Car Dealers Fined for misleading advertising
October 15, 2008
In a classic case of bait and switch, these car dealers have been fined for pushing out ads that state the car is one price.. .but it’s actually another.
You know those ads, the ones where it says “your new Jeep will only be $260 a month!” but when you show up at the dealer, it says you need a 900+ credit score and 10 grand down.
Enjoy the Article.
A Marlborough car dealer is among seven that have agreed to pay between $2,500 and $5,000 to the state after Attorney General Martha Coakley accused them of false and misleading advertising.
Nissan Automobiles of Marlborough Inc., along with Peter Fuller Enterprises of Watertown, Lawless Chrysler Jeep Inc. of Woburn, RC Olsen Cadillac Inc. of Boston and Cambridge, Saturn of Medford and South Shore Imported Cars Inc., were misleading buyers about the actual prices of automobiles, Coakley’s office said.
Under the Consumer Protection Act, Coakley focuses specifically on “asterisk pricing,” in which a dealer advertises a price with an asterisk and in small print at the bottom of the advertisement indicates that the low price presumes $3,000 in cash or trade, for example.
Coakley said the dealers “acted in the spirit of cooperation.” In January, Coakley targeted eight other car dealers, including the Herb Chambers Cos., which has dealerships in Central Massachusetts, for misleading advertising and collected $290,000.
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