Finance and Economic

Local auto dealer Robert Tieman has been dismissed from a lawsuit filed last week by GMAC LLC, the financing arm of General Motors Corp., against Feld Chevrolet Co. in Bridgeton.

Tieman, the owner of South County Auto Center in Weldon Spring, was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

The suit said Feld Chevrolet closed its sales office and lot at 11200 St. Charles Rock Road, and sold used vehicles to Tieman in ways that violated financing agreements between Feld Chevrolet and GMAC. Auto dealers who sell GM vehicles borrow money through GMAC to finance their inventory.

According to the filing, GMAC did not receive money for the vehicles that Feld Chevrolet sold to Tieman.

However, Tieman corrected the situation by paying GMAC for the vehicles, and the financing company dropped legal action against him.

Tieman, a local auto dealer for nearly 20 years, told the Post-Dispatch on Monday that he has been a longtime buyer from Feld Chevrolet. When he bought vehicles — which included Chevrolet Trailblazers, Cobalts and Impalas — on Sept. 12, Tieman didn’t see any red flags with the deal, he said Monday.

After GMAC contacted Tieman last week about its agreements with Feld Chevrolet, Tieman rewired $472,850 he had paid to Feld Chevrolet and sent that money to GMAC for the vehicles.

Mike Stoller, a spokesman for GMAC, said Tieman was still named in the lawsuit Wednesday, the same day he wired the money, because lawyers filed the petition before the money was received.

"Mr free credit report instantly. Tieman responded and acted appropriately," Stoller said this week.

Tieman officially was dismissed from the lawsuit on Friday, according to a court document.

Meanwhile, GMAC’s lawsuits against Feld Chevrolet continue.

Feld Chevrolet President Andrew Wolfson, whose family has been in the St. Louis auto industry for about 60 years, said Monday that his dealership and GMAC "still have some issues to deal with" and declined to elaborate.

Wolfson told the Post-Dispatch that he had to close the Chevrolet dealership because the location had been losing money, which led GMAC to cancel its credit agreement. He said he couldn’t find a new credit source in the tough credit markets and couldn’t finance his inventory of vehicles.

Wolfson said he does not plan to re-enter the auto sales business.

atablac@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8140

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