I have been shopping for a 2025 or 2026 Ford Maverick (Lariat Hybrid or Tremor) in Oxford White for…read morea couple of weeks, so I know this market pretty well. Early on Monday, June 15, 2026, before the dealership opened, I came across a Facebook Marketplace listing for that truck, lightly used, at Mullahey Ford, priced at $28,840. Facebook showed the ad had been posted Sunday afternoon, and I contacted the dealer within about 22 minutes of their Monday opening -- so the vehicle was almost certainly still available.
The salesperson, Charles, told me the deal was real and said he would follow up in about 30 minutes. I clearly confirmed I wanted to buy the truck at the listed price.
When Charles called back roughly 30 minutes later, he said the vehicle had already been sold -- hard to believe given the dealership had been open only minutes. When I checked Mullahey Ford's own website, the same truck was (and still is) listed at $39,080. Charles described the $28,840 figure as an "internet error in pricing." I've heard about dealers using this tactic to get people in and claiming it's an inexplicable error. It's inexcusable, and according to Ai and the California DMV, Illegal.
I understand pricing mistakes can happen. What concerns me is the sequence: an advertised price, a confirmation that the deal was "real," and then -- within half an hour -- both a claim that the vehicle was sold and the same truck still listed at a price more than $10,000 higher on the dealer's own site. The Facebook ad shows the truck as a 2025 and Lariat is misspelled as Lariet. The dealer website shows the same truck as a 2026 with Lariat spelled correctly. I compared the mileage, color, options, images and it's the same truck. Unfortunately, the dealer left the VIN out of the Facebook ad, but I was able to find the listing on their website.
As a buyer acting in good faith, I found the experience disappointing and would caution others to get any advertised price confirmed in writing before relying on it or trusting the dealership.
I am composing a complaint with the California DMV, as this seems to be a clear example of bait-and-switch.