In the late 70s my girlfriend's dad bought a slightly used ford sedan from a Worthington dealership. Can't remember the 'zact numbers but mileage was supposed to be really low. Car was babied, garaged, only driven on weekends, yada. You know the drill.
He popped the hood and I could see the yellow junkyard paint pen writing on the valve cover. Definitely not number's matching
It was a different world back then, buyer beware.
But the worst vehicle buying experience I had was at Worthington's competitor, Pete Ellis furd off the 91 freeway and bellflower.
I was in the market for a new ford ranger in 86
The guy on the phone said they had one at the price I wanted to pay. IIRC it was $9000.
But the price got higher when I walked on the lot, $10,000
I left.
He called and apologized, said they had the one i wanted at the price quoted. $9000? Yep.
Reluctantly, I went back down there. Same game. Nope, sales manager said we'd loose money at that price, gotta add a grand.
I left again.
Another guy called, and said $9000.
I told him that if they jack me around again someone was going through the plate glass window so they might as well call the cops now.
He said OK, $9200 and they'd fill the tank.
Turned out to be the biggest POS vehicle I ever owned.
PS I'm a little fuzzy on the exact price but it was ballpark and you get the jest.