united-states contract-law false-advertising
Is customer entitled to the same car tested in the test drive or in the ad?
<p>I know someone who went to purchase a brand new car from a dealer in the US. The customer came in with an internet ad and asked to test drive the car listed. After the test drive, she paid for it. But when she returned outside, and got in the new car, she found inside was different. Less features. Less comfortable wheel and seats.</p>
<p>The dealer argued they make an honest mistake with the test drive, but they sold the customer the car they asked for, the one from the internet ad. They think the buyer must have been aware the car they test drove was too nice.</p>
<p>The customer though thinks they deserve the car from the test drive, even if it was a mistake, because they first tested it and immediately paid five minutes later.</p>
<p>Update 1: To clarify, this was a brand new car, not a used car.</p>
<p>Update 2:  The VIN on the contract matches the VIN of the car the customer received. The customer didn't expect she'd get a different car, so didn't think to check VINs before signing the paperwork.</p>
<p>Update 3: The customer remembered the test drive car's mileage, as it was a unique number. Weirdly, <em>the contract lists the mileage of the test driven car, not the mileage of the car she received.</em> When she was signing the paperwork, this just supported her idea that everything was fine.</p>
<p>Was this a breach of contract? Is the customer entitled to the online ad car or the one in the test drive? What law supports this?</p>

<p>As described, this may be a form of illegal bait-and-switch advertising, but not breach of contract. The contract states the specific vehicle to be sold, which does not match the test-driven car. If the dealer had listed the better car's VIN in the contract but supplied a different car, that would be breach of contract.</p>
<p>Whether it is illegal advertisement depends on the representations and disclaimers made by the dealer. To the extent that the dealer supplied indications that there was a difference between the test model and the purchase model, or to the extent that the customer should have known that the test car had features not found in the specific model that the customer believed he was buying and paying for, the dealer was being non-deceptive. To the extent that the dealer holds that selling model X instead of model Y is an &quot;honest mistake&quot; on their part, the dealer was being deceptive (or, was plainly in breach of contract). It's hard to see what &quot;honest mistake&quot; the dealer might have made, but perhaps the mistake was &quot;not being clearer to the customer that they had test-driven a fancier model, not the one that they were actually buying&quot;.</p>
<p>The customer's attorney could pursue this matter and either get the better car, or get a better financial deal, but it really hinges on who said / wrote what (and has a more believable story about what was said).</p>

<p>Simplistically, here in the UK it's rather clear that if a customer acts on information you provided; more so in a professional capacity then what goes wrong is your responsibility.</p>
<p>Logically, the same should be true everywhere and if it's not, the why of that is beyond me, for one.</p>

<p>No way in heck you are going to enforce performance and get the car you test drove when you signed a contract for another car, but no way they can make you pay for the car you didn’t think you were getting either.</p>
<p>I hope your friend refused to take possession of it and isn’t driving it now and hoping it will just “get fixed” because that tends to indicate acceptance of the contract they signed.</p>
<p>You can demand a refund and to void the contract and you would have an excellent case for that.  If they don’t agree and your friend can show that there was every reason to believe they were getting the car they test drove, that won’t go well for them especially if there is an error on the odomoeter reading.</p>
<p>Your friend can also report them to the BBB and to their state’s attorney general for trying to pull a bait and switch.   Individual states may also have special laws for situations like this.   You don’t mention what state your friend lives in, but I’m not a lawyer anyway so they probably want to talk to one after doing some googling.</p>
