The defendant in this lawsuit sells cars in South Gate as Discount Auto Plaza. But based on what I read in this opinion, it's a place with which I'd definitely not want to do business:
"Defendant and appellant Southcoast Automotive
Liquidators, Inc., doing business as Discount Auto Plaza
(Dealer), publishes print advertisements on Wednesdays
that advertise low prices for specific cars to attract
customers to the dealership. Small print at the bottom of
the advertisements states that the price expires at 12:00
p.m. on the day of publication. A customer who calls before
noon to inquire about a car in an advertisement will be
quoted the sale price. If the customer arrives at the
dealership in the afternoon, the advertisement has expired
and the car is sold for full price. Dealer also posts the
advertisements online for about three hours. The
advertisements on the internet do not contain expiration
information and are simply taken down after three hours.
In April 2013, plaintiff and respondent Krystal Flores
wanted to buy her first car. She saw Dealer’s advertisement
on the internet for a black 2009 Dodge Charger for $9,995.
She printed the advertisement and asked her parents to call
the phone number on it the next day to ask questions. Her
mother called and spoke with a male employee named
Sergio, who said the car had 42,000 miles and was in excellent condition. Her mother asked if he could go any
lower on the price and he said he might be able to drop the
price to $9,000. Flores waited an hour and had her father
call to see if he got the same answers. A female employee
said the car had 42,000 miles on it. Plaintiff’s father
explained that they were going to drive an hour and a half to
see the car, so he needed her to be honest and not waste
their time. She said there were no mechanical issues with
the car.
The next day, Flores, her mother, and her sister drove
from Oxnard to South Gate to view the car. Upon arriving,
they asked for Sergio. A salesperson falsely responded that
he was Sergio. Flores showed him the advertisement from
the internet. He showed her a black 2009 Dodge Charger
with body damage and mileage of 107,000. He said it was
the only black Charger on the lot, but the Dealer could
repair the damage. Flores was very excited to purchase a
car and thought it might still be worth buying. They went
inside to discuss the paperwork. Flores’s mother recognized
the voice of another salesperson as the real Sergio. He said
the price of $9,000 was for a cash payment, so Flores’s price
would be the advertised price of $9,995.
Sergio told the assistant manager that Flores wanted
to buy the Charger. The assistant manager called the
manager and asked what he wanted to sell the Charger for, then put the number in the paperwork as the total cash
price. Salesperson Maria Guadalupe Jauregui assisted
Flores with the paperwork for the purchase, bringing each
document out from the printer. While Flores completed the
paperwork, a fight broke out between the male salespeople
over credit for the sale, and the police responded.
One document listed the selling price as $16,995.
Flores’s mother noticed that it stated the amount financed
was $17,401 and asked why the document did not say
$9,995. Jauregui said not to worry about it, because they
were just throwing numbers out and that number would not
stay. . . .
On the drive home, Flores noticed a tire warning light
was on. After that, the engine light went on. Flores brought
the car to a mechanic the next day and got a list of repairs
that were needed. She called Jauregui and told her that the
car was going to overheat. Jauregui said to bring it to
Dealer with the list of repairs and it would take three days
to fix. Flores brought the car with the repair list. She called
Jauregui each day to ask if the car was ready. When
Jauregui stopped answering her phone, Flores began texting
her."
That's really all you need to know. Even though the opinion has lots, lots more.
General rule: When the employees of the business get into a fist fight about your sale, and the police are called, take that as a pretty significant warning sign.
There's a reason the place only gets one-and-a-half stars on Yelp.
