COLUMBIA - Gov. Mark Sanford's spokesman Will Folks got some extra attention when he pulled into the Statehouse parking garage in a red Corvette convertible last month, but the attention now is on where he got the car.

The car was loaned to Folks by Columbia Dodge dealer J.T. Gandolfo, who was appointed by Sanford in 2002 to lead a task force charged with overhauling the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

S.C. law doesn't bar state workers from taking gifts, unless they're intended to influence decisions. If a gift is "received in return for doing something in his official capacity, it's a violation," said Herb Hayden, director of the State Ethics Commission.

"I didn't look at this as receiving a gift of any kind," Folks said Tuesday. "If I had thought for a minute that there was anything I needed to ask about, I certainly would have done that."

He explained that Gandolfo had sold him a car in December, but the vehicle needed new tires. When he took the car in for tires last month, Gandolfo offered Folks the 2001 Corvette to drive in the meantime. Folks said he drove the Corvette for eight days, beginning May 21.

When Folks picked up his car, it had four new tires and had been washed for free. Although the invoice came to $445.50, Folks was charged $200. He said the reduction in the bill was part of the original agreement when he bought the car.

"It may not be illegal, but it seems to flunk the smell test," said state Rep. Doug Jennings, D-Bennettsville.

Sanford did not immediately return a phone call.

Aides to three former governors, who would not speak for attribution, said their standards on accepting anything of value would have at least required staffers to report such a gift.

Gandolfo said the Corvette is worth about $36,000. "Will's a customer and also a friend," said Gandolfo, who was appointed as a special liaison to the DMV last year but said Tuesday he is not directly connected to the agency.

When parked in the Statehouse garage, the car had Gandolfo's dealer tags displayed. However, state law says those tags "may be used exclusively on motor vehicles owned by, assigned or loaned for test driving purposes to the dealer when operated on the highways of this state by the dealer, its corporate officers, its employees or a prospective purchaser of the motor vehicle."

Gandolfo said Folks wasn't a prospective buyer. "That wasn't the reason that I lent him the car," said Gandolfo, who said he takes responsibility for the entire situation.

Folks said he would be willing to repay Gandolfo the rental value of the car, but Gandolfo said he doesn't want reimbursement.

"It has the appearance of impropriety," said state Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia. "As much as car dealers have needed from and seemed to have gotten from this administration, the fact that now they're riding around in ... expensive sports cars that they don't have to pay for just stinks."

Others were less willing to condemn.

"We have much bigger fights to fight," said House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston. It's up to Sanford to decide how he handles such issues, Harrell said.

House Minority Leader James Smith, D-Columbia, said dealers don't offer him loaners when he gets his vehicles serviced and that he can't take rides with some longtime friends who now are lobbyists because state ethics laws prevent that.

Smith considers Gandolfo and Folks friends and doubts the car dealer expected any special treatment.

Folks is a "purist" on ethics issues, Smith said. "Any departure from that, I'm sure, is a regretted oversight. ... He's not in this to get the goodies," Smith said.