Is this a SCAM? See car i want online, but Dealer say its NOT in stock, and wants almost $10k more for whats in stock? (vehicles, mileage)

[Chris V]

Originally Posted by froglipz

Bait and switch, buy from reputable local dealer instead of scam ebay seller.

There are no reputable local dealer. They are all the same.

Here in Houston, this is their daily practice.

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by NeonGecko

WHOA! I am NOT putting a deposit on a vehicle I've never seen! Especially I'm not giving a dealership my credit card info!

But then I wouldn't buy a car off e-bay either. Still seems like an awful idea to give your credit card info to put a deposit on a car that you've not even seen.

What would be the problem giving your cc? It's actually the fastest/safest way for you to secure the car

[captne76]

OP: You said $94,000 as in 94 thousand? I've bought houses with 1 1/2 acres of land for less than that. I hope that was a typo because no way would I put 94 grand on something you could wipe out going around the corner.

[mangoarrow]

Why help publicize a dealer that supposedly pulled a bait & switch when theres dozens of other legit dealers around?

The fact that OP hasnt returned to the topic reeks of a cleverly disguised spam.

[Javacoffee]

WTH?! Of course it's a scam of some sort. You can't advertise what you don't have. Find a local dealer. Inspect the vehicle for yourself. Test Drive it. Take it to a mechanic. Pay nothing until those steps have been completed. That's the commonsense way to buy a used vehicle.

[jaypee]

The dealer could be totally honest as most dealers don't have their inventory system tied to their website. Or the dealer could be a serial scammer. You've got to ask yourself one question: do I feel lucky today? Well, do ya?

[texdav]

I looked at first one and it was a specific VIN ;they could have sold it but like the same ole scam some dealers do.

[bmwguydc]

I just looked at the dealer's website, and they have one listed for $85k with the stock number listed. Of course, when you call a dealer they will try to upsell you from the loss leader vehicle that garnered the prospect. They are interested in maximizing profit, and sales volume, which is the nature of sales as a profession. You are not buying a shirt that retails for $150 at a department store, since a vehicle has options packages and such that no two are usually identical on the lot. Some also will not sell a vehicle that is a loss leader to someone who is not physically present on the lot, when it can be "found" in inventory.

It's a game, but I would not exactly call it bait and switch because there is a vehicle in that price range, listed in dealer inventory. True bait and switch is advertising, or continuing to advertise, a vehicle that is no longer present, but since the OP only inquired by phone, there's no way of knowing if that is the case at all.

[NeonGecko]

Originally Posted by Lowexpectations

What would be the problem giving your cc? It's actually the fastest/safest way for you to secure the car

I don't NEED to secure the car. If it sells in the 10 minutes it takes me to drive over there, well, there'll be another one along eventually. And lets face it - the chances that a car is going to sell in between the time you see it online and drive over there is pretty slim. If you get there and they say its sold now, it was probably sold before.

And handing out your credit card information is not secure. For one thing, unscrupulous dealers can use that information to run a credit check on you - thereby lowering your credit score.

A car dealership has absolutely NO need for my credit card info. You don't hand out your credit card info without a darn good reason - have you not read of all the database breaches, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people whose credit card data gets stolen? And that's from legitimate purchases, not blackmail on the part of a dealer to "hold" a car.

I was looking at a car on a dealers lot the other day - btw I HATE dealing with dealers, whether new or used cars, this is the first time I've been on a dealer's lot in over 30 years - and looking over the car as I would any used car.

The salesman says, "You don't seem very enthused by this car".

Well, no, I'm not. I don't get emotional about cars, at least not in the buying phase. But being calm and careful apparently translates to "I'm not at all interested" - or maybe its a disappointing sign that they are not going to be able to grab me by the emotions and manipulate me.

Which this guy didn't actually try to do - I kind of doubt he's going to stay a used car salesman for long. He was too nice and respectful.

His boss, however, came out and tried to jerk me around, you know, "Well if you don't buy it today, right now, it could be gone" (also the same guy who quoted me a price $1k over the price it was listed for on the Internet, after "consulting" his phone).

You know the lines, trying to scare you into buying now.

OK, so if its gone, its gone - there'll be another one. Besides, this one had high-ish mileage for its age, and it had obviously driven behind a gravel truck at some point and there was pitting - all the way through the paint to the bare metal, small, but distributed all over the hood and both fenders. I didn't want the car anyway, and I don't buy things on the spur of the moment.

I hate those guys. Jackals, really.

[BlackChevy246]

There are some shady dealers anywhere you go, but around where I live there are still plenty that do business honestly. Sad to hear how common this is.

I would report those shady dealers to the BBB.