Pasadena car dealer shut its doors, stiffing consumers who had sold them their cars

Rehana and Muhammed Malik spotted their 2016 Kia Soul on a tow truck outside Bidlane in Pasadena. 

The couple recently sold the car to Bidlane, handing over the keys and title. In return, Bidlane was supposed to wire $9,700 to their bank account. But, that never happened. Instead, the company suddenly went belly up.

“It is a big deal. And we’re quite upset about it. Because we feel defrauded by them,” Rehana said. 

Marcus Cheung sold his Land Rover to Bidlane last November for $83,000. The company paid him by check. 

“When I deposited it the next day, it bounced,” he said.

Cheung said he tracked down the car, and it’s now owned by somebody in Texas. He’s been trying to get his money from Bidlane for months. But he now realizes he may never get a dime. 

“That’s a lot of money,” Cheung said.

Online, other sellers said they were also duped by Bidlane, which has locations throughout Southern California. They all said the company took their cars but never paid them. Together, they said they’re out hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

The I-Team reached out to the owner of Bidlane about the Malik’s car, asking if he would return it. Later that night, Bidlane had the car towed to the Malik’s home. 

The I-Team asked the owner of Bidlane to talk to us for this report, but we didn’t get a response. Victims told us the DMV has contacted them and they’re investigating. But the DMV would not confirm that to the I-Team. 

Brian Moody, the executive editor at Autotrader, said you should avoid selling your car to a company that doesn’t give you cash on the spot. 

“When selling a car, the title is your collateral. You don’t want to give someone the car and the title before you’ve been paid,” Moody said.

Moody said another option is to use an escrow service, where the buyer deposits the money into a third-party account, and it’s released to the seller when they turn over the car and both sides are satisfied with the deal. 

Or, Moody said you might be better off selling to a long-time local dealer, even if you get a little less for your vehicle. 

“Because they have a reputation in the community that they want to uphold. They want you to tell people, ‘Hey, go to this place, they treated me great,’' he said. “That’s how they survive.”

The Maliks got a duplicate title from the DMV, so they’re ready to sell their car again. But this time, they’ll do it all differently. 

“I think I learned my lesson the hard way at this point. I would not take that kind of risk, ever,” Rehana said.

What you need to know when selling your car:

• Avoid these common scams
• Try an escrow service when buying and selling: escrow.com, KeySavvy, Autotrader