The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office settled its consumer-protection lawsuit against Midwest Car Search, LLC and owner Scott Spiczka on August 27, 2026. The consent judgment resolves a case the AG filed in April 2024 and requires the dealer to pay $100,000 and follow a detailed set of sales practice reforms going forward.

Background

The AG’s office alleged that Midwest Car Search, a Fridley dealership, sold more than 3,000 vehicles using a pattern of deceptive practices between 2017 and 2022. The dealer allegedly labeled cars “certified” without meeting the legal conditions for that label, which requires a third-party inspection and a warranty. Attorney General Keith Ellison said some buyers ended up with “lemons” as a result. The AG’s office also reviewed 200 individual purchases and found that all of them lacked proper disclosure of an added vehicle service contract, which averaged more than $1,500 per sale.

The complaint further alleged that Midwest Car Search targeted Spanish-speaking customers through a bait-and-switch approach: the dealer advertised and negotiated sales in Spanish, but its actual paperwork was in English and reportedly did not match the promises made verbally. The dealer marketed to this population under the name “Coches MN,” which it never registered with the Secretary of State as Minnesota law requires. One Burnsville buyer said she was allowed to ride along as a passenger but not personally test drive the vehicle before purchase, and that she discovered the brakes didn’t work after buying the car. She said the dealer refused to fix them.

The consent judgment doesn’t include an admission of wrongdoing by the defendants, and defense counsel has previously stated the dealer would contest the state’s claims in court.

Settlement Terms

The settlement’s permanent injunctive terms offer a useful reference point for used-vehicle sales practices, though not every term will apply to franchised new-car dealers:

• The dealer can no longer advertise, market, or sell any vehicle as “certified.” 
• Before selling a vehicle service contract, it must mark the required box on the Buyer’s Guide, and disclose orally and in writing that the contract is optional, separately priced, and state its price, before the consumer agrees to buy the vehicle or signs any paperwork. 
• It must refer to these contracts only as “optional vehicle service contracts,” never as “warranties” or “extended warranties.” It must accurately disclose the duration and covered parts of any express warranty under Minn. Stat. § 325F.662, subds. 2 and 4-7, and actually honor those terms. 
• It must display a Buyer’s Guide in each vehicle’s window and provide one at every sale, with accurate warranty information.
• When a sale happens in Spanish, the dealer must now provide the Buyer’s Guide and a specified list of other transaction documents, including the purchase agreement and financing forms, in Spanish as well. 
• Any trade name it uses must be registered with the Secretary of State, and its advertising must clearly disclose that Midwest Car Search is the entity offering the goods or services, even when a third party like Coches MN LLC does the marketing. 
• The dealer must also create written complaint-handling and compliance policies, train its employees on them, and report to the AG’s office quarterly for the first year and then annually for four years.

Payment Terms

The $100,000 settlement is payable in five installments running through August 2027, and the AG’s office may distribute it to affected consumers under Minn. Stat. § 8.31. A violation of the consent judgment’s terms exposes the dealer to a stayed civil penalty of $200,000, on top of the settlement amount.