Incorrect price in car window

[BumbleBee120]

Gone to buy a car from a well known dealer that was advertised on autotrader and their own website for a price. However, on going to see the car in person, we noticed the price in the window is £200 lower. They have said this is a genuine mistake as can be seen by the fact the online prices match. I have said I understand mistakes can happen, however we would expect them to honour the lower price in the car window as this should have been checked before we came to test drive and look around. (It wasn't just a price in the window, it was a full print-out of the car specification & number plate etc with the price at the top). AIBU?

Forgot to mention, we had called ahead and told them we were coming in for a viewing and test drive and they said they would get the car ready..

No they said it was a genuine mistake. The choice is yours to buy or not.

Would you have been OK paying 200 more if the price on the screen was higher than online.

Had the price been 200 lower online I maybe would have argued that I wouldn't have travelled if I'd known it was more expensive

Legally they can't be forced to take a lower price. Had I been the dealer, I would have tried to work around it so you thought you got the lower price. As an example, if you were trading in I'd have reduced the trade in value.

How much difference does the £200 make? It's normal to haggle on a car price anyway so I don't see the harm if you want the car in offering the price on the window.

They don't have to sell it to you at that price though. You were happy enough with the online price to go and see it, I wouldn't cut my nose off to spite my face over £200.

The advertised price is not legally binding - it is an 'invitation to treat' - i.e. a starting point for negotiations. This applies to any goods - e.g. mispriced goods in a supermarket. The seller is not under any obligation to sell to you at the advertised price, whether it's a mistake or not.

The only reason for a seller to do this is goodwill - to preserve their reputation. It's your choice whether to buy or not, and you are also free to tell others factually what happened, leave a negative review etc.

You knew what the correct price should be, and you were obviously happy with that or you wouldn'thave gone to test drive it. They are under no obligation to reduce it because of a mistake.

Don’t buy it then; you can’t force them to sell it at the price just because it’s been printed out.