A little-known corner of the used car business is thriving in a sour economy. Buy Here Pay Here dealers sell to people with credit problems, slapping huge markups on vehicles and charging interest rates that approach 30 percent on loans. For this series, Times reporter Ken Bensinger reviewed hundreds of pages of public records, including sales contracts, lawsuits and state motor vehicle records. Read the full Times series. »
Part 1
Contracts, lawsuits and other documents that show how Buy Here Pay Here dealers sell, finance, repossess and resell cars. Read the story.
Part 2
Wall Street is betting big on the Buy Here Pay Here sector.
Part 3
How a 2003 Kia Optima was sold eight times by the same dealer.
Credits: Ken Bensinger, Ben Welsh