Car buyer sued by dealer over low price

A Chrysler dealer has filed a lawsuit against a customer that purchased a Pacifica from them - for allegedly paying too little. The dealer alleges that the price paid was due to a clerical error, and is seeking the full price in their lawsuit.



Wasler Chrysler, a dealership in Hopkins, Minnesota, has filed a lawsuit against a customer that purchased a 2007 Chrysler Pacifica at the end of her two-year lease for $11,639. The lawsuit claims that the price the woman paid was $7,000 lower than what they wanted, and they are seeking either the difference in price, or that she returns the car.

The deal took place in October 2009, and the dealership claims that it notified the buyer two weeks after the sale that it had discovered a clerical error. According to James Eli Shiffer, of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the papers the buyer signed were for a deal that priced the car $6,000 below KBB value. Wasler Chrysler is seeking not $6,000, but an additional $7,000 from the buyer in order to complete the sale, according to their lawsuit.

"She was told several times what the [correct] price was," said Doug Sprinthall, vehicle operations director for Walser Automotive Group. "We made a clerical error."

The owner doesn't see it that way, and said, "You can't sell someone something and then come back and say: 'Whoops, I made a mistake. You have to pay more.' "

Since the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran the story both the dealership and the vehicle's owner have been inundated with phone calls according to a New York Times article. The owner of the car says she has been receiving calls from strangers offering their support - and the dealership has been getting similar calls - also backing the vehicle's buyer.

Sprinthall, a spokesman for the Chrysler dealership said, "We don't make a habit of suing customers. I think we'll work it out, and we'll move on."

Sprinthall added, "We're attempting to negotiate this out with Tammie right now."

The vehicle owner says an attorney from the dealership contacted her this week, but no resolution has been reached.