Won new car on ebay & seller wont sell... recourse?

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NOLA911

Member
Location
Mandeville, LA
Does anyone know anything about how this would work.. I won an EX (loved my FX, but the gas mileage was too poor to do it again) on ebay last weekend and the seller is saying he had a typo in the listing, but would be more than happy to get me into another used car on their lot. This is not a fly by night dealership, its a large Toyota-Scion dealership.

I'm ok with a typo and wouldnt expect someone to sell something for a price that hurts them, but this "typo" price was relisted 3 times at the same exact price when I looked at their history. I feel like it was just a scam to bring interest.

I bought the car last week when power was down for hurricane Issac. To be sure that we touched based immediately while phone service was spotty, I followed all auction terms.. Emailed them immediately confirming my intention to buy the car, asking how I could send the deposit (and offered paypal, credit card, or bank wire), and tried to arrange a pickup date within 7 days of the end of the auction. The response I get is some corny salesman talk "We're glad you're interested in this fine car, it could be yours for an additional 10 thousand dollars." That's not how ebay works... his auction says it is a legally binding contract to buy. My understanding is that a contract works both ways and he should sell me the car for that price, not pull some shady attention grabbing sales tricks after the fact.

I called ebay, their ingenious recommendation was to buy another EX from someone else.

Here is the auction-
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd...9&item=160876424147&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:ITI

The seller's feedback is spotty, even the people who left good feedback seemed to have had issues in the sales process.
 
Geez, yeah I'm not looking for a battle royale, was just hoping someone else found the "make them sell it" button on eBay, hah! What bugs me is that they haven't reached out to me at all other than the bs salesman emails they send me. Oh well, the search will probably continue
 
If you pursue a fight, it will be a long fight. They won't accept a loss like that easily.
You certainly have an argument and a leg to stand on, but it really depends on how much free time of yours you want to donate to the cause. Based on the eBay score, these guys seem pretty slimy and probably have some experience with "typos".
 
I'd call Toyota USA and tell them about this shady dealer. Bring up the GTR situation that Logan mentioned and tell them you intend to follow the same course of action. If that doesn't work I'd call a local news organization (local to them) and see if they'll pay the dealer a visit for an interview. Pressure from above and from the press might crack them. If it doesn't then I'd call it a wasted hour of your life and move on.

SfmDRuT2
 
Long fight?
My friend won a bid on a GTR for $55K, but the dealer refused to sell it because they forgot to put "no reserve"
So he asked all his friends to get the story viral, then bam. He got the GTR.

http://jalopnik.com/5829166/dealer-refuses-to-honor-nissan-gt+r-ebay-auction

What's funny is that he's selling it now lol I forget for how much since I deactivated my profile.
He painted it white, with genuine carbon fiber parts, then added performance and painted it orange for shows.

---------- Post Merged at 01:16 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:15 PM ----------

I see Logan posted it lol
 
Yep, you can go the route of the GT-R. Believe me, with how much harassment that dealer got, I'm sure they were happy to get rid of the GT-R. Their FB page got crap posted all over it, and apparently people were calling the dealer constantly. I actually felt bad since a lot of people who weren't even involved were being verbally abused.

That was your friend gold? Didn't he live in Alaska?

Here's the original thread btw: http://my350z.com/forum/the-lounge-...on-at-55-1k-for-gt-r-honda-of-san-marcos.html
 
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Xou lives in Alaska, but he's also member of the xbimmer and my350z forum. We're "friends" through there

---------- Post Merged at 01:31 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:30 PM ----------

Well... and Facebook, but that's deactivated lol
 
tchuck said:
I'd call Toyota USA and tell them about this shady dealer. Bring up the GTR situation that Logan mentioned and tell them you intend to follow the same course of action. If that doesn't work I'd call a local news organization (local to them) and see if they'll pay the dealer a visit for an interview. Pressure from above and from the press might crack them. If it doesn't then I'd call it a wasted hour of your life and move on.

SfmDRuT2
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Agree wit these def contact Toyota and the news they are always looking for stories to write up. Also contact EBay.
 
id say not to give up right away and try getting attention via news, toyota, and forums. cant believe dealers are still doing this. getting the word out can help future buyers avoid this shady dealership, and you may end up with an ex at a bargain. good luck.

p.s. forget ebay when it comes to issues like this.
 
blueduck1105 said:
I thought if you purchase a car on eBay and they can't deliver that they lose the privilage to post on eBay if reported? Is that way off?
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From recent research, it seems like it used to be that way... Apparently now, they took away the reporting system altogether for this and there is no consequences at all. This was confirmed by my call with eBay, although they did promise to "look into it," hah!
 
Definitely one of those TGTBT deals, $15K for a 2 year old EX is wayyyyy to cheap about the $10K short as per similar vehicles listed for sale. Since the amount is quite large, I would consult legal advice to see if you have recourse to go after the dealer to uphold the contract.
 
I would follow the advise of many others here. No sane dealership can afford that kind of negative PR. That GTR issue was a hell of a car story of the year material.
 
I hate to say it, but this is a perfect example of a bait and switch. They probably know there is no penalty of not selling the car and they just want you to come in so they can sell you something they have on the lot.
 
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