The Morgan Auto Group lawsuit is a whistleblower case filed in July 2025 by a former finance director who alleges that the Florida dealership chain systematically overcharged customers through “payment packing” and the sale of add-on warranty products the complaint calls essentially worthless. A separate federal matter is also active: in March 2026, the Federal Trade Commission sent Morgan Auto Group a warning letter over potentially deceptive vehicle pricing in its advertisements.
Who Filed the Suit
Jason Mirabito, a former Finance Director for Morgan Auto Group and its affiliate Sarasota L Automotive Management, filed the case on July 1, 2025, in Hillsborough County Circuit Court in Tampa. It is captioned Mirabito v. Morgan Auto Group, LLC, & Sarasota L Automotive Management, LLC, Case No. 25-CA-006252.1Trellis Law. Mirabito Jason vs Morgan Auto Group LLC
Mirabito says he has 25 years of experience in automotive sales and finance. According to the complaint, he was terminated in August 2024 after uncovering accounting deficiencies and requesting an audit, and the firing was retaliation for objecting to and refusing to participate in practices that violated Florida law.2GlobeNewsWire. Consumer Fraud Alert: Whistleblower Suit Against Morgan Auto Group Details Widespread Practices Defrauding Florida Car Buyers>
What the Complaint Alleges
Payment Packing
The central allegation is “payment packing.” In a payment-packing scheme, a finance manager quotes a monthly payment higher than needed to cover the vehicle price and then fills the gap with add-on products the buyer never agreed to.3Federal Trade Commission. Automobiles Mirabito’s complaint alleges this was a routine part of how deals were structured across Morgan dealerships, leaving customers paying for products that were never delivered or paying more than they had originally approved.4GlobeNewsWire. Consumer Fraud Alert: Whistleblower Suit Against Morgan Auto Group Details Widespread Practices Defrauding Florida Car Buyers
Warranty and Add-On Products
The suit describes the finance-office add-ons as “useless warranty agreements that offer little to no protection to the consumers.” Products named in the complaint include:
- GAP and GAP+ coverage, marketed as covering the gap between a vehicle’s value and what the buyer owes after a total loss.
- EquityShield, grouped with GAP-type offerings.
- AutoPayPlus, described in the complaint as a “debit program.”
- Permaplate and Crystal Fusion, finance products typically involving surface-protection coatings.
- Factory wrap VSC, vehicle service contracts presented as manufacturer-backed warranties.
The complaint alleges these products were added to contracts as part of the broader packing strategy, often without meaningful consumer consent or understanding.4GlobeNewsWire. Consumer Fraud Alert: Whistleblower Suit Against Morgan Auto Group Details Widespread Practices Defrauding Florida Car Buyers
A Manager’s Alleged Statement
The complaint quotes a manager at one of the group’s locations as saying: “We can’t fight the elderly. Take what we can get…We know buyers are liars. Just can’t have major heat…We get over on the other 98%.” The complaint offers the statement as evidence of a deliberate strategy of overcharging most customers while avoiding disputes with the few who push back hardest.4GlobeNewsWire. Consumer Fraud Alert: Whistleblower Suit Against Morgan Auto Group Details Widespread Practices Defrauding Florida Car Buyers
The FTC Warning Letter
The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection sent Morgan Auto Group a warning letter on March 11, 2026. The letter flagged concerns that the company may be advertising vehicle prices that do not reflect all required fees, conditioning prices on dealer financing, requiring the purchase of add-ons not reflected in the advertised price, or advertising vehicles that are unavailable or nonexistent. It directed the company to review its practices and confirm compliance with the FTC Act, and said the agency would “continue to monitor the marketplace and take additional action as warranted.”5Federal Trade Commission. Warning Letter to Morgan Auto Group LLC
A warning letter is not a finding of wrongdoing. It puts the company on notice that federal regulators are watching and may escalate.
Consumer Complaints Echoing the Allegations
Some publicly filed consumer complaints track the themes of the Mirabito suit. A December 2025 Better Business Bureau complaint against Morgan Chevrolet, a Tampa-area store in the group, alleged the dealership padded a contract with about $4,000 in “discretionary fees” falsely labeled as government charges and included irrelevant Florida fees on an out-of-state sale. The same customer alleged the dealership failed to disclose competing lender approvals, producing a financing rate the customer said was well above market. The complaint cited possible violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the federal Truth in Lending Act.6Better Business Bureau. Morgan Chevrolet BBB Complaints
Morgan Chevrolet denied those claims in its BBB response, stating that the selling price was fixed, that predelivery service fees are properly disclosed, and that it is not legally required to verbally present each conditional lender approval to a customer. The BBB profile for that single location listed 13 complaints over the preceding three years.6Better Business Bureau. Morgan Chevrolet BBB Complaints
The Laws in Play
The practices described in the Mirabito complaint implicate Florida Statute 501.976, the motor vehicle dealer provisions of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The statute prohibits dealers from obtaining signatures on contracts that do not accurately reflect the deal as negotiated, and from adding any fee or charge to a vehicle’s cash price beyond those specifically permitted by law. All permitted fees must be fully disclosed in binding contracts, violations are actionable under FDUTPA, and courts may award attorney’s fees to consumers who prevail.7Florida Legislature. F.S. 501.976 – Motor Vehicle Dealer Unfair or Deceptive Acts
At the federal level, the FTC has identified payment packing as a deceptive practice under the FTC Act and has brought enforcement actions against other dealership groups for similar conduct.3Federal Trade Commission. Automobiles
Where Things Stand
Morgan Auto Group is a privately held, family-run dealership chain headquartered in Tampa. As of 2024 it operated 76 dealerships, all in Florida, generated more than $8 billion in revenue in 2023, and retailed roughly 162,000 vehicles that year.8Auto Remarketing. Florida Dealer Giant Morgan Automotive Builds on Its Holdings
The company has not publicly commented on the specific allegations in the Mirabito whistleblower lawsuit. The case remains pending in Hillsborough County Circuit Court.