Horrible Experience at Ford Dealer- Is Tesla’s Non-Dealer Model Better?

[supertramp]

The base price of the Premium is $49,700

It is $47,000 for RWD.

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[nixietube]

That was honestly my biggest hesitation in getting my MME; the dealer model is rigged against the consumer, unfriendly, horribly broken and needs to go. I lucked out and got a pretty good dealership that honored the MSRP but they still did pressure tactics on other stuff. I eventually caved and got the maintenance plan but without many moving parts, oil changes and other high maintenance items, I probably just gave them free money. They didn't know about the 0.9% financing and they missed the clean fuel credit (which now I have to wait for, assuming it can be retroactively applied which it damn well better be).

Maybe it's Ford corporate that is horrible at communication and training. Maybe the dealers have no incentive to provide an easy and transparent experience. Honestly, I should have been able to just pay for the damn thing like an Amazon order, but then how can they squeeze the customer? Tesla at least got this right.

 

[Brademcee]

So I am the original poster. After my post to this forum, I decided to leave a very polite and professional review of the dealership on their facebook page. I was cordial and just provided the facts with a negative recommendation (which effects their facebook review score).

I woke up in the morning with an email from someone at the dealership asking if everything went okay while I was at the dealer yesterday. To make a long story short, the same sales person called me back and asked what they can do to make this right. After another 20 minutes on the phone he basically just gave me the same deal. He then told me that he can give me a better deal on a premium trim (X-Plan pricing) but I probably would not be happy walking away from the First Edition Grabber Blue. He was not expecting me to say I would take the deal. He then tells me well lets just focus on the First Edition and he would only mark it up $1500. I told him what about the Premium he just offered me. He said he does not have one available. We ended the call.

This time I sent a very polite email back and looked up the GM's email address. I asked them to never contact me again and now they made a worse situation, even worse. About an hour later the GM called me and asked for me to explain the situation. He then told me that he tries to run an honest dealership but sometimes stuff slips through the cracks. He asked if they can still earn my business by giving me the car at MSRP with no other additions (like warranties or protective packages). They would just sell me the car straight up or per my request, the 48 month Ford Options plan. I soon got an email from him with the same information spelled out.

I have an appointment tomorrow to pick up my First Edition in Grabber Blue! I guess sometimes being tenacious but still respectful pays off.

 

[SteelMach]

I asked yesterday for a tracking update after the Vin tracker on the forum moved my ETA further by 6 weeks suddenly. Response was "we don't check every day"

*sigh*

It takes them seconds to check a VIN. They can do it while BSing with you on the phone and making you feel welcome, rather than showing the "go away you're bothering my coffee break" attitude most dealers seem to have.

 

[RyZt]

I have an appointment tomorrow to pick up my First Edition in Grabber Blue! I guess sometimes being tenacious but still respectful pays off.

Let's see what happens tomorrow. I hope it works out well for you.

 

[Brademcee]

Let's see what happens tomorrow. I hope it works out well for you.

Me too! I’ll report back tomorrow or if no car report back after a few sips of Johnnie Walker

 

[Rocky29670]

So I am the original poster. After my post to this forum, I decided to leave a very polite and professional review of the dealership on their facebook page. I was cordial and just provided the facts with a negative recommendation (which effects their facebook review score).

I woke up in the morning with an email from someone at the dealership asking if everything went okay while I was at the dealer yesterday. To make a long story short, the same sales person called me back and asked what they can do to make this right. After another 20 minutes on the phone he basically just gave me the same deal. He then told me that he can give me a better deal on a premium trim (X-Plan pricing) but I probably would not be happy walking away from the First Edition Grabber Blue. He was not expecting me to say I would take the deal. He then tells me well lets just focus on the First Edition and he would only mark it up $1500. I told him what about the Premium he just offered me. He said he does not have one available. We ended the call.

This time I sent a very polite email back and looked up the GM's email address. I asked them to never contact me again and now they made a worse situation, even worse. About an hour later the GM called me and asked for me to explain the situation. He then told me that he tries to run an honest dealership but sometimes stuff slips through the cracks. He asked if they can still earn my business by giving me the car at MSRP with no other additions (like warranties or protective packages). They would just sell me the car straight up or per my request, the 48 month Ford Options plan. I soon got an email from him with the same information spelled out.

I have an appointment tomorrow to pick up my First Edition in Grabber Blue! I guess sometimes being tenacious but still respectful pays off.

I'm glad it worked out for you, it's much easier to walk away when you didn't have one ordered and the are multiple options for you to buy one. Seems like you got the deal you wanted, I just wish Ford could take the dealer experience out of the equation. My dealership the GM was the one spearheading the bad deal and strong arm tactics. I never want to contact my dealer again or hear from anyone else at that dealership.

The good news is that I love my car and it's so much fun to drive. And I like seeing people break their necks trying to take a look at it.

 

[Maquis]

Me too! I’ll report back tomorrow or if no car report back after a few sips of Johnnie Walker

What color (of Johnnie)?

 

[Brademcee]

What color (of Johnnie)?

Black!

 

[Maquis]

Black!

???

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I'm just going to answer the question posed by the thread title. Yes. But not by much. The ideal solution for me would be a small office with a much larger service center in place of the dealer model. The office would do nothing more than assist people with internet orders and process paperwork for deliveries. Nothing else. No huge stock of cars waiting to be sold.

If Tesla had a lot more service centers and actually did warranty work instead of trying to get out from underneath it whenever possible, their model would be far better IMO. But their cars still suck according to me -- and since I'm paying for my cars ...

 

[Brademcee]

I'm just going to answer the question posed by the thread title. Yes. But not by much. The ideal solution for me would be a small office with a much larger service center in place of the dealer model. The office would do nothing more than assist people with internet orders and process paperwork for deliveries. Nothing else. No huge stock of cars waiting to be sold.

If Tesla had a lot more service centers and actually did warranty work instead of trying to get out from underneath it whenever possible, their model would be far better IMO. But their cars still suck according to me -- and since I'm paying for my cars ...

Yeah, agree. I wonder how profitable a dealership would be if it was just purely a service center and sales were all done online via the manufacturer. I always heard that dealerships don’t make a lot of money off selling cars but it’s how they get their service and warranty customers. Not sure if that is true.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Yeah, agree. I wonder how profitable a dealership would be if it was just purely a service center and sales were all done online via the manufacturer. I always heard that dealerships don’t make a lot of money off selling cars but it’s how they get their service and warranty customers. Not sure if that is true.

So here's something to ponder. We need to take our 2020 Raptor in for basic servicing. 3000 miles on it now (There's a pandemic and we're on an island). It'll go to a local shop for the oil change and other minor things. Not the dealer. There's a recall on the truck right now. We won't do that until it's extremely convenient. Why? because it's on the backup camera and they either work or don't and Ford's going to replace them all. Ours works, so no hurry.

So just how much money is the dealer making off of us? Close to $0. We won't use them except when necessary. The dealer model needs to change. So does Tesla's.

 

[bellyer]

Come on, nobody’s selling a FE at xplan.

I am hoping that is wrong. I have my FE coming in supposedly this week to a dealer north of Chicago and am told that he will honor my X-Plan. He told me yesterday to just make sure I provide him the PIN or bring in the printed out certificate. Fingers crossed things work out that way, but I do have it in writing in email.

 

[Brademcee]

I am hoping that is wrong. I have my FE coming in supposedly this week to a dealer north of Chicago and am told that he will honor my X-Plan. He told me yesterday to just make sure I provide him the PIN or bring in the printed out certificate. Fingers crossed things work out that way, but I do have it in writing in email.

I think he was referring to a FE that wasn’t an order for a customer pick up. Basically FEs that end up not getting picked up by the original person and the dealer sells them off their lot.

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