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You don't see the point of making an offer to sell if it is not enforceable?
Yes, the point is to have it enforceable. But people make mistakes. The offer was made by mistake.
It was also a mistake that the "buyer" knew or reasonably should have known was a mistake.
Absent some very bizarre facts (like an admission they did it on purpose, or they have a history of doing this, etc.), all of which wouldn't really make any sense (doing a Buy it Now for 10% of the car's value doesn't help the dealership - it doesn't drive people into their showroom, etc. and is so obviously in error that it doesn't do anything), there is no way this would be found to be an enforceable contract.
This was pretty clearly a decimal point data entry error, with no bad faith involved. If those were stipulated facts, would your analysis change?
Also, it is highly unlikely that the buyer lost any opportunity, since from the time he placed his bid to the time he was notified of the error only 20 minutes passed.
Maybe we'll see who is right. My prediction is the dealership will tell this guy to pound sand. I also predict that the guy will not pony up any money to bring a lawsuit, but would be willing to file suit if he could find a lawyer crazy (or desperate or unemployed) enough to take it on a full contingency. Maybe that will happen and we'll get to see what a court says about the reasonableness of the buyer in expecting that a contract was formed to buy a $130,000 car for $13,000.
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