‘How dare they?’: Sister demands answers after dealership sells car to blind, disabled brother

UNION CITY, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - In Georgia, almost anyone can buy a car. So, when a 74-year-old mentally disabled man walked into a car dealership with $15,000 cash, they sold him one. His sister alleges the dealership took advantage of him.

Thomas Johnson has been getting around Atlanta on MARTA for decades. He lives independently in a senior apartment building in southwest Atlanta, but what Johnson really wants is to drive a car again.

Last October, Johnson took MARTA to Heritage Volkswagen in Union City. He had been there before. This time, he brought $15,000 in cash — money he had saved over the years working at McDonald’s and other jobs. The salesman said he talked to Johnson about what he wanted in a car and sold him a 2013 Mini Cooper with 42,000 miles for $14,100.

Because Johnson can barely see, the salesman drove him home in the new car.

Johnson’s sister, Darlene Johnson, has been looking after her brother since they were kids and provided Atlanta News First with medical paperwork confirming his mental disability. Johnson is also hard of hearing and wears hearing aids.

“Total exploitation, unscrupulous, immoral,” she said.

Thomas Johnson is totally blind in his left eye. His sister says he can see shadows out of his right eye. When asked to read the largest print on the car’s bill of sale — the dealership’s logo, Heritage Volkswagen — he could not.

“I still have trouble seeing little, bitty stuff,” Johnson said.

A legal expert weighs in

Attorney Erin Willoughby spent 18 years at Atlanta Legal Aid interpreting contracts for people with limited education. She said several factors allowed the dealership to legally sell the car.

Johnson had the financial means and, notably, had a valid driver’s license he renewed in 2021. Willoughby said that under Georgia law, he is a competent adult.

“When you are 18 years old, you are a legally competent adult,” she said. “You are competent to contract. You are responsible for your actions, be they civil or criminal, unless and until a court takes that away from you.”

But Willoughby said there is still a legitimate argument to be made.

“Blind people buy houses. Blind people buy cars for their children,” she said. “What I think the argument is, is that allowing someone with a severe visual impairment to sign a document when it is obvious that they do not know what they are signing, without offering them an accommodation to ensure that they know what they’re signing” — that’s where the dealership’s conduct becomes questionable.

He tried to drive it

Willoughby said there are also issues of morality and liability. Johnson said he was buying the car to drive it himself — and that is what he did, or tried to, until a manager at his apartment complex stopped him.

“I was trying to get the hang of the car by driving it around the parking lot because I haven’t driven in about five years,” he said.

Atlanta News First Investigates went to the dealership and met with the salesman who sold Johnson the car.

“I don’t want to misquote, I don’t want to misrepresent,” the salesman said, asking Atlanta News First to come inside so he could access Johnson’s paperwork.

Inside, the salesman acknowledged Johnson’s limitations.

“He’s challenged to whatever extent,” the salesman said. “Give me a second, I would love to have that conversation.”

A few minutes later, a manager asked Atlanta News First to leave.

Sister confronts the dealership

Two weeks after the sale, Darlene Johnson went to the dealership to demand a refund.

In a video recorded on her phone, the salesman can be heard defending the sale.

“He seemed coherent — said he could see better when he got his glasses. I believed him,” the salesman said.

“You know that he’s mentally disabled,” Darlene Johnson said. “You can’t talk to him and not know that he has an issue, and on top of that, you had to know that he can’t see.”

“How dare they take this money and then put him in the car knowing that he can’t drive, that he can’t see?” Darlene Johnson told Atlanta News First.

Heritage Volkswagen initially offered to buy the car back for $4,800, then raised the offer to $6,500 — a $7,600 loss on the original purchase price.

Thomas Johnson is not angry but admits he made a mistake.

“We all make mistakes. If we don’t make mistakes, we ain’t human,” he said.

Dealership Responds

The general manager for Heritage Volkswagen sent Atlanta News First Investigates this statement.

Official Statement from Heritage Volkswagen:

“We are committed to fair, thoughtful, and respectful business practices. We take the Johnson family’s concerns seriously and have offered to buy back the vehicle. We remain ready to complete that process and are committed to working with the family toward a resolution.”

Now, a family dispute is holding up a compromise.

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