Two Arizona Nissan Dealers Fined $500,000 For False Advertising

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Phoenix
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2021 signature
So we know this happens, but usually I thought that it's just that you go look at a car, see the price, and also see the added $2,000 for nitrogen in the tires and such. I guess this is different in that they actually advertised a price that they never intended to sell the car for?

What's your story? Di you just find the added BS add-ons when you walked in? or was the car actually advertised for a lower price than they intended to sell it for? - other than the DOC fee

 
Fortunately, this isn’t a big issue here in Ontario. We have provincial legislation re All-in Price Advertising. When a dealer advertises a price for a vehicle (new or used), that price must include all fees or charges the dealer intends to collect. This includes any charges for products or services they have pre-installed on a vehicle. At least this way when we see an ad on Autotrader, etc. there will be no bait and switch with pricing once you get to the dealership.
 
I read the article a few days ago and don't understand the fines.

"...alleging they would advertise the vehicles at an attractive price and then force customers to add features that raised the prices of the vehicles. Customers were told they had to buy certain accessories like nitrogen in the tires, an exterior protective coating, door edge guards, door cups, or window tinting"

Force? The dealer can try to add/sell whatever they want if you accept it. If you don't want the items they can either sell the car to you or cancel the deal. Neither party is bound to buy/sell the car in question. The dealer is under no obligation what so ever to give you the best possible deal. It is up to the customer to negotiate the best deal.

If a car is advertised all the dealer has to do is say it's sold if they don't want to sell it. Having it advertised doesn't create a guarantee for the customer to be able to buy at that price. It isn't like buying a hair dryer where the item in question is uniform for all inventory the store has.
 
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I read the article a few days ago and don't understand the fines.

"...alleging they would advertise the vehicles at an attractive price and then force customers to add features that raised the prices of the vehicles. Customers were told they had to buy certain accessories like nitrogen in the tires, an exterior protective coating, door edge guards, door cups, or window tinting"

Force? The dealer can try to add/sell whatever they want if you accept it. If you don't want the items they can either sell the car to you or cancel the deal. Neither party is bound to buy/sell the car in question. The dealer is under no obligation what so ever to give you the best possible deal. This is up to you to negotiate.
Like you said the dealer can try to add the add-ons but in this case they didn't give the buyer the option to buy the vehicle without the add-ons. If you wanted the vehicle you had to buy the add-ons.

That would be like trying to buy a hammer on sale but you also have to buy this high-priced box of nails if you want the hammer.
 
Like you said the dealer can try to add the add-ons but in this case they didn't give the buyer the option to buy the vehicle without the add-ons. If you wanted the vehicle you had to buy the add-ons.

That would be like trying to buy a hammer on sale but you also have to buy this high-priced box of nails if you want the hammer.
I guess we just disagree. I would ask the dealer to give me the price listed, or walk away. I don't see this as a situation which requires a $500k fine.

Back in 2019 I had a deal via e-mail on a CX-5 GTR at a local dealer. I had a stock number the exact car I wanted in the email with a lease deal completely worked out before I drove the the dealership. When I arrived and finished my test drives of the GTR and GT, I said I wanted the GTR. At that point I was told they made a mistake on the numbers in my email (I later found this was an accurate statement as they used the money factor for the GT - essentially 0% interest - to calculate the GTR's lease which was not correct.) I walked out and contacted the owner of the dealership as I had worked there for years when I was a teenager. They came down a little bit, but would not honor the price they had given me in the email.
 
The dealer is under no obligation what so ever to give you the best possible deal. It is up to the customer to negotiate the best deal.

Having it advertised doesn't create a guarantee for the customer to be able to buy at that price.
It's not that an advertisement creates a guarantee or contract, or that they dealer can be forced to sell a car at a given price. And perhaps the story could have been worded different. But whether you agree or not, there are trade laws that doesn't allow you to sell advertise a product, at a specific price, that doesn't exist. Back in the day it was called bait and switch.

Yes, you can sell it however you want, but trade laws don't allow you to *advertise* it at a price for which is is not available
 
Like you said the dealer can try to add the add-ons but in this case they didn't give the buyer the option to buy the vehicle without the add-ons. If you wanted the vehicle you had to buy the add-ons.

That would be like trying to buy a hammer on sale but you also have to buy this high-priced box of nails if you want the hammer.
This^^^. You can make that requirement, but it must be mentioned in the ad - we always see, "buy this at this price when you by an accompanying product". They can't publicly advertise the Hammer, then , only when you get to the store, tell you that that price was only in you bought the nail.

The Nissan dealers advertised a price that never existed - that's the problem
 
Force? The dealer can try to add/sell whatever they want if you accept it. If you don't want the items they can either sell the car to you or cancel the deal. Neither party is bound to buy/sell the car in question. The dealer is under no obligation what so ever to give you the best possible deal. It is up to the customer to negotiate the best deal.
Perhaps 'force' was the wrong word. But again, the problem isn't the sale/deal/negotiation, it's the advertisement. This part is not a subjective opinion. Whether you agree or not, it is illegal, and called false advertising.

As far as "not being a situation which requires a $500k fine", fines are not always to be compensatory, they are often to be punitive
 
based on my experience the scummiest dealerships are indeed in Arizona and some in Florida. And with the lack of car inventory its open season for most of them.
Its possible these fines are peanuts to what they earn in total. Unfortunately I think the situation will continue.
 
I read the article and the fine was on advertising a vehicle at price A and when customer go to the dealers, the price was A+b, b being the extra addons. If dealers did have other vehicles priced at A w/o addons, they would have been OK... (sorry, those were sold).

When I was searching for my '22 Turbo. Most dealers wanted MSRP+$1k. One dealer wanted MSRP but they said they have $1k worth of addons that I need to pay for also.
Imagine if they did not tell me and I drove 40 miles there, then they told me. I would have been pissed.... Being upfront matters.

I ended up getting a new arrival w/o addons put on yet.
They sold it to me at MSRP.
 
I remember awhile back there were some car dealers advertising low priced vehicles. When people went to buy one it turned out the dealer had one vehicle at that price and said it was already sold. I guess it was a way for them to get around the false advertising charge. Apparently the state consumer affairs dept. disagreed and levied a hefty fine.
 
I guess we just disagree. I would ask the dealer to give me the price listed, or walk away. I don't see this as a situation which requires a $500k fine.

Back in 2019 I had a deal via e-mail on a CX-5 GTR at a local dealer. I had a stock number the exact car I wanted in the email with a lease deal completely worked out before I drove the the dealership. When I arrived and finished my test drives of the GTR and GT, I said I wanted the GTR. At that point I was told they made a mistake on the numbers in my email (I later found this was an accurate statement as they used the money factor for the GT - essentially 0% interest - to calculate the GTR's lease which was not correct.) I walked out and contacted the owner of the dealership as I had worked there for years when I was a teenager. They came down a little bit, but would not honor the price they had given me in the email.
An honest mistake is one thing which happened in your case. What these dealers did here is downright deceptive, fraudulent and predatory to customers, many of which whom were a minority, race wise. Additionally, manufacturers are getting pissed at these franchise dealers because they are tarnishing their name and brand reputation by these shinanigans costing them millions in sales.
 
This bait and switch is a common practice in any business it seems. I'm glad they fined Nissan for it. Hopefully that sends a message.
I was out this morning doing some shopping, and before I left the house, my wife and I checked the flyers we got this week for sale items. There were a few items I was interested in, and lo and behold the two stores that advertised the products I wanted were mysteriously out of stock. Today was the first day of the sale price, and they had no stock? Gimme a break.
 
I guess we just disagree. I would ask the dealer to give me the price listed, or walk away. I don't see this as a situation which requires a $500k fine.
We can disagree, but there is no debate that false advertising is illegal, No more than Best buy can advertise a TV for sale that it never had at the advertised price. Of course you can negotiate the sale, but that's not what this is about. This isn't about "walking away" or dealer tactics, it is about trade laws, not about negotiating. Simply put, it is illegal to advertise a price that is not the price. Now, this is a different story........

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An honest mistake is one thing which happened in your case. What these dealers did here is downright deceptive, fraudulent and predatory to customers, many of which whom were a minority, race wise. Additionally, manufacturers are getting pissed at these franchise dealers because they are tarnishing their name and brand reputation by these shinanigans costing them millions in sales.
What does race have to do with it????
 
What does race have to do with it????
Dealerships have been known to prey on people who are not Caucasian when it comes to financing rates as well as prices of back end products and trickery in general. Those who have the least end up paying the most and get taken advantage of. It's a fact
 
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I remember awhile back there were some car dealers advertising low priced vehicles. When people went to buy one it turned out the dealer had one vehicle at that price and said it was already sold. I guess it was a way for them to get around the false advertising charge. Apparently the state consumer affairs dept. disagreed and levied a hefty fine.
They are now required to advertise the VIN number of the vehicle at that price. Then its sale can be tracked.
 
A lot has to do with the English language barrier as well.
Again, this isn't the dealers issue. If someone comes into the dealership and doesn't speak the language needed to properly negotiate, this isn't the dealers issue (and shouldn't be). I often get clients at my clinic who can't speak English very well. I don't speak anything else. If it happens to be Spanish, I sometimes have a tech there who can help out. If I don't it isn't on me to figure out how to communicate. They came to me and I am under no obligation to figure it out for them. Not trying to be a jerk, just don't like excuses for things which shouldn't be put on a dealership. I am not a big dealership supporter either. They are often slimy and take advantage of buyers but this doesn't make it their fault. There is always the option to stop the process and walk away. It isn't reasonable to purchase a car - all the while knowing you are being screwed - and then cry about it afterwards to try and gain sympathy.
 
Again, this isn't the dealers issue. If someone comes into the dealership and doesn't speak the language needed to properly negotiate, this isn't the dealers issue (and shouldn't be). I often get clients at my clinic who can't speak English very well. I don't speak anything else. If it happens to be Spanish, I sometimes have a tech there who can help out. If I don't it isn't on me to figure out how to communicate. They came to me and I am under no obligation to figure it out for them. Not trying to be a jerk, just don't like excuses for things which shouldn't be put on a dealership. I am not a big dealership supporter either. They are often slimy and take advantage of buyers but this doesn't make it their fault. Seriously? Not their fault? There is always the option to stop the process and walk away. It isn't reasonable to purchase a car - all the while knowing you are being screwed - and then cry about it afterwards to try and gain sympathy.
It absolutely IS a dealer issue and their fault if they knowingly take advantage of a client that has a language issue, or any other limiting factor.....and dealers do exactly that. How can it not be? (In fact, sales people in all types of industries will take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers. Cell phone stores, furniture stores, etc etc. You name it, it happens.)
Car dealers are also known for taking advantage of women because they think that women aren't car savvy, and thus can be taken advantage of. I have personal experience with this issue helping out a female friend. I can provide details if you want.
So, it definitely happens, so please don't give a carte blanche innocent verdict to shady dealers that do indeed take advantage of people that may be disadvantaged in some way.
Thankyou.
 
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