The Nation: Listening In

Bugs in some new cars are not unusual. But now there are bugs—of a different sort—in some auto showrooms.

When a husband and wife in the market for a new car select the model they like and step into an auto salesman's conference room, a curious form of commercial ritual begins: haggling over the price. An alert salesman senses the moment of truth when prospective buyers wish to be alone to discuss the price, and he discreetly leaves the room. The FBI, in raids on two suburban Baltimore dealerships, has discovered that such private dickering is sometimes not so private. In at...

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