Q: Hi, dear lawyers, I have a concern wondering if it could be made a case or not against toyota misleading.
I went to Toyota dealer and asked about a specific vehicle that is showing online that it’s in transit, so after checking the salesman said that it would arrive on Thursday 29th of Dec, so I went ahead and sold my vehicle on Tuesday the 27Th and got a rental till the 29th and put a deposit 1000$ for the vehicle in transit at toyota dealer, now on Thursday the salesman said it didn’t come it will come Friday tomorrow or Saturday latest. So I extended my rental till Saturday just Incase and then the vehicle did not arrive Friday Saturday or Sunday, so asked toyota to give me a rental cheaper than the regular rental places and we got a rental from toyota on Saturday from toyota, they said the vehicle will be on Monday or Tuesday the latest, now it’s Monday tomorrow is Tuesday and ofcourse today I checked with them they said it’s not here yet. So I lost a lot of money renting a car because of them misleading. Any case here or it’s just life. Thanks for reading.
A:
Legally, you may have a case against the dealer. The case is likely not worth pursuing using an attorney. The reason is that the damages you have suffered are minor. You can buy a different vehicle and mitigate your damages. A lawsuit is an expensive thing to pursue and any recovery is likely not going to be enough to make it worthwhile for an attorney to handle.
The first issue was whether it was reasonable for you to rely on the representation that the vehicle would be delivered. Was this "the vehicle to be here" or "we hope the vehicle will be here" ? Did the dealer know that you would be selling your vehicle and maybe even buy the vehicle from you? Was the vehicle to be delivered really even a real vehicle or was this a "switch and bait" situation where the real goal was to not lose a customer and make a promise that they never intended to keep?
You may want to go online to see if there are people such as you complaining about sales tactics that are being used. You may find that there are lots of people who are feeling used by the dealer and maybe a class action could be brought.
I do not want to sound too theoretical, but, you obviously need to do a lot more homework. You may want to file a complaint with the SC Department of Consumer Affairs and see where that may lead.
Finally, you can file a lawsuit in Magistrates or Small Claims Court. You do not have to have an attorney, but, you may lose because the dealer will likely hire an attorney to represent it. I hope this information helps you in deciding how to proceed.
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