I recently viewed a motorhome advertised at 42000k,The garage told me price was a mistake and was selling at 56000. I called back there a few weeks ago and was told the same thing. I suggested they should change ad on carzone. It is still advertised at lower price. Surely there is a law against this kind of misleading advertising.
This is a tricky area. there is a concept incontract law called "Invitation to treat". Essentially the seller is inviting would-be buyers to express an interest in the item. It does not mean that the seller has to sell at the price advertised, or even sell it at all.
"A shop owner displaying their goods for
sale is generally making an invitation to treat (
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists [1953] 1 QB 401). They are not obliged to sell the good to anyone who is willing to pay for them, even if additional signage such as "special offer" accompanies the display of the good. (But see
bait and switch.) This distinction was legally relevant in
Fisher v Bell [1961] 1 QB 394, where it was held that displaying a
flicknife for sale in a shop did not contravene legislation which prohibited offering for sale such a weapon. The distinction also means that if a shop mistakenly displays a good for sale at a very low price it is not obliged to sell it for that amount
[1]."
You'll note though that there are caveats which makes the whole thing complex. I'd say that in the case you mentioned, the wrong price is shown in the ad but the advertiser has no intention to sell at that price, and I'd say has no legal obligation to do so.