Bait&swich deal!

I went to a dealer looking for a211 Prius. He told me they didn't have any 211 Prius left. His name is Gary, we haggled round and round, but settled on a deal, but when it came to signing for the deal they came out of the showroom and said, (the car sold last night!). Then the guy said but..... We have 212 for anotherb500 bucks! When I said the car we looked at and wanted to buy was a 211, not a 212 model alas! BAIT&SWITCH dealer Toyota 44 in raynam ma
Barbara murphy

Pretty common tactic. Sorry to hear about that.

They bait...
YOU switch.

Keep shopping. Avoid this dealership. Pop a flare over whatever passes for Toyota "Customer Care" in the Bay State (or....Commonwealth.)


Good Luck with your search!
.......and...... Welcome to PC!
:welcome:

thanks for letting us know. now that's 6 dealers in the boston area i can't go to. but i have a question: you said they didn't have a 2011, and you haggled round and round and made a deal. in the end, it sounds like they didn't have the 2011 they didn't have in the first place?

Well the 2012 is worth $500 more than the same 2011. You didn't get a bad deal - just not the one you wanted.

Well it actually depends on the trim level he was shopping for. 2011 III with NAV option is about $950 expensive than 2012 III(which comes with NAV standard now) because Toyota dropped JBL audio in 2012 III. Also 2012 IV is about $500 cheaper than 2011 IV. But I believe 2012 II is few hundreds expensive when compared to 2011 II because of bluetooth being standard in 2012 II.

BJ - while it sounds like a bad experience this may or may not be a bait & switch. With a bait and switch the seller typically advertises something at an artificially low price with no intention of selling it. Did they engage you with the intention of foisting a 2012 on you - maybe, maybe not. Was offering you a 2012 for $500 more a bait and switch - perhaps but you would need to compare window stickers to tell.

Mass has some very strict consumer protection laws and they do have regulations against merchants pulling a bait and switch. Read the regulations online and if what the dealer pulled meets the definition file a complaint with the secretary of state.

Just wondering, is one internet complaint enough to put a business on your personal black list?

Well, yeah....when it comes from BJ Murphy! Now, if it was from his cousin B.S. Murphy.....that would be another matter

Well the car that the salesman was showing us WAS a212 but when we're going to buy the 2012 Prius, they then told us it was sold that night then I was told for they had another car, a 2012 for five hundred more! Well we said " the care that we wanted was already a 2012 that's when the salesman said " no the car you were buying was a2011 that one sold! Now I said you told us that your dealership did not have any 2011 left on the lot, and all he had were. All 2012 priuses. Bait and switch they lied to us they said we were buying a 2011. When there wasn,t any on the lot! We were buying a 2012 from they start of our dealing!

wow, that's quite a story. thanks for clearing that up bj.

nah, but when someone makes the case as clearly and succinctly as bj did, you have to take them seriously.

BJ is angry over salesman tactics, but I would not call it a B&S. The latter is when a published price is not honored because "that car is no longer available."

BJ otoh negotiated with the salesperson down to a price that the manager refused. When this happens to me I politely thank the salesperson for being my advocate, then get up and leave. Sometimes the manager changes their mind before I am out the door.