Crabtree Toyota And Lexus Dealership Sale Final
The Crabtree family has sold their Westport Lexus and Toyota dealerships to a New York auto dealer for an undisclosed amount.
The Lexus Service Center, at 80 Kings Highway Cutoff, and the Lexus pre-owned business at 187 Kings Highway Cutoff, both in Fairfield, also now belong to Michael J. Cantanucci of the New Country Motor Car Group of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Cantanucci, whose company owns dealerships in upstate New York and Palm Beach, Fla., as well as sites in Greenwich and West Hartford, was not available for comment Friday.
But Matthew F. Keefe, president of HK Group commercial real estate in Westport, said the deal closed April 3. Keefe, whose company specializes in private, off-market transactions, said Cantanucci plans to keep the dealerships open.
The Crabtrees weren't looking for a buyer "in a formal way," Keefe said, adding, "We brought Mr. Cantanucci in." There were other interested buyers, Keefe said, but Cantanucci was the best fit.
"I don't think that's appropriate [to disclose]," Robert Crabtree Jr. said Friday when asked about the price. The companies negotiated for six months, he added, and "the New Country and the Crabtree families came to very reasonable terms."
His father, Robert Crabtree Sr., opened the Toyota dealership in 1982 and the Lexus dealership in 1991. When he died in February 2005, he left the dealerships in trust to his family, including sons Robert and Joseph and daughters Margaret and Constance.
Robert Crabtree Jr. bought Colonial Toyota in Milford from the trust in late 2005; he continues to own that business.
His brother, Joseph, bought the Shelton Subaru and Dodge dealerships from the trust. Those Bridgeport Avenue dealerships abruptly closed in August 2007, after Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a civil suit that alleged the business ran misleading and fraudulent advertisements.
The closing left many customers in the lurch; some stuck with cars bought through a "drive-for-life" program. Under that program, customers could give back the car they bought at the end of a year, if it was undamaged and met other conditons. The dealership was supposed to make the payments during that time, or give customers a lump-sum check to cover the loan costs. But without the dealership, the customers could not return the cars.
At least some customers have reported they were able to renegotiate the deals with the lenders.
Blumenthal said Friday the investigation of Joseph Crabtree and his dealerships is still active and ongoing.
"We're in discovery. We're verifying documents," Blumenthal said, adding the other Crabtree dealerships are not, and have not been, part of the suit. He expects to go to trial later this year, if there's no settlement.
The sale of the Westport and Fairfield dealerships and service center could have an impact on the case, because, Blumenthal said, "We would contend that these proceeds are assets."
