The problem with the ad is that it listed my vehicle specifically by vin and stock #. The ad was posted on their web site on Saturday - they no longer had that vehicle as it had been sold on Friday - the day before the ad was run. So basically they were advertising a vehicle that they did not have in their inventory. Just an error, but one that could potentially have caused them legal problems had someone else been the person who bought the car. I would not have taken legal action.
I understand what you are saying, but even with the specifics of your car in their ad, I do not think they would be liable. Inventories are constantly changing. Often times an ad will ask potential customers to call for availability, but they aren't required to do so.
In a similar vein, I once had a negative experience with a car dealership. My brother was looking for a replacement vehicle, and he had decided he wanted a Subaru. Even though he lived out of state, he wanted me to check our local Subaru dealer (which at the time was 60 miles away). According to their internet website, they had a red Subaru Impreza hatchback in stock, which my brother was interested in. I phoned the dealer to see if it was available, and if so, could I test drive it. I was told "yes" to both, so my dad and I drove to the dealership.
I thorough test drive later, we brought it back to the dealer to talk prices. Suddenly, a mechanic popped in the office of the salesman we were speaking with. "Did you just testdrive that red Impreza?" Yup, we did. "Oh, sorry. Dave just bought that three days ago. Sorry we didn't let you know."
Apparently Dave was another mechanic there. Purchased the vehicle but didn't remove it from the lot, or otherwise mark it as sold. All the salesman could do was offer a sheepish apology.
Fortunately for my brother, he found another red Subaru, this time an Outback, which he is still driving today, 7 years later. All I was out was a wasted 120 mile round trip.
