Video Evidence Released for the First Time] Raw Instructions Fly…The Full Story of Big Motor’s “Drilling Video,” a Major Used Car Sales Company

Big Motor, a major player in the used car sales industry, has been uncovered to be involved in a series of fraudulent activities.

In the May 5 issue of this magazine, we reported on allegations that the company had been illegally charging customers for labor and insurance by drilling holes in their tires, falsifying oil changes, and cheating on vehicle inspections. Mr. A, who worked at Big Motor Kumamoto Hamasen for two years until 2009 and was even in charge of the maintenance department, gave us the inside story.

The reason I reported the fraud was because there was no sign of improvement no matter how much I told my superiors about it. I was surprised that they would go to such lengths, especially when they told me to ‘drill holes. I filmed it as evidence so that if something happened, I would not be accused of drilling holes at my own discretion.”

The video is about 40 seconds long and begins with the Kumamoto Hamasen store’s plant manager applying screws to a customer’s tire.

He said, “I had to think about how the picture would look.”

and other specific instructions fly in regarding which angle to take pictures from in order to pass the insurance company’s scrutiny. He also talked about taking pictures of the brand name of the tire and the precautions to be taken when making a hole in the tire, and the process was completed in about 10 seconds.

What is behind this string of allegations of fraud?

“I think it is because the perception that ‘I am not the only one who is cheating’ has taken root. For example, the factory manager participates in a LINE group that all factory managers in the same region join, and in that group, they share information on how to deal with problems and so on. Not only the necessary information is shared, but they also discuss how to respond when an injustice is exposed, and the issue is resolved without actually becoming a major problem. I believe that this awareness that “everyone else is doing it” is one of the reasons for the prevalence of fraud.

In this issue, we present the entire video, which was obtained exclusively by this magazine. As a leading company in the used car industry with annual sales of 700 billion yen, the company must be sincere in its response.