CANOGA PARK : Dealership Accused of False Advertising

A Canoga Park car dealership and two of its employees have been charged with misdemeanor false advertising, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Tuesday, alleging that they lured customers with ads featuring a cheaply priced pickup truck that had been sold months earlier.

Oscar Gongora, 63, of Simi Valley, and World Nissan of 21535 Roscoe Blvd. were both charged with three counts of making false and misleading business statements, and Rebecca Lauderbaugh, 32, of Canoga Park faces one count on the same charge, City Atty. James K. Hahn said in a statement.

The company also faces one count of advertising a vehicle without listing its vehicle identification number and one count of failing to withdraw an advertisement in a timely manner for a car that was already sold, Hahn said.

After the employees pleaded not guilty Monday, Municipal Court Commissioner John Rafferty set a May 5 trial date on the case.

The charges stem from a Nov. 16 complaint in which a West Hollywood man responded to a World Nissan classified advertisement in The Times that offered a 1989 pickup truck for sale for $5,599.

“The victim was told when he telephoned World Nissan that the truck was still available,” Hahn said. “He said he was told by Lauderbaugh that they would have to look for the truck on the lot and that she then attempted to sell him a number of other new and used vehicles before finally telling him the pickup was sold.”

The city attorney’s office later determined that the pickup truck had been sold two months earlier for $6,439, Hahn said.