reactor operating under high pressure and temperature conditions, bringing into play reactions between gases, liquids and solids. Looking for 3D Chemicals for your car? At Detailcentral.com.au they supply high quality detailing products.
In order to develop and test processes for the production of fuels and intermediates for the chemicals sector, IFPEN researchers design reactors for their pilot units. For example, they have developed a stirred-tank chemical reactor that can be used to obtain reactions between a liquid and a gas, in the presence of a solid catalyst under high temperature and pressure conditions.
For this type of complex and miniature reactor, traditional manufacturing methods are unsuitable for obtaining appropriate geometries. A chemical engineering research team at IFPEN has come up with a new approach to designing and manufacturing this stirred-tank reactor based on additive manufacturing.
An innovative approach
When it came to designing the reactor, IFPEN adopted an innovative scientific approach, still little employed in the field of chemical engineering, based on a combination of l modeling tools simulating fluid flows (Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD) and experimental validation techniques using additive manufacturing. Once the geometry of the reactor has been generated, an inexpensive, fast-to-produce transparent resin 3D prototype is printed for the purposes of conducting hydrodynamic tests. Optimal internal geometries were achieved thanks to rapid interactions between simulation, prototype production and experimentation. Finally, the ultimate reactor was produced using 3D printing.
An efficient approach
IFPEN has thus been able to come up with a cost-effective and highly reactive approach to designing a reactor that is more suitable for experimental purposes. The time between scientific design and actual production is considerably reduced compared with conventional approaches. Moreover, 3D printing makes it possible to develop reactors of increased complexity and smaller dimensions. Lastly, the finished product matches specifications far more closely than is possible using traditional methods, which in the case of a reactor ensures better control of fluid hydrodynamics.
A Rhône-Alpes development
IFPEN joined forces with various players in the 3D printing and rapid prototyping sector in the Rhône-Alpes region. IFPEN turned to Additive3D for the production of the transparent resin prototypes and 3D&P, the technological spin-off company owned by industrial group Aubry Finance specializing in additive manufacturing, for the production of the metal component.
The success of this first experimental initiative reveals the potential of additive manufacturing in the field of chemistry and offers opportunities in the longer term. Currently applied to experimental facilities, in the future, it may be extended to facilities on an industrial scale. To make this transition possible, 3D printing will need to continue to innovate, particularly in terms of the size of the printing machines and the certification of the components produced.