In Tuesday, July 28, I found a NEW dodge ram (actually 3 of them) from Huntington Beach Dodge in Huntington Beach, CA with a MSRP of $36,555.00 and an "Internet Sales Price" of $20,305.00 I printed out the web pages from "cars.com" where I found it, and also from their own web site, www.hbdodge.com
I made printouts of the sites, as I wanted to make sure they honored their price...
I immediately called the dealership and spoke with a salesman named Dan Powers. He said the price sounded low, but would go check to verify the price and that the truck was still there, and call me back. 10-15 minutes later, he called back and verified that the information WAS correct and the vehicle was still there.
He then told me that I needed to "Get down here immediately! How many dodge rams do you think are $20,305.00 and still on the lot? For that price it won't be here long".
I didn't make it down that day, as I had some family matters to take care of. I did more research Wednesday, 7-29
Thursday, July 30, I spoke with Dan Powers again via telephone after work. He verified again that the truck was still there, then told me that the Cash for Clunkers program was officially OVER at Midnight eastern time, so I needed to hurry.
After Dinner, my wife and I drove to the dealership. We test drove the truck and fell in love with it. We went in and started the paperwork... The odd thing was instead of the cash for clunkers paperwork, which our old truck qualified for with the difference in MPG being good enough for the $4500.00 voucher, he filled out a "Used trade in appraisal report", and was asking what options it had etc. My wife then interjected and said "If this is for the cash for clunkers, why do you need to know things like what kind of stereo it has... You have to have it crushed after it's turned in" He responded with "Oh yeah, I guess you are right".
After filling the rest of the paperwork out, he went and sat with his sales manager and talked for almost an hour... About half way thru their meeting, another person joined them and sat down at the computer next to them and for the next 20-30 minutes was typing (Without my paperwork in front of him) while talking to the salesman and the sales manager.
The Salesman and the sales manager FINALLY come out of the office and sit us down... The sales manager, "Scottie" tells us "I am Embarrassed... Cars.com misprinted the price on our ad. The actual price is not $20,305.00, but $26,805.00"
(Which coincidentally is exactly 6500.00 more... And equals the $4500.00 cash for clunkers voucher plus the $2000.00 customer cash rebate from chrysler added up!)
He then proceeded to tell me that they couldn't sell it for the $20,305.00 price, and they "Would take it up with Cars.com"
He then took 2 papers he had just printed out, and showed me the cars.com ad, with the price I saw, and another from their web site showing the price at $26,805.00
They had "misplaced" my printouts and told me I must have misread the one from their web site...
We then proceeded out the door of the dealership and went home.
Upon arriving back home, I grabbed printouts I had made (Printed multiple copies just in case!) and sure enough, the one from their website DID say $20,305.00, which was the SAME as the cars.com ad.
I *WILL* be filing reports with the California state attorney generals office, the DMV, the Better Business Bureau and Chrysler headquarters.
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