I found a Certified 2015 Prius II with 14K miles for $14,994 advertised on Auto Trader and Cars .com yesterday at McCord's Vancouver Toyota in Vancouver, WA. I chatted with an Auto Trader representative about it, printed out the ads, and took screenshots. This morning when we went to see the car, it was mysteriously $5000 more expensive at $19,997.
Advice?
They may have raised the price to discourage someone else from buying it?
Here's a similar thread:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/am-i-about-to-get-car-dealer-berkeleyed/109588/page1/
Don't buy it.
Toyman01 wrote: Don't buy it.
At $14,994 it's the exact car we want at the exact price we want. Like walk in with the check and walk out with the car. We are supposed to see it at 11 when they open.
MCarp22 wrote: They may have raised the price to discourage someone else from buying it?
I found it last night 30 minutes after they closed. They don't open this morning for another hour and a half.
It could be they underpriced it by accident. Probably not.
Javelin wrote:MCarp22 wrote: They may have raised the price to discourage someone else from buying it?I found it last night 30 minutes after they closed. They don't open this morning for another hour and a half.
On lot and online can be two different things. I had the same thing with the versa we just got. We won.
They are not allowed to do that in Canada. I have a friend who walked into a dealership to buy the pickup they advertised in the newspaper and they did not and had never had it on the lot. But he prevailed and they ordered in for him at the advertised price.
Happens all the time. I use Autotrader and Cars.com a ton when shopping for a new car and I can't count the number of times that has happened. I don't really know why, I'd presume it's something they do after someone calls about a particular car. But I've never had a dealer give me a hard time about honoring or negotiating a price off of the one I saw. I wouldn't be all that worried about it.
Javelin wrote: I chatted with an Auto Trader representative about it, printed out the ads, and took screenshots.
Many states have laws that force sellers to honor advertised prices. I know that MD has investigators who go around checking on this.
Update: McCord's Vancouver Toyota in Vancouver, WA pulled a bait and switch and claimed that the car was sold.
When i was shopping trucks the Avalanche was listed at 13,500. After I talked to the dealer and let them know I wanted to come look at it, the price jumped to 15,900. I emailed the salesman and said at 13,500 i was going to offer 12,500 out the door and at 15,900 i'm not interested in traveling to see it. I got a message back that said "we can do 13,000 out the door to you, we are sorry about the confusion we comped it and realized we had it underpriced, but will honor the fact that you saw it before the price went up" 2 weeks later when i scheduled to see it i showed up, truck was as advertised, they had my paperwork ready and i took it home.
edit - just saw your last post. that sucks, i hate bait and switching bastard dealers. someone tried that last month, had lifetime warranty stickered across the windshield and all over their ads for the truck. got there, drove it, was working on numbers and asked how the warranty works. "sorry diesels don't get it, detailer put stickers on wrong truck" yeah - and the detailer wrote all your ads too?
Javelin wrote: Update: The dealership pulled a bait and switch and claimed that the car was sold.
Can you prove it is still there? Dated pics?
If so file a complaint
Buy a volt? 
They did the same with me for a wrangler by about 3 grand. I took a print screen and went to the dealer and said I wanted to buy it. We got to the end and they mentioned the price which was higher. I bust out the phone with the picture and I'll buy it for that or walk. It worked.
Javelin wrote: Update: The dealership pulled a bait and switch and claimed that the car was sold.
Soundsabiut right.
McCord's Vancouver Toyota in Vancouver, WA runs a bait and switch scam. I have been shopping for a Certified Prius for weeks and on 2/6/16 at 8:30PM I found a listing on Auto Trader for VIN #JTDKN3DU8F0420333, a 2015 Prius Package 2 with 14,601 miles for $14,994 listed by McCord's Vancouver Toyota. I took a screen shot and printed out the ad while using the chat function to set up a viewing at the dealer on 2/7/16 between 11AM and noon. I found the same vehicle advertised at the same price on Cars.com and Kelly Blue Book, and also took screen shots and printed those ads out as well. On 2/7 at 8:30 AM I checked the ads, and they were all still showing the same car at the same price, so my whole family got in the car for a long drive to the dealership. At 10:39AM I received an email from Jeff Williamson, the Internet Sales Manager, letting me know that the car I chatted about last night was available and he would happily help me with my purchase.
We pulled into the dealership about 11:30AM and while trying to find the car were approached by a nice salesman. We found the vehicle and started to inspect it while he brought one of our printouts inside to get the keys. When he returned, he informed us that it had "just been sold first thing this morning, somebody took advantage of us and bought it for 14, when it was supposed to be priced at 17". He then tried to steer us to a nearly identical Prius (2015 Package 2 in the same color with 14,248 miles) that was priced at $19,997. We said no thank you, we are here to buy the car we saw advertised and if it wasn't available we would leave. While getting in the car I attempted to call Jeff, who did not answer any of his direct lines. I then called the dealership's general number and spoke with a receptionist, Amanda, who said that Jeff had just walked in and that's why he didn't answer my calls. She then placed me on hold for several minutes while she checked with the Used Car Department, where she confirmed that the vehicle was still available. I said great, we will come over to see the car and meet with Jeff. She said that he and the car would be waiting for me.
As I tried to go back into the dealership, the same salesman saw me and asked if I would like to see the other car now, and I told him no, I was just informed that the car was still available and that I would like to speak to Jeff. He informed me that Jeff was not available and brought me to the back counter to speak with Nate, who was with another customer. While waiting, Amanda called me back and said that she was sorry, but the car had been sold.
I then spoke with Nate, who was extremely rude and started complaining that they made a mistake on the price and I should never expect to get that car at that price. I only asked him whether or not it was sold as the dealership only opened at 10AM. He pointed to a couple sitting at a desk with a bunch of paperwork and price tags on it stating "$19,997" and said that they were buying it for $17,000 because the dealership compromised with them over the mistake that was only on a Toyota website and not their fault. I said that this was classic bait and switch and showed him my 3 completely different ad printouts from Auto Trader, Cars.com, and Kelly Blue Book, and left.
At 8:52PM I checked on Toyota Certified and found the VIN # still listed and used the chat function again, where the representative informed me that the car was available and tried to set up an appointment for me to test drive it. I do not believe that they made a mistake or that they sold the car. I will be would be reporting them to the Washington State Attorney General's office for advertising fraud.
On 2/8/16 at 9:03AM I received a call from Deanna Dean-Rogers about stock #49012A and she absolutely assured me that it was still available. I made an appointment to test drive the car at 6:00PM. The car was still there and priced at $19,997.
That sucks. Report it for sure.
The funny part is, your typical Prius shoppers will gladly think this is fine....
And they wonder why people hate car dealerships. It's shady practices like this that make car buyers angry.
I see ads all the time that brag about a price like that and in the end of it the fine print and the legalese states that it's ONE CAR which is certainly gone by the time you call or get there if it ever existed at all.
This for sure. I bought a way underpriced Honda Accord this way. They weren't happy about it, but they had to honor the advertised price.
Hal wrote:Javelin wrote: I chatted with an Auto Trader representative about it, printed out the ads, and took screenshots.Many states have laws that force sellers to honor advertised prices. I know that MD has investigators who go around checking on this.
I think when speaking to the State Attny General that you should also point out the salesman's admission that the people buying the car also saw the $14.9k advertisement but were swayed up to a $17k purchase.
It seems to me that they B&S'ed two customers that you know of.
The key seems to be that you have the VIN. The State Atty Gen should easily be able to request info regarding what day that VIN was actually sold.
Good luck.
Case filed with State Attorney General, 1-star negative review posted on dealerrater.com.
Let the nuclear war commence...
patgizz wrote: When i was shopping trucks the Avalanche was listed at 13,500. After I talked to the dealer and let them know I wanted to come look at it, the price jumped to 15,900. I emailed the salesman and said at 13,500 i was going to offer 12,500 out the door and at 15,900 i'm not interested in traveling to see it. I got a message back that said "we can do 13,000 out the door to you, we are sorry about the confusion we comped it and realized we had it underpriced, but will honor the fact that you saw it before the price went up" 2 weeks later when i scheduled to see it i showed up, truck was as advertised, they had my paperwork ready and i took it home.
Had this happen once on a Jag I bought. It was advertised in the paper for $14,500. Went there and looked at the car and was told it was a mistake and was supposed to be $17,500. They honored the price in the ad.
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