AAA/Toyota Dealer clash over dealers refusal of Price Guarantee

False advertising is an interesting argument - although academic. The best I think the consumer can hope for is to force the dealer to not sell to AAA carrying paperwork consumers at all, instead of offering the car at a higher price.

I read all the time of people who walk into car dealerships with price guarantees and proceed to negotiate down further the price. What is good for the gander is good for the goose.

 

Let me understand you. You are saying because a customer can negotiate price down, a public corporation or a private company should be able to draw a consumer into a retail establishment with an advertisement and then proceed to dishonor the ad?

Also, I've stopped arguing the contract issue because it is all conjecture other than the original poster's 3rd party review that seemed to indicated that the Toyota dealership knew they were bound by a contract but weren't going to honor it.

 

Really? Unjustified? Please go back and reread the original narrative that initiated this thread. Now, if you want to attach the original poster as misrepresenting the events, I base my claims on this reported dialog:

Me: What will you do if they refuse?
AAA: Force them to meet the price and then throw them out of the
referral program.
Me: Are you SURE?
AAA: 100%

and

AAA: Advised the salesman his dealership was under contract to
abide.
Bob: We're not abiding by this. Don't you know how in demand these cars are now with what is going on in Japan? We're not letting this car go for this price. If the price of gas keeps going up as well these cars will be selling thousands of dollars over invoice.

and

AAA: This has never happened before. It seems that just recently due to the events in Japan, Toyota is taking the Prius off the guaranteed price plan. If it were just this one dealer we would force them to honor the agreement, but in this special circumstance the market has changed so significantly for the Prius becasue supplies have dried up that we are honoring all the Toyota dealerships requests to remove the Prius from the plan. We're very sorry.

So, if this dialog is correct, all parties involved knew they are dishonoring the contract and AAA is providing a special dispensation to remove the Prius AFTER the fact.

This is disgusting behavior. And, it's dishonorable. Further, just based on false advertising prohibitions, it's probably illegal there, never mind the contract breech.

Bring it on... apologists.

 

The internet is mass media, perhaps Amazon noticed, but not you. Epic fail for you.

 

This is a direct quote from the AAA website regarding the program:

An advertising and promotion fee has been paid by participating franchise dealers.

Do tell how it's not advertising...

 

No, I am saying that your understanding of capitalism is hypocritical.

I assume AAA works about the same as the pricing service I used through USAA. I saw a price I liked, notified USAA, who then notified the dealership. I printed out a page with my name on it, as well as the price and dealership. That information was sent to the dealership. Obviously, I communicated my willingness to buy the car at a certain price to that dealership.

Let's take this a step further. I call the dealership, verify pricing, and set up an appointment. But before I get down to the dealership Toyota gets hit with bad publicity about some something or another, and when I arrive at the dealership Prius are stacked up wall to wall.

Do I have obligations towards the dealer ? I say no, but I afford the dealership the same rights. I ended up not buying through USAA, but I assure you that my next step would have been to fax the dealership a contract with earnest money to seal the deal before I left my home.

 

I think a lot of people need to go back and read the OP's original post.

This isn't a case of misrepresentation by the dealership. When the OP called about the vehicle he was told it was $25,000...he was admittedly trying to apply or play AAA against the dealership.

He could of saved himself and AAA and the dealership a whole lot of time, if he would of just asked upfront if The Dealership was going to be able to honor the AAA price. Instead he decided to play a game, and go to the dealership and "spring" the AAA price on the dealer and see if they would honor it.

Well supply and demand....they don't want to...too bad for the OP. But am I going to blame the dealership? No. Evidently they CAN adjust prices, even with AAA. Which kind of makes sense. We are dealing with a commodity inwhich the price and value is NOT static.

When there is an oversupply or a model is NOT selling does anyone not accept incentives or "deals" that might be offered? Conversely, as gas prices rise, and with the tragedy in Japan, and a growing demand and lessening supply, why would anyone expect a dealership to sell a hot commodity at a discount?

It was IMO a little bit of a con game by the OP. Puposely trying to set AAA against the dealership. IMO don't ask AAA if they can MAKE the dealership accept the price...ask the dealership if they WILL sell at that price. Then you don't waste everyones time.

AAA is just a buyers service....they don't import, maintain or sell the vehicle. Ultimately it's the dealership you are buying from, at whatever price either a service, or yourself can arrange.

I'm sorry that the OP didn't get the vehicle he wanted, at the price he wanted. But he is free to keep looking. He may be able to find a dealership willing to sell him what he wants at the price he wants...and if he can't? That just means that's the going price of Prius in the area he is looking...

It's not fraud...it's simply how the business of auto sales work.

Trust me, I hate the usual buying experience. I wish auto's were sold in a more cut and dry fashion. But they aren't. If due to demand and supply the value of a product increases? I have to say the seller has a right to sell the product at the current value it represents on the market.

Especially in this case, where The OP knew going into the dealership that the dealership said the vehicle was $25,000...and then retrospectively he tried to get them to honor a "service" price he had not mentioned upfront.

 

That's a lot of handwaving to substantiate what this means:

I read all the time of people who walk into car dealerships with price guarantees and proceed to negotiate down further the price. What is good for the gander is good for the goose.

We are talking about a case, where most likely the advertised agreement was to sell the car for $x-hundered of dollars either above or below published invoice price. I've bought two cars this way through Costco Buyer's program. It's an advertised price. The client walks in to buy it at that advertised price and the dealer refuses to sell it for that price.

I fail to see the hypocrisy by not agreeing that it's the same for the customer to negotiate a price downward. That's sort of insane.

 

I guess you didn't read thoroughly. If the original poster's recollection is accurate, the dealer, AAA and Toyota all admitted that an agreement wasn't going to be honored and that the Prius was essentially retroactively taken off the buyer's program.

Hot commodities, gas prices and all the other superfluous nonsense have no bearing on whether this contract allowed or disallowed this from happening or if this is deceitful/false advertising. None at all. The circumstances are irrelevant unless those are specifically specified in the contract. Further, as you are aware, "not all limitations may be allowed in all states."

Clearly, identifying an opportunity to gouge a customer due to a catastrophe would hardly allow a contract to be broken or allow false advertising.

 

I'm not doing it. When did you arrange this price?
AAA: Decembrer 30th,2010...... for 2011.

I think the key here is time frame. In my experience purchasing via the net the dealer will only give you a firm price on a vehicle in inventory, on allocation or that he can actually get his hands on- often in dealer trade. A 90 day old price quote is the equivalant of a 90 day old appraisal and commitment to purchase your trade. I think the op as other buyers who have sat on the fence are finding is that, at least in the short term, the market has dramatically moved against them.

 

But the OP was being "tricky"...most of these services are designed to be used upfront. When he called the dealership he was TOLD the auto was $25,000. He made no mention of wanting to use AAA service or seeking a lower price UNTIL sitting down with the salesman who had written up the contract with the presented price. THEN he "springs" the AAA price and AAA service on the dealership.

He wasted a lot of peoples time. If he would of simply said over the phone, AAA says I can get that vehicle for X....can you or will you honor that price? Then he would of saved a trip to the dealership and a LOT of angst.

Trust me, I'm no friend of dealerships. But in this case, the OP was trying to back into a deal, decepetively...

If there is fault? It's really with AAA for evidently not knowing the specifics of their agreement with Toyota. Evidently Toyota Dealerships can exempt or change the price. AAA shouldn't of made any promise to the OP. But the OP WAS trying to leverage one party against the other....and doing so, because he did know that demand was rapidly increasing and pricing was going up...

 

That's not how a buyer's program typically works. The contract is typically negotiated at the beginning of the year. In the case of the van I just bought, the agreement with Costco was that the dealer would sell the vehicle at the published invoice minus $500 and then adding in whatever other incentives may be in force at the time. It's not a specific price they agree to, it is usually a formula they agree to based on that VINs invoice. They ARE agreeing to a fixed markup or markdown of the existing invoice.

 

One tiny quibble here: the price IS static. The price of the car already paid by the dealer is fixed. Toyota didn't suddenly call the dealer and say: "Hey, you know that Prius that you paid us $25K for a couple months ago? Well, we're going to have to go ahead and get another $3K out of you because, like, we can't ship any more to you for a while, and with gas prices climbing they're going to be a very desirable commodity."
Not likely, eh?
The VALUE, however is the point of all this. The value, did, indeed go up due to S&D.

Please correct me if I had misinterpreted ....

 

Again, please tell me that you know that Toyota has changed MSRP on the Prius ONE RED CENT in the past 3 weeks. You state that the pricing was going up... The DEALER pricing may be going up because s/he sees it as an opportunity to gouge the consumer, preexisting agreements notwithstanding, if Toyota hasn't increased pricing, then I discount the dealer's rationale for doing so.

It doesn't really matter that the scumbag dealership told the client they were going to dishonor the agreement on the phone or in person, does it? If I were going to tell my bank that I wasn't going to pay my mortgage anymore because I was underwater, would it make a difference that it was done on the phone or in person? Does that change the underlying legal argument at all?

The levels of apologia for breaking a contract are stunning. But, that's the nature of the dishonor in America today.

 

You are correct...price paid by the dealership is static...once paid. So technically I should of just said selling price of the dealership is not static based on supply and demand...and regretably sometimes greed....

 

Bingo. I assume Toyota did not retroactively increase the price once the Prius was delivered. Further, I don't believe that Toyota has increased the price of the Prius at all.

 

And, if there is an agreement that the car must be sold for invoice +/- fixed markup, how does a change in the marketplace nullify that agreement unless it is specifically allowed for?

If you posted a Prius on ebay at a buy it now price of $14,000 and suddenly this hit, you couldn't increase the price without violating ebay's terms and conditions.. for whatever reason. It's just plain scumbag, opportunistic behavior that is quite possibly illegal too.

 

Read Diane Whitmire's post. I trust she knows the in's and outs of how dealerships and sales services interact. She said:

" Many dealerships have excluded the Prius from their buying programs such as Costco and AAA. It can be done at any given time. From that moment forward, a dealer won't have to honor anything from the past. It just is what it is.

As a both consumer and sales professional, I KNOW it's frustrating. ON my end, folks who I emailed information and pricing to as long ago as 3-4 weeks ago are coming out of the woodwork to get my deals NOW. And, I have to say "no, sorry. That won't work anymore. Pricing quoted is for 72 hours."

Like I originally said, in a free market the OP is free to NOT purchase...continue looking, continue to "deal".

In this case, the OP tried to "leverage" a deal, by retrospectively applying a "Buying Service" price....in retrospect AFTER arriving at the dealership and sitting down with a contract infront of him.

He discovered that as Diane Whitmire says...Many Dealerships have excluded Prius from their buying programs....and they can do it at any time....

If the OP would of just asked upfront....not AAA..but the dealership if they would of been willing to sell the vehicle at the price he wanted? Then it wouldn't of been a disapointing and time wasting discovery...

I'm sorry...but that's what the OP was trying to do. Ultimately I feel consumers can walk away from individual deals....and I think sellers can sell for whatever they want.....

But since the OP was the one NOT being upfront with the dealership...I'm not blaming the dealership for NOT selling him the car for less than they told him they were going to sell it to him for...which WAS $25,000....

 

Octane, since you are so sure a law has been broken here, not by one but by three different dealerships, I highly suggest the OP pursue legal action against all parties, including AAA. Then, report back to us and let us know how that works out.

 

Nice! You know I don't have any standing to fight this. LOL.