Anyone looking for a new car?
- Thread starter Gibson486
- Start date
1) Sounds too good to be true
2) Name sounds like "Botch" as in "Botch that sale"
3) Ignore these idiots for advertising a non-existent car
Scarpozzi
Lifer
- Jun 13, 2000
- 26,392
- 1,780
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Unless he's just trying to get rid of old models to make room for a new shipment, It's probably a classis bait and switch. Offer a 10,900 model with nothing on it.....talk someone into getting a cd player and the price goes up significantly because it's only offered with the LE model or whatever....
Dealerrater com rates Boch as 1.2 out of a possible five. A quick look revealed nothing but negatives. Fax the guy, ask for a firm quote on the stripped down Corolla--I'll bet you don't even get a response, but then, you might. With that in hand and firm resolution to look at nothing else who knows... The price is a deal if it's real.
Samus
Golden Member
- Jan 12, 2001
- 1,405
- 7
- 81
let me tell you somethin about the auto sales industry:
you only need one on the lot at that price to legally advertise them all at that price, unless you say specifically in the ad "277 vehicles at this price" but they don't say it like that. they say 'new corolla's in stock as low as $10,990!"
that way they get you there, and when they dont have it, you're always going to look at something else or other more pricey models, because you already went there.
as said, it's practically bait and switch.
you only need one on the lot at that price to legally advertise them all at that price, unless you say specifically in the ad "277 vehicles at this price" but they don't say it like that. they say 'new corolla's in stock as low as $10,990!"
that way they get you there, and when they dont have it, you're always going to look at something else or other more pricey models, because you already went there.
as said, it's practically bait and switch.
My all time favortie came from a creative Chevy dealer in 1980...when they advertised a 1979 Vette for some absurdly low price ---and said they had hundreds available!
Turned out to be the Chevy CHEvette, not the CORvette. Friggin' hilarious...
Capt Caveman
Lifer
- Jan 30, 2005
- 34,543
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Correct. If you look at the ad, it will only show one car id associated to it. There's only one car at that price available.
There might not even be one car available at that price. A while ago I went to a dealer in rural NC that advertised a new base, stripped down Nissan truck for really cheap. Of course they didn't have it in stock. They said the price applied only to the truck with the associated VIN # (in mouseprint below the advertisement), which had already been sold.
Over the course of an hour or two I negotiated a good enough price (maybe $300 more than the Bait & Switch lowball price) that I bought a truck anyways. A couple of weeks later I was scanning the classifieds and saw the same dealer advertising a truck for a couple of hundred less than I paid. I looked at the VIN number and it was from the truck I had bought a couple of weeks earlier, lol!
So not only did they not have one at that price, they didn't sell one at that price, either. I tried to get them to give me back the difference between what they advertised & what I paid, but no go. I even called & wrote a State agency (forget which, consumer, commerce?) but they didn't help at all.
So buyer beware, you risk wasting your time going to a dealer advertising a car/truck and it has an associated VIN number buried in fine print in the ad.
send me 100 dollars and ill ship some authentic human fertilizer to your home or place of business.
MustangSVT
Lifer
- Oct 7, 2000
- 11,554
- 12
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this is probably dealer tricks. wait til you get to their showroom and actually walk out with a car see what the final price gonna be.
WOW!
I use www.autotrader.com for my buying...too bad there isn't a way to report fraud listing on there
Thump553
Lifer
- Jun 2, 2000
- 12,839
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LurkinginNC: I love your story.
This is a pretty classic bait & switch technique used for years in the auto industry. Newspapers don't report on this much (big surprise-you see how much of the advertising in your paper is from car dealers). I am a bit surprised (and disappointed) your local state agency didn't pursue the matter-perhaps you could do it on your own? Here in Connecticut we have an unfair trade practices act, with triple damages and actual attorney fees awarded, that is tailor-made for this sort of tomfoolery.
PS-I'm from New England and never heard of Boch Toyota. Doesn't sound like I'm missing anything though.
This is a pretty classic bait & switch technique used for years in the auto industry. Newspapers don't report on this much (big surprise-you see how much of the advertising in your paper is from car dealers). I am a bit surprised (and disappointed) your local state agency didn't pursue the matter-perhaps you could do it on your own? Here in Connecticut we have an unfair trade practices act, with triple damages and actual attorney fees awarded, that is tailor-made for this sort of tomfoolery.
PS-I'm from New England and never heard of Boch Toyota. Doesn't sound like I'm missing anything though.
This was like 12 years ago. I still walked away with an excellent deal (something like $7,200 for a base Nissan pickup). That's why I didn't waste any more of my time with BBB, etc. Even if the state agency was more zealous I don't know if they could have gotten any money back for me. But the least I expected was for them to have some sort of standard procedure for documented false advertising (I forwarded them the documentation). The dealer claimed it was a clerical error and that was pretty much it. Perhaps (hopefully) there would be a different outcome today....
Capt Caveman
Lifer
- Jan 30, 2005
- 34,543
- 651
- 126
Unfortunately, it's not illegal. They're advertising the price for a single vehicle.
Surprised that you haven't heard of Boch. He's owns the most car dealerships in New England.
wakka wakka wakka
its good to find anandtech members with senses of humor......huh huh huh, i said "member!"Actually, if you look at my original post (which was what Thump was commenting on) you'll see that the dealer advertised a single vehicle that had already been sold weeks earlier at a higher price than advertised.
Mine might have been an extreme case. Still, I wonder how often dealers list a single vehicle at an extremely low price where the public never has a chance to buy the vehicle at that price. E.g., it was sold before the ad even went out and maybe the price was so low because the buyer financed at a high interest rate, took a lower than market price on their trade in, etc. Or maybe the dealer sold the cheap car to a friend between the time the ad went out and made it to print. I' suspect those types of abuses are illegal, are not at all uncommon, but are very difficult for an individual to identify and pursue.
Thump553
Lifer
- Jun 2, 2000
- 12,839
- 2,625
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It's actually pretty simple to prove with a little discovery. Dealers tend to run the same sort of sale over and over again-listing a single VIN at a teaser price four weeks in a row, and each time the car is previously sold? A pretty solid case for deceptive practices in my book.
Every state is different but in my state the dealer must have the specific advertised car available for sale at the start of the advertised sale.
Maybe that's why we don't have Boch in this part of New England.
Every state is different but in my state the dealer must have the specific advertised car available for sale at the start of the advertised sale.
Maybe that's why we don't have Boch in this part of New England.
Anyone call for details? I checked edmunds and found there's a 1000 rebate on Corollas. Their TMV (estimated street price) is 12900, or 2000 more than the advertised price here. That's on an '07 model. It's possible a dealer has an older '06 or even an '07 model that has been used by the dealership with some miles on it, but I believe the dealer is still allowed to sell as 'new' since there was never a previous owner. Of course, the dealer might just claim there was an error in the ad when you arrive at the stealership.
- Aug 9, 2000
- 18,378
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keep in mind that there are holdbacks and dealer incentives that edmunds does not even know about.....My friend went down there, but I habe not heard from him since (maybe ernie killed him????). I would not be that surprised if they really did have it. when I was shopping for a new car a month ago, they were very aggressive in selling Corollas. I think people are buying 3's and Civics instead.
expect the price to get better soon when they need to stock up on newer year model.
Any deal on Corolla is a given, hot deal
Afterall, this is the world's #1 selling car, known for its reliability and low cost of ownership (very good MPG, power, etc)
My 98 CE is still going strong at 150K, bought it used back in year 2000;
my only problem is that I don't have any excuse to buy a new car!
Any deal on Corolla is a given, hot deal
Afterall, this is the world's #1 selling car, known for its reliability and low cost of ownership (very good MPG, power, etc)
My 98 CE is still going strong at 150K, bought it used back in year 2000;
my only problem is that I don't have any excuse to buy a new car!
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