Nissan Parts Manager Sold $575,000 In Lift Kits On Facebook, Left Dealer With The Bill

It’s not often that a parts manager at a local dealership becomes the focus of a federal fraud case, but this one certainly breaks the mold. What began as a small-time side hustle for one Robert McLane, former parts and service director at Formula Nissan in Barre, Vermont, unraveled into a $575,000 scheme that could land him in prison for two decades. His alleged crime? Misusing dealership funds to stockpile lift kits and flipping them privately for profit, all while Formula Nissan unwittingly footed the bill.

According to Auto News, McLane, who was hired by Formula Nissan in 2019, wasn’t merely a dealership employee handling inventory. He was entrusted with managing the entire parts department, including overseeing orders, receipts, and payments. However, between January 2021 and September 2022, McLane seemingly decided to rewrite his own job description.

Read: Nissan Slashing US Production By 17% As It Fights For Survival

Using his position, he ordered high-ticket items, primarily lift kits for Nissan vehicles directly from Nissan North America. The kits, each priced between $2,300 and $2,900, weren’t logged in the dealership’s system. Instead, McLane treated them as personal stock.

Parts Heist, Facebook Marketplace Edition

As detailed by the U.S. attorney’s office, Formula Nissan then paid the invoices for these parts. However, McLane had no intention of selling the lift kits through legitimate channels, and as such, they weren’t ordered using the dealer’s management software. When the parts arrived, McLane listed them for sale on Facebook and received payments to his personal PayPal account.

Federal prosecutors claim that McLane’s operation was far from small-scale. He sold over 200 lift kits for various Nissan vehicles, shipping them to customers using Formula Nissan’s FedEx account. To sweeten the deal, he reportedly told customers he was able to sell the kits for less than the dealer’s wholesale cost because they had been acquired at dealership prices.

Caught In The Act

While McLane probably thought he could wipe his hands clean of the fraud, authorities eventually caught up to him. In June, he signed a guilty plea in federal court, admitting to the fraudulent operation. Originally scheduled for sentencing in October, his hearing was delayed until December 12. Now, McLane faces the prospect of up to 20 years in prison, along with a fine potentially double the $575,000 the dealership lost.