- Billionaire donor sues CT dealership over Jeep and VW disputes.
- Mellon alleges faulty engine swap, brake issues, and title problems.
- The case moves toward December jury selection in New London.
It’s often said that those who are wealthy got that way by being careful with their cash. In the case of Timothy Mellon, his cash came from his family, and the way he spends, or sometimes fights over it, is quite interesting.
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He’s the same man who, according to The New York Times, reportedly funneled about $130 million to the Trump administration to help pay troops during the government shutdown. He also allegedly donated millions to Trump ahead of the last election.
Now, he’s reportedly taking his local car dealership to court over a relatively modest $22,000 tied to three vehicles.
What’s $22,000 Between Heirs?
Mellon is heir to a banking fortune, but he’s not rolling around in $400,000 Cadillacs. Instead, he’s connected to at least three classic cars: a 1982 VW pickup, a 1984 VW Rabbit, and a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. According to his lawsuit, all three were mishandled by Reynolds’ Subaru in Lyme, Connecticut.
Court documents shows that Mellon brought his Jeep to the dealership in 2023 for a loud ticking from the engine bay. The shop told him he needed a new engine and that installing a Dodge truck motor would be just as good as the original.
Mellon reports that it resulted in major oil leaks and an unsafe vehicle despite paying $7,300 for the work. He later requested the dealer rebuild the original and then install it.
The Rabbit Hole
As for the VW Rabbit, Mellon says he bought it from someone he believed was a dealership employee for $5,000, only to learn afterward that the seller didn’t have the car’s title. Since he lives in Wyoming, that meant he couldn’t register it.
The dealership then billed him $6,625 in storage fees for the car. The shop, in response, claims Mellon simply abandoned it.
A third complaint concerns the 1982 VW pickup. Mellon alleges that after brake work performed by the dealership, the truck remained unsafe to drive.
According to CT Insider, the Reynolds’ Subaru dealership denies fault in all of these cases. Mellon, who maintains a property in Lyme but lists Wyoming as his residence in political filings, is no stranger to civil litigation.
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In 2015, he unsuccessfully sued a historic aircraft organization over an Amelia Earhart expedition, losing both at trial and on appeal. His current dispute is moving forward, with a pretrial conference scheduled for November 6 and jury selection set for December 9 in New London.
Credit: Reynolds’ Subaru
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