Q: Is it legal for a car dealership to sell a car while it is off the lot and being test driven by another person?
My wife and I were test driving a vehicle that we had a licensed broker pick up for us to show us the car. While we were test driving the vehicle, the dealership began paperwork on the sale of the vehicle and demanded it to be returned to the dealership by the broker agent. Is this legal or just shady sales? Thanks.
A: Unless you or your broker had a contractual arrangement to hold on the sale of the vehicle, the dealership can sell a car that is not on the lot and/or is being test driven. If the dealership "sold" the car without really selling the car to simply prevent the broker from forcing a discount on the vehicle, the broker could potentially to sue dealership (and have you, the buyer, enter as a 3rd party beneficiary), but this would be a hard case to prove (and likely the legal costs would exceed the price of the car--assuming you were not test driving a McLaren P1 LM).
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