Car dealership deceptive practices
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
I believe a car dealership engaged in deceptive behavior by telling me the car I agreed to purchase was sold earlier in the day after I both sides agreed to the deal sheet and I put a deposit on the car.
Full story: last Saturday, January 3, I went and test drove a car-make and model doesn’t matter. Went back Wednesday evening for them to appraise my car. I couldn’t stay ti discuss all of the numbers so the general sales manager gave me a deal sheet.
Yesterday, January 8, I texted the salesman and told him the trade in allowance was too low. The dealership texted me back, increased the amount and sent me a new deal sheet.
We then went back and forth through text message on the price of the car for a few hours until they agreed to my offer. They sent me a final deal sheet to which I agreed to it and told them I would take delivery on Saturday.
They sent me a link to put a deposit on the car so it “would be mine.” Just after 5PM I paid the $500 deposit.
At 7:48PM the salesman calls me and says he has bad news and that the car had been sold earlier in the day around 11AM unbeknownst to him. He asked if there was another vehicle I was interested in and I told him there was and which one it was. He said he’d speak to his manager to see if they can work a deal on the other car.
I didn’t hear from them in the morning so I texted the salesman around 11AM for an update.
Another worker said the general manager is working on the deal for the other car and they’d be in touch shortly.
Before the sales manager called me back the finance manager called me to see if I would be interested in a different car with lower miles in a different color. I told her no that I didn’t like that color.
When the salesman called me back he said the could only discount the car a certain amount and this car would be about $1000 more than the deal we agreed to for the original car.
So my question is, what, if any repercussions do I have against the dealership? They also didn’t refund my deposit, at least as far as my credit card shows.
Also, is this a breach of contract on their part, and if so, what’s the remedy?
I have the entire text exchange with the deal sheets and the few emails.
What can I do?
Posted Jan 10, 2026, 12:28 AM UTC