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

SteelMach

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First of all congrats on getting the car you wanted at a price you could live with. I've always had success working a deal with the GM after things didn't go well at the dealership.

I know you were happy at getting the car for your price when all was said and done, but posing for this picture, really? You certainly shouldn't be be 'loving' anyone at this dealer let alone giving them a promo picture to use with you?!?! If you really were upset at their games you should have told them so and not done anything to indicate you were happy with anything other then getting the car you wanted. ?
It could have been the best dealer in the world, given me milk and cookies and the car for free, and I still wouldn't hold a "I <3 ____ Ford" sign for them. But to each their own.
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SteelMach

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the $1000 omission is just as much on you as it is on the dealer tho. You forgot, they probably did too.
I disagree that it is "just as much" on the customer to ensure they are not conned as it is the dealer to not con the customer. It's *FAR* more on the dealer to know what they're doing.
 
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Brademcee

Brademcee

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First of all congrats on getting the car you wanted at a price you could live with. I've always had success working a deal with the GM after things didn't go well at the dealership.

I know you were happy at getting the car for your price when all was said and done, but posing for this picture, really? You certainly shouldn't be be 'loving' anyone at this dealer let alone giving them a promo picture to use with you?!?! If you really were upset at their games you should have told them so and not done anything to indicate you were happy with anything other then getting the car you wanted. ?
They asked if I would take a picture with the car, as they ask all of their new buyers to take a picture for social media. I said sure, but did not actually see what the sign said until the picture was taken. I have learned in life, that holding grudges does not get you very far in life. I am now having charging issues with the car, and the dealer told me to bring the car in so they can look at it and said we are going to give you another Mach-E while yours is here to test at your homes L2 charger. This way we know if it’s the car or something with my 240V plug.
Anyone can make a mistake (which the GM admitted) but it’s what you do after that counts.
 

Illinibird

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First of all congrats on getting the car you wanted at a price you could live with. I've always had success working a deal with the GM after things didn't go well at the dealership.

I know you were happy at getting the car for your price when all was said and done, but posing for this picture, really? You certainly shouldn't be be 'loving' anyone at this dealer let alone giving them a promo picture to use with you?!?! If you really were upset at their games you should have told them so and not done anything to indicate you were happy with anything other then getting the car you wanted. ?
I think you're being a little judgemental here. This was a personal decision for him to make alone! I don't think anybody held a gun to his head to take the picture. He was happy that the dealer and general manager came to their senses and treated him the way he should have been treated. I personally am happy that everyone came to an agreement they all could live with and he drove off with the car he wanted at a deal that was fair. ?
They asked if I would take a picture with the car, as they ask all of their new buyers to take a picture for social media. I said sure, but did not actually see what the sign said until the picture was taken. I have learned in life, that holding grudges does not get you very far in life. I am now having charging issues with the car, and the dealer told me to bring the car in so they can look at it and said we are going to give you another Mach-E while yours is here to test at your homes L2 charger. This way we know if it’s the car or something with my 240V plug.
Anyone can make a mistake (which the GM admitted) but it’s what you do after that counts.
I agree and I'm certainly not going to judge you! ?
 

Accord07

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First of all congrats on getting the car you wanted at a price you could live with. I've always had success working a deal with the GM after things didn't go well at the dealership.

I know you were happy at getting the car for your price when all was said and done, but posing for this picture, really? You certainly shouldn't be be 'loving' anyone at this dealer let alone giving them a promo picture to use with you?!?! If you really were upset at their games you should have told them so and not done anything to indicate you were happy with anything other then getting the car you wanted. ?
When I first saw this picture yesterday, it reminded me of a former boss who praised commodity hardware to the heavens and preached strongly against proprietary systems for years, then a month after leaving the company he came back to pitch for a vendor of proprietary systems. ?

I am so glad that OP got the car he wanted without markup, but the process also shows exactly why many consumers prefer Tesla's business model: the same price is available to everyone, without wasting anyone's time on back-and-forth and high pressure sales tactics.
 


0CO2

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I disagree that it is "just as much" on the customer to ensure they are not conned as it is the dealer to not con the customer. It's *FAR* more on the dealer to know what they're doing.
Well I think we were equally at fault. The dealer clearly struggled with the reservation process back in June (I got notification that my reservations for my new BRONCO was in - and I had to contact the dealer to ask what was going on - a Bronco, not the MME FE I ordered? That cause a few week's delay in actually getting in my order), and my guess is they never pinged Ford to get the $1000 deposit transferred to them in the first place.

I completed the sale the day before I was going into surgery, so let's say I was a bit preoccupied, and between that and wearing PPE fogging up my glasses, didn't notice that the down payment hadn't been entered on the purchase agreement. I actually had made a mental note before heading over to the dealer to make sure they had credited the down payment but when there I missed it.

I've only mentioned this not because I think the dealer was being dishonest, but just to remind people on the forum who are going to take delivery to double-check that their down payment had been credited. Given responses to this thread, it is clear I am not alone and that however Ford corporate has handled the down payment issue has been confusing not only for customers but for the dealers too.

I'm going over to the dealer this afternoon (no advance warning) to talk to the business office so I walk out of there with a check - not waiting any longer for Ford corporate and the dealer to continue their dance to figure this out.
 

zvez

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I disagree that it is "just as much" on the customer to ensure they are not conned as it is the dealer to not con the customer. It's *FAR* more on the dealer to know what they're doing.
yeah but go to court using that rationale, you won't get very far, it's incumbent on the buyer to make sure the math is right, figures correspond and that deposits weren't missed. Consumer 101.
 

zvez

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They asked if I would take a picture with the car, as they ask all of their new buyers to take a picture for social media. I said sure, but did not actually see what the sign said until the picture was taken. I have learned in life, that holding grudges does not get you very far in life. I am now having charging issues with the car, and the dealer told me to bring the car in so they can look at it and said we are going to give you another Mach-E while yours is here to test at your homes L2 charger. This way we know if it’s the car or something with my 240V plug.
Anyone can make a mistake (which the GM admitted) but it’s what you do after that counts.
LOL yep, life is far too short to get amped up about something like this.
 

0CO2

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LOL yep, life is far too short to get amped up about something like this.
The dealer spent an hour on the phone with Ford to figure out how to access the deposit that I made back in June, and then they handed me a check for $1000. Situation resolved when I motivated them to make the effort after I explained I was heading over there to collect my refund. They had no knowledge that I'd phoned them a week previous about this and that they (a different person in sales) said then they would contact Ford to figure this out. Clearly that person didn't. Just complacency and someone in their office not doing their job.
 

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Take a hike and order one with the X plan. Do not pay more than MSRP.
Is the X Plan only available on orders? Nothing in stock?
 

JellyBelly

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Is the X Plan only available on orders? Nothing in stock?
X plan can be used for in stock vehicles too but for MME in stock and not ordered for you, even a X plan accepting dealer may want to charge you more than MSRP and not accept X plan..unless they just want to sell it and will be OK at X plan selling price (which is about 600 or 800 dollars below MSRP)
 

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Let me start by saying that I really want a MME but after buying a Tesla a few years ago, I really appreciate the anti-dealer model. It is unemotional and straight forward process. I still feel like most dealers are not to be trusted, which is unfortunate.

I live in the Chicago suburbs and have been calling around to dealers in the area to see if any have a FEs on the lot. I totally get the laws of supply and demand where a dealer feels like they can mark up a car over MSRP but do not lie about it.

On Saturday I get a call from a Chicago dealer in the Naperville area that they have (2) First Editions available for sale and to come in right away. I ask her to send me the Window sticker and when she did, it was indeed a FE. I look up the VIN to verify and again, FE. I then check the dealer's website and they are showing the car as available (plus 4 others) but every car is marked up about $10K.

I then email the woman back saying that if they were selling the car for over MSRP, I was not interested. She emails me back and says she will talk to her manager. She emails me later to say the manager says the cars are listed with taxes and other add-ons but the car is available and come in to finalize.

So today I drive the 50 miles to Naperville and sit down with the sales person. He tells me that they can not honor my X-Plan on a stock car on the lot and then asked what I thought was fair topay. I told him that I would pay MSRP and would forgo the X-Plan discount. He comes back with it marked up $5K over MSRP. After a long discussion he drops it to $62,000 and starts showing me the financial numbers.

He first tells me that the Ford Options is a horrible program and all of his buyers are going with this Ford Flex Plan which is basically a 60 or 72 month finance program where in the first 36 months you pay a smaller amount (about 38% of the principal at 3.9% and then about 62% during the last 3 years of the program). The numbers just didn't make sense. With a $62K (with their ADM) and putting down $5K my payments would average around $980 per month.

I then told him he is nuts and to pull up the Ford website so I can show him the Ford Options calculator. So we went through the process.....and sure enough the payment came out to around $780 for the 48 month option. If I added the sales tax I was around $890. He says let me go talk to my manager. About 5 minutes later he comes back and says your right. They were looking at the wrong system! He says the Ford Options gives you 2.25% but the deal still is not as good as "their flex plan". He said the Ford calculator does not add in ANY taxes or other surcharges so when you do its back at $950.

At this point, I was so pissed that I just told him that I did not trust the dealership after they told me to come in and the car would be sold for MSRP and now going through this whole "lesson" just seemed dirty. Am I overreacting here.....? I must admit that I misread the disclaimer on the Ford website and thought it included sales tax......which I reread and realized it does not.

Am I in the wrong here? Should I just expect to be paying $950 per month for a Premium extended range trim (with about $5K down 48-month 10K miles per year)? Is the dealer model better or would we all rather just be dealing with Ford and picking up our vehicles locally at a delivery center?
I don‘t blame you one bit for being pissed. This is why I abhor car dealers. They are so crooked and sneaky, and whenever a salesman says, “let me talk to my manager,” I know it’s total bs. It’s a game they play to see how much over MSRP they can squeeze you for. They’re also very cagey about the interest rate, thinking people are too naive to whip out a calculator and figure it out for themselves. I want the car, but I’ve already decided if they try to sneak in ADM I‘m walking. I know they won’t care, because they know they can just squeeze it out of the next person.
 

shutterbug

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Is the X Plan only available on orders? Nothing in stock?
Check the rules:
Vehicles may be ordered from production or, if the dealer agrees, may be selected from the inventory of the dealership. Dealers are not required to participate, but if they do, they must be an authorized Ford Motor Company or Lincoln Motor Company dealer for the product sold and agree to abide by the New Vehicle Purchase Program guidelines set forth in this document.​
 

Smurf

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I don’t mean to be unsympathetic, but I don’t understand why anyone would drive 50 miles to a dealership before the price was committed in writing.

Yea the dealerships suck. Yes the Tesla model is better. But dealerships don’t suck as bad if you keep them at arm’s length until you get a commitment in writing.

Come on, nobody’s selling a FE at xplan.
I understand. when looking for a car for my sister, I made the dealer swear that the price advertised in the paper was the price before I drove 25 miles to the dealership. they outright lied. It was an “internet price,” to which I had to add about $5,000. They are all liars And cannot be trusted.
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