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Like honestly, if you're not there to do business, then why would the dealer entertain you?
It'd be a different conversation if it was like, "Hey, I am interested in this car, but the mileage seems wrong. Can we work something out?" But you were saying it's not about you specifically, it's about "buyers in general", which, to me, sounds like you're not trying to buy the car.
And clerical errors do happen. For instance, when my IS 500 went to the body shop last year, for some reason, they entered my car's mileage in CarFax as being 28,000 or so miles... it had only about 1,900 on it! Huge discrepancy. I think they just pulled the number from a different car or something. But it was pretty easy to fix talking with CarFax over web chat.
I have the same silver (04-06) LS that you're driving (parked) in this video.
I actually commend you for your actions and documentation. You never became loud, offensive, or unreasonable. On the contrary!...you were calm, respectful, and rational!
What they COULD have done, for excellent customer service and appreciation, is to offer you something for their error and your inconvenience! For example, take $1k off the negotiated price...or 7 free oil changes or "50% off" service coupons or SOMETHING....for not only bringing it to their attention the FIRST time, but for YOUR time and trouble the second time around!
I suspect you really were interested in this car, and I believe if they offered you some sort of financial compensation, you would have consummated the deal. Am I on track?
In general, I agree with this advice. If the VIN and dealer stock-number on the vehicle matches the VIN and stock-number on the ad itself, and there is a 10,000 mile difference on the mileage, something is definitely amiss....particularly if they did not correct it ASAP or within a few days. If it were just a few hundred miles, or something that could be explained by numerous recent test-drives (I used to do a lot of test-driving myself), that's one thing, but 10,000, IMHO, is unacceptable.
Also, OP, keep an eye on the latest dealer-ads for the car, if it has not already been sold. You don't want to file a report after the dealership may have already addressed your complaint, or the car is sold and is no longer on the market.
And, one last thing. to the OP, I will NOT call you paranoid or a jerk, like some here have done. IMO, you brought up some good points, although it is true that, as Steve pointed out, recording a buisness on their own private property without permission is of questionable legality (varies state-by-state)....but not necessarily illegal if it uncovers an infraction by the buisness. Recordings or not, buisnesses are responsible for their actions.
yes, they are slack for not updating the ad (which they have said its outsourced to a 3rd party) but that is not the same as selling you a different car.
T-IV as you say (which replaced T-II)
Did not know that 3309 was the same or equivalent (especially as the book never mentioned this). I am always wary of the phrase 'meets or exceeds [specification]'!
But thanks for the info anyway.
On Friday 4/30/2024 I went to look at a Lexus IS250C at the dealership; Lexus Of Clearwater. The car is advertised as having 31,077 miles on it. However, in reality, the car had 43,xxx miles on it. The people at the dealership responded when I pointed this out by saying things like: 'It's just a clerical error', 'it's not a bait & switch', 'we are an AutoNation dealership, we are too big to do anything like this intentionally', 'we will get it corrected'. The main reason I went to look at the car was because of the low miles. On 5/2/2024, the advertised mileage on the car was still the same incorrect 31,077. I went back to look at the car again on that day, 5/2/2024. I brought it to the attention of the staff and a manager that the incorrect mileage had not been corrected. This is the video from that day. A manager ended up asking me to leave, kicking me out for inquiring about this. This is the second time I have had a bad / scammy type of experience at Lexus Of Clearwater. The first time was in the service department. They put the incorrect weight of oil in the car, during the inspection they missed a leaky radiator, misdiagnosed a starter as being bad ($1500 estimate), lied about having checked the transmission fluid, and some other issues as well.
So you had a prior bad experience with this dealer in service and with them having "lied"and yet you still went back to look at an IS250C (you do know this is the LS430 3rd Gen forum, right***) not once, but twice.
You complain that you went to look at it initially because of the low mileage listed on their website yet their own website has a link to the free Carfax report and a photo of the odometer. Didn't you look at the free Carfax report or at least the photos before you went to the dealer the first time? And yet knowing the actual mileage from seeing the car in person and from the Carfax, you still returned. So two prior bad/scammy experiences and you go back a third time??? What was the purpose of that...just to make this video and post it online. Good grief. Why not just move on?
***OP originally posted this in multiple threads but it appears mods have merged or deleted his repeat postings.
Last edited by GADawgs; 05-04-24 at 06:37 AM.
Reason: Added photo from dealer website
It is what it is. If you are unhappy, just keep looking for something else. The good news is that you have not purchased the car, so you have endless options.
Or if you really like that car, just negotiate your best price and purchase it.
It is what it is. If you are unhappy, just keep looking for something else. The good news is that you have not purchased the car, so you have endless options.
Or if you really like that car, just negotiate your best price and purchase it.
👍👍👍
That's what I'm thinking too.
I've seen many cars over the years with wrong mileage listed but I can see a screenshot of the odometer in the pics
I've seen cars listed with the wrong engine size and options too
I believe is a purposeful bait & switch, not to get more $$ for the car, but to get more people in the dealership looking at the car. Then just say 'oh so sorry, our mistake. But hey, nice car huh?'.
If the dealer was engaging in "purposeful bait & switch", they wouldn't have posted a photo of the actual odometer reading, nor would they have posted a link to a free Carfax report showing the actual mileage. This was nothing more than human error, not bait and switch. You could/should have ascertained the actual mileage through the exercise of due diligence before ever setting foot in the dealership. A simple call to them before your first visit would have, I'm sure, answered your question about any discrepancies.
A philosophy that has served me well is "don't rush to attribute to malice those things that are easily explained by incompetence."
The dealership was well within their rights to show you the door; you were not there to conduct a business transaction with sales or service but instead to engage in your personal form of consumer activism.
As stated above, I would think anyone looking at this vehicle would also go thru the posted pics which show the actual mileage, and also the Carfax report showing the actual mileage along with 3 owners, previous accident, etc. realizing the posted mileage was in error. Also, did the OP check all the other vehicles and were they correct or also in error? If this was the only one then obviously just a human error somewhere along the line. If several vehicles were showing lower mileage then there might be an issue. I also don't think there would be a stampede of people to look at this vehicle due to low mileage, and like the salesperson stated, even 43k is low for the year of vehicle.
The OP also might have just been looking for some content to get views on YT. "RAW video of Lexus of Clearwater BAIT & SWITCH"
Could be. OP may have wanted to change things up a bit. Most of the content on that YouTube channel are interviews by the YouTuber of homeless people and some are disturbingly focused on sex, incest/child molestation and drug use......
Last edited by GS3Tek; 05-04-24 at 08:53 PM.
Reason: cleaned it up a bit
05-03-24, 01:40 PM
