Buying a dream car is usually an incredible rush. After weeks, months, or even years of poring over listings, the keys hit your palm. You drive home grinning at stoplights. For Christian Mobley, that feeling lasted about two weeks. His 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT vanished back into the Miami, Florida dealership’s hands like it was never his to begin with. The problem wasn’t just the missing car, either. He’d signed loan paperwork for $30,000.

Jeep built the SRT as a niche performance model, not a volume seller

It sat at the top of the Grand Cherokee lineup and was aimed at buyers who wanted muscle car energy (Chargers and Challengers) in an SUV body. FCA released an SRT for the Dodge Durango and Ram SRT-10, too. Jeep dropped the SRT trim after 2021.

The 2017 Grand Cherokee SRT came with a naturally-aspirated 6.4L HEMI V8 pushing 475 horsepower. That was enough to launch a two-plus ton SUV from zero to 60 mph in the low four-second range. At the time, very few SUVs could do that without a turbocharger or supercharger.

It also came standard with hardware most family SUVs never see. Brembo brakes, adaptive suspension tuned for track use, launch control, performance drive modes, and wide tires. A full-time all-wheel drive system calibrated more for grip than fuel economy. Gas mileage was an afterthought and owners knew it going in.

Production numbers were limited compared to regular Grand Cherokees, and many SRTs were leased, modified, or driven hard. Clean examples with clear ownership history are harder to find every year. That makes them magnets for enthusiasts.

This is all exactly why people like Mobley jump quickly when one pops up for sale. And exactly why those deals need extra scrutiny before the keys change hands.

Mobley, 21, had found the SUV online and moved quickly.

The Grand Cherokee SRT isn’t common, especially clean examples, and this one was sitting at Miami Auto Mall in the Little Havana neighborhood

Mobley bought it, signed the paperwork, financed roughly $30,000, and drove it off the lot without issue.

Then the phone call came.

According to Mobley, the dealership contacted him and said the Jeep needed a “rebuild inspection.” While he was hesitant, it ultimately sounded official enough. Dealerships send vehicles out for inspections all the time, especially performance models with complex histories. 

Mobley agreed to bring it back

He recorded the visit. In the video, the dealership owner tells him the SUV is headed to an inspection location and instructs Mobley to remove all of his personal items. The owner adds a warning about theft, delivered in blunt terms, suggesting the risk came from “other people,” not his staff.

There was no inspection.

Before returning to the lot, Mobley had placed a tracker in the Jeep

Once it left the dealership, the tracker showed the SUV stopping at random stores instead of any inspection facility. Mobley followed the signal and eventually saw an unfamiliar person driving the vehicle.

When the Jeep was located at a home in Miramar, Florida, Mobley contacted police. A Miramar officer later explained on video that Miami Auto Mall never paid the original owner for the Jeep. 

After being given the runaround, that owner demanded the vehicle back. The dealership complied by taking it from Mobley.

Mobley no longer has the SUV, but he still has the loan

Local 10 News investigator Jeff Weinsier attempted to get answers from Miami Auto Mall. Employees declined to comment and ordered him off the property. The dealership later called police on Weinsier instead of explaining where Mobley’s $30,000 went.

State regulators are now involved. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles confirmed an active investigation. Records show nine complaints filed against Miami Auto Mall in the past three years, eight tied to violations. Miami Police have also referred the case to their Economic Crimes Unit.

Mobley says the dealership knew the payment problem from the start and kept promising the Jeep would return in a few days. It never did.