The Kelly Grimsley Auto Group lawsuit was a federal case filed in March 2025 by Hyundai Capital America, which accused the Odessa, Texas Kia dealership of selling roughly $13.6 million worth of financed inventory without paying down the loans behind it. The suit settled in late October 2025 in connection with the sale of the dealership. Separately, Texas regulators revoked the dealership’s licenses in December 2025 after finding it had failed to pay off more than a hundred customer trade-ins, transfer vehicle titles, or forward registration fees to the state.
What Hyundai Capital Alleged in Federal Court
Hyundai Capital America sued Kelly Grimsley Auto Group in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Case No. 7:25-cv-00143. The lender’s financing arrangement was a floorplan loan, the kind dealers use to stock their lots against the value of the cars sitting on them. As of March 6, 2025, according to the complaint, the dealership owed roughly $15 million and still held 405 vehicles with unpaid balances of more than $13.6 million. Checks the dealership had written to the lender bounced.1NewsWest9. Kelly Grimsley Responds to Hyundai Capital America Original Motion for Temporary Restraining Order
The central allegation was that the dealership had sold vehicles “out of trust,” meaning it moved cars off the lot and kept the proceeds instead of remitting them to pay down the corresponding floorplan loans.2YourBasin. Court Docs Detail Allegations Against Kelly Grimsley Auto, Judge Grants TRO
In late April 2025, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order barring the dealership from selling or trading its remaining inventory, tampering with records, selling real estate, taking on new loans, or moving money to the Grimsley family.2YourBasin. Court Docs Detail Allegations Against Kelly Grimsley Auto, Judge Grants TRO
The dealership’s May 2025 response admitted several allegations: that it had failed to make loan payments, failed to maintain insurance, and failed to pay taxes, registration fees, and lien payoffs. It denied selling vehicles out of trust, disputed the specific dollar figures, and argued that Hyundai Capital shared responsibility for the unpaid taxes and fees.1NewsWest9. Kelly Grimsley Responds to Hyundai Capital America Original Motion for Temporary Restraining Order
Automotive News reported that the case, which also included U.S. Bank as a co-plaintiff, was settled in late October 2025 in connection with the sale of the dealership. The settlement terms were not publicly disclosed.3Automotive News. Kia Dealership Settles Hyundai Capital Lawsuit
How Customers Were Harmed
The lender’s suit dealt with the dealership’s obligations to its financiers. The harm to individual buyers ran on a parallel track: money changed hands at the dealership, but the paperwork behind the sale never caught up.
Joy Chew told NewsWest9 that she bought a car and traded in her old one in January 2025. The dealership resold her trade-in but never paid off the loan on it. Past-due notices started arriving. A stranger was driving her old car while the loan sat in her name and damaged her credit.4NewsWest9. Customers of Kelly Grimsley Auto Group in Odessa Dealership Sued
Another buyer, identified as Brant, couldn’t register his newly purchased vehicle because the dealership hadn’t paid the company holding the title. A tow truck arrived at his home to repossess it. He kept the car only by showing paperwork proving he had his own separate financing.4NewsWest9. Customers of Kelly Grimsley Auto Group in Odessa Dealership Sued
The Better Business Bureau revoked the dealership’s accreditation. Thirty-two complaints had been filed in the 12 months leading up to April 2025, covering unpaid trade-in loans, failures to file registration and license plates within the required 45-day window, and unhonored extended warranties.5Yahoo News. Kelly Grimsley Auto Under Fire
What Texas Regulators Ordered
The Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner opened its own investigation in 2025. On September 25, 2025, the OCCC issued a cease-and-desist order (Case No. L25-139) after identifying 104 trade-in vehicles whose loan balances the dealership had never paid off, and 92 transactions in which titles had not been transferred to buyers. Registration fees collected from customers had never been sent to the state.6Texas OCCC. Order to Cease and Desist, Case No. L25-139
The order gave the dealership 30 days to pay off every outstanding trade-in balance, title and register each vehicle in the buyer’s name, and refund any excess registration fees. Investigators who visited the site in June 2025 found the dealership closed to the public.6Texas OCCC. Order to Cease and Desist, Case No. L25-139
Kelly Grimsley did not comply. On December 10, 2025, the OCCC revoked the dealership’s three motor vehicle sales finance licenses in Case No. L26-026, imposed a $20,000 administrative penalty calculated at $1,000 per day of noncompliance, and ordered the business to stop all retail installment transactions, stop collecting on existing contracts, release all liens, and return any unsold repossessed vehicles.7Texas OCCC. Order of Revocation, Case No. L26-026 The final revocation order was formally posted in March 2026.8Texas OCCC. Enforcement Actions
No Criminal Charges or Consumer Class Action
Every legal action reported against Kelly Grimsley Auto Group has been civil or administrative. No criminal charges or indictments have been publicly reported against the dealership or any of its principals, including Brandon Grimsley, whose name appears in customer accounts and court filings.6Texas OCCC. Order to Cease and Desist, Case No. L25-1392YourBasin. Court Docs Detail Allegations Against Kelly Grimsley Auto, Judge Grants TRO No private class action on behalf of affected consumers has been reported.7Texas OCCC. Order of Revocation, Case No. L26-026
Where Things Stand for Buyers
The Kelly Grimsley Kia dealership on 8th Street in Odessa has been closed to the public since at least June 2025, and its dealer licenses were revoked in December 2025. The federal lawsuit with Hyundai Capital America and U.S. Bank settled in connection with the sale of the dealership. Publicly available records do not confirm whether the restitution the OCCC ordered has actually reached affected consumers.3Automotive News. Kia Dealership Settles Hyundai Capital Lawsuit8Texas OCCC. Enforcement Actions
One boundary worth naming: a former Kelly Grimsley location off JBS Parkway was sold in December 2024 to Lumos Honda, which has no affiliation with the auto group or its liabilities.9YourBasin. Kelly Grimsley Auto Kia Under Fire: What You Need to Know if You Made a Purchase Complaints tied to Kelly Grimsley’s Kia business do not carry over to that dealership.