Get a car cheap with blackhat?

skypilot

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We all know car dealers rip you off and lie to you.

If it happened, could you create a complaint and SEO it to the top of Google, causing them such a loss of business, that they would sell you a car at cost or less?

You would have to be careful to be factual, and a witness would certainly help.

Many of their "ploys" can be documented:

1. Price quotes via email/phone that are not honored when you arrive at the dealership.

2. Bouncing you from sales closer to sales closer, and changing the numbers each time (get copies of all notes).

3. Bait and switch. Advertising cars that don't exist or are already sold.

4. Wear downs. Dragging out negotiations over 3+ hours. Lieing about deadlines.

It's obviously very easy to catch them being deceptive.

Then, you could create a microsite or use an existing consumer advocate site to document the event. For a week, you would go about SEO'ing it to the top for the search term "South Jacksonville Nissan" or whatever their name is.

Their customers often google their company name because they either don't know the company's url or because they are doing research on them.

Send screenshots of this high ranking bruise of their reputiation to their sales manager.

Say you would like to make ammends by reaching a deal on the car you want. You will take down the site when the car deal is completed.

You could pretty much name your price.

However, would this be blackmail? Everything on your microsite is the truth, and documented. They did mistreat you and cause you harm. You are only asking to be treated fairly and be compensated for their mistreatment. And in exchange, you will remove the negative website as compensation.

Doable? Legal? I'm not even going to ask if it's ethical, as the victims are car salesmen.
 
I would say be careful who you mess with, and be prepared with all the evidence you may need, because a defamation lawsuit could end up hurting you 100x more.
 
Yeah once you've taken ownership of the site and offered to take it down if/when they give you a good deal, you are now balls-deep in blackmail.

It's another story if they happen to contact the [email protected] email you have listed clearly on the front page and ask what they can do to make this right.

I feel your pain though, I was just wondering this morning what the best way to go about getting a really good deal on a car would be.
 
Then you could contact them as a 3rd party SEO and offer to SEO the complaint off the first page of the SERPs for $2500 (major car dealers do $250k in business a month....$2500 is nothing to them).

Use the money to buy your car.
 
Then you could contact them as a 3rd party SEO and offer to SEO the complaint off the first page of the SERPs for $2500 (major car dealers do $250k in business a month....$2500 is nothing to them).

Use the money to buy your car.

Best idea, best way to do it.
 
That's blackmail without a doubt, and therefore illegal.
 
That sounds like a prison sentence to me.

There is a difference between coloring outside the lines and jumping infront of big corporations in the Google serps and destroying a family car business.

Not cool at all :cool:
 
That sounds like a prison sentence to me.

There is a difference between coloring outside the lines and jumping infront of big corporations in the Google serps and destroying a family car business.

Not cool at all :cool:

Family car businesses get away with imprisonable acts every day, all day.

If what's discussed here is illegal, it's not worth doing, but I just don't understand how car dealers rewrite contracts, forge customer signatures, make false statements in advertising etc. and stay in business without law enforcement intervening.

Your local news does a great job of exposing scammers in your community, then who do they sell 33% of their advertising to? Car dealers, the greatest scammers of all. :eek:
 
I agree with the first post...i think they would def. file suit for defamation.
 
Family car businesses get away with imprisonable acts every day, all day.

If what's discussed here is illegal, it's not worth doing, but I just don't understand how car dealers rewrite contracts, forge customer signatures, make false statements in advertising etc. and stay in business without law enforcement intervening.

Your local news does a great job of exposing scammers in your community, then who do they sell 33% of their advertising to? Car dealers, the greatest scammers of all. :eek:

Unless you KNOW for a fact that THAT business is doing those acts I would not do it. Not every company is like that. If your gonna do a robbinhood then make sure it is just.

and don't do the crime if your not willing to do the time.
 
The deceptive practices you list are well known to everyone who's ever bought a new car, or read an issue of Consumer Reports printed since 1950. If you just got an education in these slimy practices (and there are WAY more, by the way), you have my sympathy.

The thing is...the big car dealership would have no hesitation to make your life a living hell with civil lawsuits AND the sheriff (who probably buys all the fleet cars from his buddy, Mr. BigCarDealer) banging on your door, taking your computer for evidence. Their biggest problem would be whether to prosecute you for blackmail or extortion, or both.

I WOULD NOT PUT ANYTHING ONLINE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!

But...

You could build that website locally, print it out, and go in person to show the owner of the dealership exactly what you have and some sites you've previously gotten to Google page #1 (you CAN do that, right?) and tell him - in private, no witnesses - what you're prepared to do (but not actually do, of course). Set up the appointment by telling him you want to buy a car but you want to deal with him, or some suckup BS.

If you're lucky, he'll try to wheel-and-deal you into a car since he still stands to sell a car, for God's sake!

If you're unlucky, he'll throw you out of his office and call his pal the sheriff, who'll ask if he has anything in writing. Of course, under no circumstances should you actually give him or let him hold the papers you brought (I'd take them in a binder and flip-chart him through it with me holding the binder on his desk).

Either way, you will give him a meeting he won't forget (until the next time he's in Vegas getting a lapdance with our money).

Just my $.02! :D
 
Not really a good idea. Dealers aren't going to give you a free car just because you have a negative website about them. Plus their lawyers will be all over you for slander if you don't have everything 100% accurate.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
Not really a good idea. Dealers aren't going to give you a free car just because you have a negative website about them. Plus their lawyers will be all over you for slander if you don't have everything 100% accurate.
Posted via Mobile Device

Google your local car dealerships. You'll see a lot of awful things written about them (possibly slanderous) by customers.

Citysearch and dealerrater.com have much of the same.

I'm not aware of a single dealership successfully suing Google, citysearch, ripoffreport.com, dealerrater.com, or consumeraffairs.com successfully for slander.

It's not as easy as you think.
 
the problem with slander you need to PROVE $$ loss, If you cant then their lawyer just charged them a shiload to get it taken down.
 
I wouldn't do that with cars... but maybe I would do it with online products... they depend 100% on their online reputation...
 
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