Newsday
Sean Beaudoin, 25, has an autism spectrum disorder, but with help he has become fairly independent.
He has his own car. He works 20 hours a week as a kennel assistant. He has a credit card in his name, though his mother keeps it. And he has a good credit rating.
But his parents, Curtis and Paula Beaudoin, recently experienced the downside of such autonomy for their son, who lives with them in Nesconset.
Last month, Sean walked into Hustedt Chevrolet in Centereach and traded in his fully paid 1997 Ford Explorer for a $2,500 credit toward a 2002 Chevy
Malibu with 50,000 miles. He owed an additional $11,400 on the Malibu.
After Beaudoin's mother discovered the purchase and complained to the dealership, the manager agreed to lower the total price to $8,550. That's more than the car's $6,940 retail value in excellent condition, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Paula Beaudoin said she agreed to the purchase because the dealership refused to reverse the deal. Hustedt Chevrolet has an unsatisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan
New York for failure to respond to complaints.
Edward Reyer, general manager of Hustedt, said Beaudoin seemed more intent on getting the price lowered than on reversing the deal. And he said the price had nothing to do with Sean's condition.
"Anybody can be overcharged," Reyer said. "Forget about autism. If you come in here and you like a car and you're given a price - no matter how much it's marked up - and you accept a price, you're accepting the price, no matter who you are."
Sean Beaudoin had "everything we need," Reyer said - a driver's license, good credit, a job and car insurance. "He's as normal as normal can be as far as having the proper stuff."
The young man's parents said his condition, called "pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified," makes him unable to understand how to engage in a complex financial transaction, such as a car purchase, and leads him to naively trust others. Such traits can make him susceptible to sales pitches as well as to people intent on taking advantage of him. For instance, Sean Beaudoin told a reporter he didn't need to research the value of the car because the salespeople have a list of prices to show buyers.
Full article Updated: See posts 89 & 90