The White House also did a good whiteboard video to explain this whole getting more out of your healthcare dollars idea:

If you want to show up at your pal's BBQ in a new ride, check out these best and worst 4th of July deals. CarWoo analyzed thousands of transactions from over 70% of US dealerships to see which new cars are getting the biggest, and smallest, breaks off MSRP.

Here are the best and worst deals if you're going out to buy a new car on your day off.

Most savings

• Ford F-150 ($23,500 MSRP) 15.48% off - $19,862
• Nissan Altima ($21,500 MSRP) 15.34% off - $18,201
• Honda Accord Sedan ($21,480 MSRP) 15.16% off - $18,223
• Acura TL ($35,705 MSRP) 12.00% off - $31,420
• Acura MDX ($43,030 MSRP) 11.72% off - $37,986

• Least savings

• Toyota Prius v ($26,550 MSRP) 3.45% off - $25,634
• Honda Fit ($16,125 MSRP) 2.70% off - $15,689
• Hyundai Accent ($14,545 MSRP) 2.58% off - $13,950
• Mazda CX-5 ($20,695 MSRP) 1.51% off - $20,382
• Toyota Prius c ($18,950 MSRP) 1.21% off - $18,720

• Clearly there's other factors that go into making a car a deal or not. These are just raw discounts — AMERICAN style! So, besides price, what's your personal take on what matters most when deciding if a car is a good value? Both Honda and Nissan seem to be shuffling out older models. Is picking up a 2012 Altima a good deal with a new coming?

Refresh, refresh, refresh, 5-4-3-2-1-0. Autodynamics's no-reserve eBay auction for a 2008 BMW 3-Series M3 Dinan was over. At $33,700, Rene Beunier was the top bidder, and he was pretty stoked to get it for about $7,000 under typical dealer cost. When he called the dealership to arrange the deal, the receptionist accused him of "hacking eBay." After more protracted wrangling, the dealership is threatening to sue Rene for "tortious interference" and "defamation," unless he pays up $1,500.

Unlike their other auction types, bids in eBay Motor and Real Estate sales are not binding. All you've won is a chance to maybe buy the car. Or maybe not. The seller is under no obligation to sell it to you. eBay Motors might as well just be the classifieds at the back of the newspaper, just with a bidding interface dropped over it to give you a bunch of buttons to play with.

I spoke with Autodynamics's attorney, Ali Fazel of the law firm of Scardino & Fazel, who confirmed the story was pretty much as Rene described it in his thread on M3post. Where he differed was who was in the right, and who should pay.

"We can't sell a car at below wholesale value," he said. He blamed the car's listing with no reserve on a "glitch" with the car auction posting software Autodynamics used. Their attorney wasn't able to provide the name of the software. The dealer had offered to buy any other car that Rene wanted and sell it to him at dealer cost, but that doesn't work for Rene. "I'd like the car, for the price I paid for it on eBay," he wrote via email.

Now, here's where the $1,500 comes in: While Rene and the dealer were haggling, Autodnyamics sold the car to another dealer. "His lawyer sent a letter to the dealership who had bought the car from my client, and the dealership said you know what, I don't want to mess with this I don't want the car," said Autodnyamics's attorney Ali Fazel. "So, in essence, he tortiously interfered with a contract between two parties." (Here's a definition of tortious interference). The second dealer had put some new tires and done some other work on the car that Autodynamics was going to have to eat the cost of, and that's what they're seeking from Rene. Fazel was not able to provide an itemized breakdown of the dealer's costs in time for this post.

Reached for comment, eBay Motors released a statement saying, "With 4.55 million vehicles sold to date and an auto part selling every second on eBay Motors, it's a marketplace where millions of people transact on a monthly basis. Considering this volume, amicable transactions on eBay Motors far outweigh situations like the one described here, however unfortunate. This is due to the fact that eBay Motors has a combination of buyer and seller protections not found anywhere else on the web, including Vehicle Purchase Protection, seller feedback and vehicle history reports. We hope the buyer and seller can reach a conclusion quickly on this transaction."

"We're doing everything we can to avoid a lawsuit," Autodynamics's attorney said. But, "If he continues to malign my client or get his friends to say lies... I'm going to have to sue him," he said, referring to some of the negative postings others who have read Rene's story have made on the dealer's Google Reviews and Yelp page.

"Anyone who writes up anything or does anything on the internet discussing this who doesn't get the facts right is subject to getting sued," said Fazel.

So that's where it stands. Two uncompromising parties locked in a total death grip. Frankly, I think both cowboys should just walk away from this Texas showdown and live to shoot another day.

Hundreds of cars gleam in the sun, neatly slotted in the parking lot grid, an enormous keyboard waiting to be struck. A black and orange Shelby GT rumbles in, the timpani taking its place. A silver Prius takes up position alongside it. A 2008 Dodge Durango chirps out a single staccato note as its driver walks away.

I swing my borrowed 2000 Jetta between a Fit and an Accord like a clarinetist elbowing his way to his chair. To the shoppers stuffing garden hoses and summer gear into their trunks, the cars were mere means of transportation and carriers of freight. But to the 100 Improv Everywhere agents on site, the vehicles were instruments, wheeled into place and positioned on the unauthorized stage that was the shared parking lot between a Staten Island Kohl's and its neighboring Lowe's.

The first movement of the Car Alarm Symphony was about to begin.

The goal was to activate our car alarms, en masse, without being seen. We were given instructions to park our cars, then convene behind a 10-foot high wall that ran from the edge of the Kohl's building to the edge of the Lowe's. There, we were completely out of view from our audience, but visible to the residents of the dead end street behind the stores.

We clustered around our maestro, Charlie Todd, the bearded and plaid-shirt wearing founder of Improv Everywhere. With the cameras rolling, we raised our keyless entry remotes in unison. On his downswing, we all pressed our buttons at the same time.

Nothing happened.

We repeated the first bars of the score. A horn or two sounded. Charlie told everyone to put the key fobs under their chins and try again, because doing so turns your head into an antennae and boosts the range. We all dutifully placed our keys our chins, opened our mouths and pressed the button. NYT says this works because it "capacitively couples" the fob to your head, using the fluids in your skulls as a conductor. (This blogger tested it and said he could double his range by holding it right over his head). In any event, two or three horns went off this time.

Was this moment, a semi-circle of mouth-breathing dorks frantically pressing malfunctioning gizmos while following the orders of a self-proclaimed leader we met online the epitome of everything wrong with the Internet? Had we — Rosalyn, the frizzy-haired middle-aged woman who worked in publishing, and John, the college student holding a calculus textbook and wearing rainbow socks with sandals, and the young actress types, and the older dads, and the guy with the t-shirt replacing the "Coke" in the Coke logo with "Cock" — dragged our asses out to Staten Island from the Tri-State Area for an experiment in mass failure? Were we lured out from our computer lairs, blinking in the sun, only to crash into the hot asphalt of reality? Yes. Our collective twee quirky force was no match for the facts. It didn't matter how many of us were working together if we were doing it wrong.

Then, like a clarion call from the darkness, a lone voice rose from the crowd. It was a bespectacled youth in a robin's egg blue shirt. "There's too many going at the same time. It's overloading the frequency!" he said. Could it be? Too many of the fobs used the same frequencies and were canceling each other out? It sounded plausible.

Charlie started calling out birthday months. Only when you heard your month were you to press your remote keyless entry button. He came to this idea so quickly it seemed he might have used it before to quickly divide up crowds. You could hear the results of the new tactic. The horns rose and rose into a droning wail that crescendoed, percolated and modulated like a mad traffic jam. Then Charlie motioned for silence and we cut them off. Texted reports from the stage manager in parking lot told him that the piece was quite audible this time. There were so many cars going off that it was disturbing the prize giveaway in front of Kohl's. A ripple went through the crowd. "I think I heard my car." "We definitely got it." "Sounds like my commute!" Then Charlie got texts that we could be heard chattering backstage from the parking lot like giddy children before their first talent show. He shushed us. Even with the excitement and new tactics, a lot of people's cars hadn't gone off. Mine didn't. It was just too far away. The kid with the Durango seemed to be having the best results.

An old woman came out of her house and sat down on her porch to scrutinize us. Someone went over to tell her we were on a church scavenger hunt and would be done shortly. Yeah, the Church of Chaos. A cop car slowly cruised by, surveyed us, then sped off.

At a photographer's suggestion, Charlie arranged us in discreet sections to look more orchestral. January-March were the "woodwinds." April-June was the "brass." July-September were the "strings." Etc. We tuned up and did the piece again while Charlie gestured with mock grandeur to each section in turn, activating us like we were the Staten Island Key Fob Philharmonic. Our car alarms wept and chimed and wailed as we plied them like the virtuosos we had become, or at least pretended to be for the cameras' benefit.

4:35

We moved onto the last movement of the piece. The grand finale called for a natural re-entry to the parking lot where we could try to blend in until 4:45 when everyone would activate their cars from just a few feet away. At this distance there would be no issues. All of our alarms would go creating a massive, unexpected wall of sound, like the canons in the 1812 overture. Afterward we were free to drive home or meet back at the rendezvous point in Barrett Park.

We all found different ways to look normal. Some people browsed through Kohl's. One woman joined the line at the giveaway booth and took a spin on the prize wheel. I decided the best way to blend in was to buy a bunch of sliders from White Castle and eat them.

4:44

I made my way back through the parking lot, a bag of sliders looped around one hand holding my iPhone, battered key fob in the other. It felt so light. I examined the icon of the unhinged padlock to make sure I hit the right button. The seconds ticked down on the iPhone clock. Was it weird that I was looking at my phone? Was it weird that a bunch of people, my fellow undercover agents, were all moving through the lot and looking at their phone? No, I told myself, everyone looks at their phones all the time. It's cool. It's cool. It's time. I hit the button.

4:45

Alarm after alarm erupted all around me. It was like Philip Glass composed a symphony entirely of car alarms and someone was cranking the stereo at full blast. Dozens and dozens of car alarms from every make and model trilled through the air. They warbled up and down, the sound of countless potential emergencies colliding. They honked. They brayed. They came in and out in arpeggios of warning. WAH A WAH A WAH A WHA A HONK! HONKA! HONKA! WEE-OOO-WEE-OOO-WEE! Times twenty.

This was an acoustic barrage so overwhelming I couldn't move. I felt like I was shambling forward, pushing through the brambles of a sonic forest. The audience of shoppers gazed around with bewildered smiles. They looked from car to car, unable to figure out why so many alarms were going off at once.

"What's going on?"

"It must be the heat."

"This is like that video I saw on YouTube where everyone freezes in Grand Central!" said one of the Lowe's garden supply workers.

"I'm going to need you to turn that camera off," said a Lowe's shopping cart attendant to one of the cameramen.

Then, with the unlatching and slamming of doors one by one, each alarm was silenced as we got into our cars and quietly drove away.

We gathered back in the grove. Someone tossed a frisbee. Slices of pizza were handed out. War stories were swapped. We took a group photo. Finally, the temporary break from our more or less mundane Saturdays was over and we headed back to our cars. A few moments later, everyone spontaneously set off their car alarms. We had arranged as strangers, and left much the same, though for three hours we had all been bonded together in witness of a layer of unreality being ripped back.

I'd like to think that if I should see any of the other agents down the road, crossing the street, queued up at the DMV, if we found each other reaching for the same avocado at the supermarket, that we might pause and exchange a nod, maybe even whip out our key fobs and clink them together. I would sneak a glance over my shoulder to see if other recognizable agents were lurking. Perhaps I'd stumbled into a scene that was just about to start.

Every square mile of this planet is carved up into boxes. Each box has its own rules. There's an inside voice and an outside voice. You can take pictures on the sidewalk but not inside the store. In one box you can only tell the truth, but in another, you can only lie. There's no written rule against it, but strip mall parking lots are for placing your car inside a box while you go inside another box to stand in the right box to sign your name in the box so you can buy more things in boxes. They are not intended to be makeshift concert halls for car alarm opuses.

We had thumbed our nose at one of the boxes and gotten away with it. The revolution was minor, but it struck me like a tuning fork, and I'm still vibrating.

Abdulah Alsayegh doesn't do subtle. After waiting for weeks for parts from his Jeep dealership to no avail, he spraypainted complaints about their poor service all over his Wrangler and parked it right in front of their door. The dealership scrambled like mad to hide the eyesore, parking cars around it on all sides, covering it in a wrap and holding it hostage. Now his stunt has paid off. The Kuwait dealership's GM has apologized and let Abdulah exchange his car for a brand new one. That's him, perched atop the sand dune, giving a thumbs up in his new ride.

View gallery »

Abdullah said it went down like this at the Al Mulla & Behbehani Motor Co. in Kuwait:

When I first left the car in the parking lot, the management seemed to have panicked as my phone never stopped ringing, the calls were from the garage manager, assistant GM, the GM, and the public relations manager.

When I decided to answer their calls, I was transferred to the GM who asked to meet me to discuss the matter further, During the call he made a verbal apology to me as I have been a loyal customer with a clean record with the dealership since 2001.

He gave me an appointment which I attended with the intention to discuss the bad service received by other customers, I knew this as the pictures I posted [see gallery] were very quickly spread on social media site and started receiving comments and complaints from other people who are having the same problems with the dealership. My intention from my meeting was to raise the GM's awareness of these issues and make sure he understood the magnitude of the problems they are facing.

The GM made me a promise to improve the service and he is willing to show me what improvements they are going to put in place. He also insisted that the dealership compensate me for the bad service I received.

They gave me an offer to exchange my old car for a new 2012 full option Wrangler, and I accepted.

He was very kind and well-mannered during the meeting, and seemed to understand why I took the actions I did.

Regards
Abdulah Alsayegh

The dealership's GM could not be reached for comment.

Congratulations to Abdulah for making his voice heard and to the dealership for making it right. No doubt they will be looking more closely at their customer service operation and have a renewed appreciation for the power of word of mouth.

Sometimes, if you're getting ignored... it pays to do something they can't ignore.

Falling in love can be dangerous, especially when it's at a used car dealership. Bethany Porter's heart went all a-flutter once she laid eyes on a black '99 Saab 9-3 convertible with 98,000 miles on it sitting at the Geoff Rogers Autoplex in St. Peters, Missouri, home of the "price smash." She was ready to dump her 2001 Nissan Pathfinder for it. They had gone 175,000 miles together, good miles, but she was ready for a little more thrill in the driver's seat. Her human lover, her husband, cautioned her against jumping in too eagerly as they walked into the dealership... So did having stars in her eyes leave her burned behind the wheel? And how can what she learned help you save big on your next car purchase? I reached out to two car salesman experts to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on how the deal went down.

I also contacted Geoff Rogers Autoplex. Chuck, the manager, confirmed the trade-in happened for the amounts Bethany described. The salesman she and her husband worked with was no longer there and Chuck did not make available any other employee who might have knowledge of the sale. Requests for comment about the specifics of the negotiation process as described by Bethany were not returned.

Back to our story, already in progress...

Beth was feeling confident. She drove the car home and it was all good except for a few cosmetic issues like a cracked windshield, needing a new battery, a hydraulic soft top that was low on fluids and a non-working info display. But for all its charm, she had seen the Saab soft top convertible she coveted at other places and knew she could get what she wanted elsewhere. "Be prepared to walk," her husband told her as they returned to the Geoff Rogers Autoplex. A current of electricity ran through her body. "I am digging the power I feel," she recalled feeling at the time. Knowing that she could always walk gave her an edge.

She laid down the foundation for the new relationship with the salesman. "I straight up told the sales guy that it was gonna be a good cop/bad cop thing," Bethany recalls. "Do not treat the husband like he is dumb. He will walk, just be honest and we'll be fine."

The salesman asked her husband "What can I do to get you in the car?" Her husband said they wanted $4,000 for the Pathfinder and to only pay $2,000 for the Saab, pictured at left. He also asked for the cracked windshield to be fixed, the battery replaced, and a statement that the top was working fine.

Then the deal-making fun begins! Bethany's tale follows, along with play-by-play commentary from our car salesmen experts, Chris Duncan and Mike Rice.

Bethany:

Salesguy says that he cannot go over $3500 for Pathfinder, then says that he has to make some kind of profit. Husband says he knows that Pathfinder will be sold for nothing less than $9,000, so this should be no biggie. Salesguy says he is crazy, it is not going to sell for that much. Salesguy is dumb enough to ask husband to show him online where he sees our car going for that much. Husband pulls up a number of cars, earlier model years, higher mileage, not as great trim package, selling for $10,000+. Thought salesguy had learned his lesson. Had salesguy look over car, he comes back in and starts on the paperwork.

Mike Rice: "Salesmen make their money off the deal of the car. Finance makes their money off selling extended warranties to customers, and selling loans to banks at the highest rate possible. What they will often do when you sit down and try to hammer out a payment, is they will get your payment where you want, but then in finance, kick the term out another year and pack in stuff like LoJack and a warranty. Thats why you always fight for the price of the car, not the payment. Most people don't catch it."

While salesguy was out, husband tells me he does not want to buy the car tonight, wants to do a bit more research. The car will be there tomorrow, he says. I'm cool with it. We tell the salesguy when he returns, and salesguy freaks out. Husband says he wants to see offer in writing, salesguy writes stuff down, husband says okay, maybe we will be back tomorrow. Salesguy freaks out more and says he's given us everything we wanted, what else do we want, the car could be gone tomorrow, what else do we need? Well, he had our keys, so my husband asked for them, and after another five minutes or so, we got them back.

Looked online, decided the deal would be okay, and decided to finance the car to rebuild my crappy credit. Plan was all in place. Return to dealership next morning with offer we had before. Our salesguy was there, but "busy." Another guy is helping us, and presents us with offer, with only $3,500 for Pathfinder. Husband says, I have $4,000 right here in this paperwork. Oh, oh, our mistake they say. Husband starts to get a bit nervous. No worries, I say. Now is probably a good time to mention this was a "We Finance Everyone!" type place. Kind of a hole in the wall. We wait to see the finance guy. We have the written offer, things seem pretty cut and dry.

Walk into the finance guy's office. The car, all detailed and ready to go, can be seen right outside the window behind him. He casually asks if we have title for Pathfinder, we say yeah, give it to him.

Chris Duncan: "I know of a sales guy who says he would sometimes 'forget' to give the title back to the customer after checking it, to ensure that if they went elsewhere they couldn't complete the deal."

Mike Rice: "They will do anything they can to keep you on the lot. Ever see a car lot offer 'FREE VALET PARKING!'? Great, now they have your keys and you're a captive audience. The other good one is 'My manager has the keys to your trade in and he's out.' Is it illegal? That's for a lawyer to decide, but if you call the cops and tell them your being held captive, odds are they will grovel at your feet quickly."

He pulls the paperwork out of a folder, mentions how great the car is, how fun the top will be down for rest of summer. Okay, we say. He pulls out pens and is all, "sign here and here" without explaining anything.

Husband stops and looks at paperwork. Whoa. He says. To refresh, the trade-in is $4,000, the cost of the car is $,2000. But the loan on the paperwork includes a $2500 extended service plan, which has never been mentioned previously by anyone. Whoa. The car only has 98,000 miles on it. We don't want that, says the husband. Finance guy says "WHAT! It's a foreign car! Something goes wrong, you are screwed! You need this!" I point out that it costs more than the car! Plus, $500 has been added on to the price of the car. "Well, we can't finance the car for less than $2500," the salesman says. "Never mentioned before," we say. Husband says, "We are leaving."

Chris Duncan: "As for the extended service plan, that is a crappy warranty wearing a summer dress. Common place on a used car lot and again they will be paid commission on the deal. But slipping a warranty in isn't that uncommon. It's kind of the 'assumptive close' approach: 'Oh, you don't want the warranty? Hmmm, have you thought about what you would do if xxxxx happened? Ah, I see. Well I will need to go and speak to xxxx about this and see if they can take it off, we always sell warranties with our vehicles!' Gets the customer second guessing if they are making the right move by not taking it, you could also categorize it under the ‘Jones' effect. 'Everyone else is doing it……Bundling it in with finance is even easier as it will only cost you xxxx per month…'"

Finance guy looks to me for emotional outburst, but I simply say "okay." We get up and walk out, through the dealership, down to our Pathfinder in the lot.

Mike Rice: "Bethany won this one by calling their bluff. Never be afraid to walk from a deal. I have seen peoples emotions and 'not wanting to make a scene' put them into a bad deal."

Husband realizes they have our title, we see no one coming out, he inserts key in the ignition when the finance guy literally runs out to us. Tells us to come back in, we have it all worked out. Husband says he doesn't think so. Finance guy says he talked to manager.

Chris Duncan: "The closing technique of a good car salesman is to make the customer think that they are getting a great deal. That the salesperson or the staff at the dealership are working really, really hard to make sure that the deal happens and that they are overcoming enormous hurdles to accomplish what was set out during the negotiation process."

We remained mum about having to go back in anyway for the title. They ended up taking off the service plan, and we did the loan for $2,500, but they gave us a check for $500 to make up the difference. We got $4,000 for the Pathfinder, a new windshield, a new battery and although the top worked great the first summer, and most of the second, it has given us fits lately, but we fixed it ourselves. Zero engine issues. Zero.

Mike Duncan: "On the whole, it sounds like they dealt with a common, slightly shady dealer, but in the end didn't do too bad. $6300 for a 99 Saab is ludicrous. However, they got way more for a 175K mile pathfinder then they should have at trade-in. It's all a shell game and it all gets kind of weird. Dealer made probably $4k on the Saab, give or take on what they have in it vs. the sale price. However, they will sell the Pathfinder wholesale for probably $2Kish. With the windshield and battery, the dealer will make maybe $1,500. Retail somewhere south of $4k for a '99 Saab isn't too bad, you get a lot of cool car for the money."

THE TAKEAWAY: Bethany says her experience taught her a few lessons about buying a car. "Never let them keep your keys. Always get it in writing. And never hand over your title," she writes. "Always always be ready to walk away. You CAN find the car somewhere else. Those guys thrive on emotion. THRIVE. ON. IT."

Photo: StrangeInterlude

They do things a little differently in the Middle East. After waiting since April 16th for parts for his Jeep from the dealer, a man in the State of Kuwait spraypainted complaints about the dealership all over his Jeep and parked it right in front of their door. It's a "I will blind my eye if it mars your sight" kind of thing.

Now the dealership is reportedly holding this man's Jeep hostage.

Mstahlekq with the Kuwait Consumer Protection Society told Jalopnik that the Jeep owner, Abdullah Alsayegh "was complaining about how bad the dealership is in Kuwait, it always has a shortage in parts, and everyone agrees. So after 3 weeks of waiting he decided to write what he felt on his car in front of the dealership parking lot."

On his Jeep's hood Abdullah emblazoned: "CAR BAD." The side reads, "NO spare parts." A piece of paper in the car window says:

"Jeep agency in kuwait. * No Spare Parts !! * Bad Service !! * Bad maintenance !! * No spare car !! * No follow up !! * they don't respect their promises !!"

To hide the complain-mobile from other customers, the Al Mulla & Behbehani Motor Co. in Kuwait dealership parked several cars around it and tucked it under a cover. Now apparently the owner can't drive his Jeep home.

View gallery »

Details are sketchy at this point, but Abdullah has promised to give us a full run-down after he talks to the dealership's general manager this week. I called the dealership in Kuwait seeking comment and left a message on the voicemail I was transferred to, and also requested comment via their webform.

Photos via Mstahlekq8

Sometimes when David takes down Goliath, Goliath gets right back up and smooshes him. So it is with a country judge who has ruled today in favor of Honda in their appeal of a $9,867 small claims case won against them by a Civic Hybrid owner who had claimed she couldn't get anywhere near the advertised 50 MPG.

In the ruling, Superior Court Judge Dudley W. Gray II ruled that even though the plaintiff, former lawyer Heather Peters, had standing to bring the case in state court, that's superseded at the federal level by the regulations on posted fuel economy ratings. The judge also noted that most cars are able to get fuel economy near the EPA estimates. You can read the judge's entire 3-page decision here.

Besides not having to pay Heather Peters anything, the judge also ordered her to pay Honda to recover their costs in defending the case. That comes to a whopping $75. (not a typo).

Honda spokesperson Chris Martin released this statement:

Statement from American Honda Motor Co., Inc. regarding the resolution of Peters vs. American Honda small claims case.

"Honda is pleased with the Court's decision which affirms that Honda was truthful in its advertising of the fuel economy potential of the 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. We are thankful for the support we received from the many satisfied Civic Hybrid owners who expressed their support throughout the legal process.

We are never satisfied when a customer is anything less than satisfied with one of our products, and the company does not relish the necessity to defend the truth in opposition to any of our customers. However, it is important to note that, since January of this year, seventeen similar small claims cases involving Civic Hybrid owners have been heard in courts across the country and Honda has now prevailed in sixteen, based on facts and the law.

Honda welcomes any customer who has questions about fuel economy to contact the company directly through our dealer network or our Automobile Customer Service office."

UPDATE: Here's a statement from Peters:

"It's a sad day when regulations designed to protect consumers are used against them. I'm certain that the EPA and FTC never intended to shield Honda from liability for advertising claims that a court of law determined to be false."

"Of course I'm disappointed, but I'm still glad that I raised awareness that Honda is no longer the great brand that it used to be. They used to go the extra mile in customer service, now the go the extra mile fighting customers in court. I guess the moral of the story is buyer beware - especially of Honda!"

(Hat tip to Mike!)

Photo Credit: AP

This is the story of a good son who wanted to buy his mom a car for her birthday. This son won the vehicle of her dreams on eBay, but then things turned south when the dealership hemmed and hawed and sold the car to a local buyer as if the eBay auction were just another circular they could drop their ad in.

Jalopnik and eBay see it differently. Let's see what we can do to fix this.

At first the dealership, Major Motor Cars in Santa Monica CA, sellers of "fine luxury automobiles," delayed and wouldn't take Nishboo — the son's — deposit on the BMW X6 he'd won in a no-reserve auction for $42,300. Then they decided to sell it to a local buyer instead for $49k, thus depriving Nishboo of the gift he'd hoped to give to his mom on her birthday.

WHAT NISHBOO SAID

After Nishboo won the auction and contacted the dealership the next day several times to try to make a deposit, Peter from Major Motor reportedly told him that a local buyer was trying to get financing on the car and had left a deposit two days prior.

"He said he will let me know on Friday if I can have the car based on eBay pricing," Nishboo wrote in a forum post. "I made it clear that this is not the way eBay works."

The dealer pledged to try sell him the car if they could. When Nishboo called back the next day, Peter picked up the phone. "The car has been sold, brother," he said, according to Nishboo.

Via email, Nishboo told me:

They claimed they had a deposit for the vehicle a few days before the auction ended. I explained the auction should have been closed in that case. They said that their eBay auctions are done by someone outside, and used to bring interest in on a vehicle they are looking to sell. They said they are not the best at eBay and that they are a car dealership with walk-ins first. I said that didn't excuse them from closing the auction or updating saying they have a deposit. All he did was apologize and tell me the car was sold.

Nishboo said he then tried calling the dealership back and they dodged his phone calls. That's when he posted asking for advice on the e46fanatic forum. After getting recommendations to send it to Jalopnik, he forwarded his story to me. The other members of the forum began posting updates on how they were calling up the dealership and leaving remarks on their Facebook wall and in their Google Reviews.

WHAT EBAY SAID

After checking his story out, I picked up my trusty reporter phone and called up eBay. I showed them the listing and explained the situation. eBay said unequivocally that Major Motor needed to have sold Nishboo the car.If they don't sell the car to Nishboo, eBay said, Major Motor could get banned from the auction site. eBay didn't return a request for policy clarification I sent their PR office.

But, according to eBay's policies posted online, all bids made in the eBay Motors vehicles categories are considered non-binding, which means that it "shows a buyer's interest in purchasing an item, but it doesn't create a formal contract between the buyer and the seller." Because, while, "in most cases, a bid on eBay is a legally binding contract between the buyer and the seller," the policy states, "due to state laws and the complexities of real estate and vehicle transactions, bids in those categories are non-binding."

That said, eBay's same policy page states that "backing out of the transaction due to buyer or seller remorse" is not allowed. Neither is "backing out of the transaction because buyers didn't place a high enough bid and the seller didn't add a reserve price."

After this article published, an eBay PR rep called to confirm the policy posted online and cited above was their policy for cases like these.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

On top of what eBay said, according to California Universal Commercial Code,

2328 (4) If the auctioneer knowingly receives a bid on the seller's behalf or the seller makes or procures such a bid, and notice has not been given that liberty for such bidding is reserved, the buyer may at his option avoid the sale or take the goods at the price of the last good faith bid prior to the completion of the sale.

In other words, if a buyer wins an auction, they get to take what they won and pay the price they won it at. Sounds like a pretty good system.

WHAT NISHBOO WANTS

I asked Nishboo what would make him happy, now that the original car has been sold to another buyer. He said that all he wants Major Motor to sell him the same make and model BMW, at the same price, with a comparable condition and history. He would prefer for it to be blue, but he would also take white. He also wants the dealership to pay for the pre-purchase inspection, as compensation for the hassle he's been through, and to ship it to him with their same 5-day return policy. He will still pay for shipping.

WHAT MAJOR MOTOR SAID

It took several phone calls over several days to get Major Motor to talk to me. Finally Peter referred me to their lawyer Brian Ward for all comments. Ward said the the dealership was investigating legal action and as such wouldn't comment on any aspect of the case. Part of the issue is that it seems their nose was a bit put out of shape by a blog post made by another member on the e46fanatics forum about the story that contained some inflammatory language. Ward also gave a little laugh when I told him what eBay had said about their transactions being binding contracts.

"We'll let the justice system sort out the facts," he said, "without interference from the press."

After getting stonewalled on the actual story itself, I told the lawyer something that surprised him: Nishboo still wants to buy a car from Major Motors.

"I think Major Motors would still do business with him," said Ward. "They're in the business of putting people into cars. So if he wants to give a car and a price and see if they can track it down for him I know they'd be happy to do that... No business owner wants this kind of attention, deserved or undeserved."

He added, "Putting the deal back together is always the best medicine. Certainly makes my job easier if we can get along and put a transaction in place."

LET'S MAKE MAGIC

I called Nishboo and told him that the dealership was considering legal action, but was willing to work with him to make the deal happen. "You put a smile on my face after many days of being stressed out," Nishboo said.

"I don't think they had any malice, it's just a bad situation but they weren't working with me. I'm sure it's a mistake. But working with me would have solved it sooner. But when you don't pick up my phone call, I can't tell you what I'm thinking," said Nishboo. "I'm not trying to put anyone out of business. I just want to buy the car I told my mother I was going to purchase for her."

I gave Nishboo Major Motor's lawyer's info and he said he would call them with his attorney to try to hash out a deal.

If they're able to get the car, Nishboo pledged to send in "a picture of me giving the keys to my mom." He'll also get a sticker to put on the car that says, "as seen on Jalopnik."

We'll keep you updated.

UPDATE: We've heard from an attorney for the dealership and this appears to have been resolved amicalbly. Here's what they said:

Mr. Popken:

I am writing in regards to the following article:

http://jalopnik.com/5904108/after-....

 It is my understanding that you have been provided a letter with updated information from the potential buyer regarding the resolution of this dispute.  To that end, I would like to take you up on your offer at the end of the article where you write: "We'll keep you updated."  If, for some reason, you have not received the letter I am referring to, I will be happy to provide you with a copy.

At the end of the day, these two parties were able to amicably resolve their differences to each of their satisfaction.  As a result, the tone and tenor of your article is no longer accurate.  Since your attention to this issue did, in some way, contribute to the resolution, I would hope that you would be eager to share this information.

If you require any other information from me, please do not hesitate to ask.

There comes a certain age where your wits have started to leave you, but your money hasn't. And that's the perfect time for ripoff artists to strike. Like the story of this elderly couple, whose only stated income was $2,600 a month in Social Security benefits, got talked into, and approved for, a 2011 Cadillac STS with payments of $2,300 a month. Fantastic. Guess now you'll have a really fancy place to eat your cans of dog food in.

Commenter MKIIGTI shared this dark tale of an elderly couple who walked into his dealership trying to get a lower payment on that Cadillac they were driving, and with good reason.

I used to be a sales person at a dealership. Don't hate me... I draw pictures now.

Either way, in June of last year I had an elderly couple pull on to our lot. They were driving a rare breed for the area; a Cadillac STS in decent shape. It didn't look like your average buy-here pay-here Caddie, in fact, it looked like it had just left the showroom floor.

After speaking with the folks for a few minutes, I came to realize that they were here to lower their payment. I said fine, and reminded them that the payment they get on a vehicle is very dependent upon the individual's credit. They said they understood, and followed me into the showroom.

I asked if they were trading in their Caddie, and they nodded. After receiving their keys, I began my walk-around. This vehicle was a 2011 with 900 miles on it. I returned to the couple slightly perplexed. They said that yes, they had just purchased the vehicle, and that they had no idea their payment would be so high and wanted to trade it in to get a lower payment.

I turned in my credit app and trade evaluation to the sales manager and sat down. Typing... Typing... Typing... "Holy Shit!"

"What the hell are they trying to trade?" my sales manager asked (he was the type to demand paperwork he never actually ever looked at). 2011 Cadillac STS with 900 miles on it. He begins typing again and I do what is normally frowned upon as a sales person and walk behind the desk to try to understand what was going on. He was on the Cadillac site building a 2011 STS. He got the price up almost to 70k before he Black Booked the car. The trade was a base model STS. No options. Their credit report stated that their open auto was 75k and some change. Their credit app stated that their only income was Social Security and combined it was $2,600 a month.

I walked back to my elderly couple waiting at my table. "You've already made a payment on this car correct?" I asked. "Yes."

"And how much was it?" "$2,300."

There was nothing that we could do for them. They bought their car for at least 15k over sticker, got jacked on their interest rate (they had very good credit), and they had already made a payment. We had to send them on their way.

The situation was so screwed up the story went up the chain to our GM. He actually stopped by our location and gave them the number to his lawyer before they left.

Working in the industry actively for four years, this is the worst situation that I've come across.

I reached out to MKIIGTI for more information, but he wasn't able to share any contact details for the couple because they didn't buy a car from the dealership, and regulations prohibit him from sharing anything from the credit application they filed.

This story is not only a warning for elderly people to double-check what they're signing, but a wakeup call for their friends and family. If an aged friend or family member living on fixed income all of a sudden starts showing up to barbecues and christenings tootling around in a luxury automobile they shouldn't be able to afford, you may want to start asking some questions.