Ford Dealer Sold Him The Wrong Car, Demands He Pay The Difference Weeks Later

Everyone wants to leave the dealership feeling like they got a good deal, right? Well, one new Ford Bronco owner is probably going to remember their “good deal” for a while, although not necessarily for the reasons they expected. What should’ve been a smooth purchase turned into a bit of a fiasco, as the dealership allegedly sold the wrong SUV and tried to squeeze thousands more out of the buyer.

It all started a few weeks ago in North Carolina, when a Ford shopper was looking for an SUV that could handle beach trips. Naturally, the Bronco Outer Banks, named after the islands off the state’s coast, fit the bill perfectly. The buyer signed the papers, took the car home, and was probably already imagining their sand-filled adventures. But just two weeks later, the dream started to unravel.

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According to a Reddit post by the frustrated Bronco buyer, their Ford salesman texted and asked for a photo of the VIN number. When they obliged, the salesman called and said they’d sold them the wrong SUV. Apparently, the Bronco they bought was worth $2,500 more than the one the dealer had intended to sell. The dealer’s solution? Pay up or come back and get the “correct” model.

The Wrong Bronco, But a Better One

“The car I took home was a higher package with better features than the one that they thought they sold me,” wrote the owner in a posting asking for legal help. “To me I thought that was BS. Why should I be responsible for their mistake? This is the car that I test drove. I didn’t test drive the ‘correct’ car. This went through 3 different people, and now suddenly they caught this mistake and are saying I either need to pay up for bring it in for the lesser value car.”

Sure enough, the paperwork had a different VIN on it. What would the customer do? One commenter on Reddit suggested two options. First, have the deal rewritten with the new VIN in place and no other changes. Second, just undo the deal entirely. In that second scenario, though, the dealer would end up having a Bronco that had 1,000+ miles (about 1,600 km) on it and had been to the beach a few times. Not exactly advertising material, then.

That said, it appears that the dealer chose option one, which seems like the right move here for everyone involved. “They reached back out and said they need a few days and for me to come in this week to adjust paperwork,” the buyer said. “Not another mention of owing money, so hopefully they will just eat the loss.”

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Luckily, they did. In a follow-up post, the buyer confirmed that the dealership had honored the original deal and was updating all the paperwork accordingly. “Long story short they are honoring the originally agreed upon price and updating all paperwork,” wrote the now-happy owner.

Lessons Learned: Know When to Stand Your Ground

In this case, the customer got what they were promised, and all’s well that ends well. But it serves as a reminder of how easily things can go sideways when dealing with dealerships. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, remember: it’s always worth questioning what’s being presented to you, and don’t be afraid to stand firm when something feels off.