Dealer sold my reserved car

[potatomobile]

For the Bay Area, I highly recommend either Ford Store Morgan Hill or Walnut Creek Ford. I bought my MME at Morgan Hill off the lot with no ADM and got my windshield/roof recall done at Walnut Creek Ford. Both have committed to no ADM. When I was looking for my MME I called every dealer in the bay area and those were the only two that didn't have ADM on even the cars in their lot.

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[machefan]

Tweet at both of them. Email the Customer experience executives. Basically paper all of them with the problem. If the story the OP us telling us straight (and I have no reason to believe otherwise), Ford needs to do something for him.

For sure but it does appear as of late Ford corporate is getting less involved. Has to be some crazy ADM that’s getting negative press. Good luck to the OP and hope it works out.

 

[mkhuffman]

Show them the flawed purchase contract they sent you by email (missing your $500 deposit), show them the original contract you signed when you ordered the car.

Unfortunately a order request through the Ford website is not a contract. The only thing that might be considered a contract is a signed purchase agreement that has all the costs itemized (as well as the deposit) and the agreed OTD price.

In the past Ford has only been willing to help if the buyer has a signed purchase agreement. This is very frustrating and the dealer is obviously a bad one, but without a signed agreement between the buyer and seller this is very little Ford or anyone else can do.

Again: get a signed purchase agreement. Unless you don't mind all the fees and other crap the dealer can and probably will add to the cost of buying the car.

 

[hack-e]

I asked them about signing paperwork and locking in financing early, and I was told that the paperwork could not be signed until the dealer received the vehicle.

No signed contract unfortunately as the dealership said there could be nothing done until the car arrived.

I signed all my paperwork on April 8th and still haven't received my car yet. This is in Texas, so California might have different laws. EDIT: The dealer said once it is shipped, then we could go ahead and finalize all the paperwork.

 

[Olsenhut]

Does this not indicate an agreement on price (Order accepted by dealer and dealer selling price)?

I haven’t signed an agreement as dealer said to wait until production scheduled?

 

[Mach1E]

Does this not indicate an agreement on price (Order accepted by dealer and dealer selling price)?

I haven’t signed an agreement as dealer said to wait until production scheduled?

It does not.

Read the fine print on Ford’s website. What does the “E20” disclaimer say?

Get a signed agreement from the dealership.

 

[nvabill]

Sharing my experience about a local shady dealership (Putnam Ford of San Mateo, CA).

I ordered a Mustang Mach-E online on 8/17/21, placed a $500 deposit, and assigned the car to a local dealership. I was told on 4/26/22 afternoon that the car had arrived. The salesperson and manager told me it would be fine to pick it up on 4/29 afternoon. They said they would NOT honor Ford's price protection policy, despite telling me months earlier that they would try to, so I would need to pay $2000 more than the initial order price from 2021. I asked if I could sign paperwork on 4/29 and take receipt of the car, and the salesperson and manager said that would be fine. Instead, I was sent a contract via email on 4/27 which did not include my initial deposit. They did not provide a corrected contract when asked. I did not sign this. I spoke with the owner on the morning of 4/29 who threatened to cancel my order, but also said he would have his staff look into the situation and reach out to me. When I did not hear back I started calling the dealership to let them know I was coming over, but nobody would pick up the phone. I was finally able to reach someone in the afternoon, when I was told that nobody could handle the paperwork that day, and also the car was no longer on the lot. I was told on 4/30 they had actually sold the car to someone else on 4/29 in the morning.

I know these cars are in high demand but this feels totally crazy to me. They wanted to charge me more than the expected price. They threatened to sell the car if I didn't pick it up ASAP, and ended up selling it before 72 hours had elapsed, without my consent or knowledge. They also ghosted me so that they could sell the car to someone else. The deposit and reservation and order seem totally worthless.

The owner doesn't seem to think he did anything wrong, and he is currently offering to sell me a future vehicle with usual dealer markup (LOL)

I left some bad reviews online, and I opened a complaint with Ford corporate but they said they could take up to 30 days to get a response from the dealer.

Do I have this straight, you never had any kind of signed agreement with the dealer and when they sent something to you you did not sign it for fear of losing a $500 deposit. I think I would have gone to the dealer that day to iron it out. Did you have a work conflict preventing you from going to the dealer , if so I would have called in sick?

 

[nvabill]

Does this not indicate an agreement on price (Order accepted by dealer and dealer selling price)?

I haven’t signed an agreement as dealer said to wait until production scheduled?

Nope.

 

[agoldman]

Fine print aside, I'm all for getting rid of all traditional dealers 100%. It's time for a change.

 

[Mach1E]

Fine print aside, I'm all for getting rid of all traditional dealers 100%. It's time for a change.

So the same scumbags can work directly for the manufacturer? Not sure what difference that would make.

Look at the boating market. You can buy from a dealer or a manufacturer direct. Direct isn’t necessarily better.

Direct = more customization, but higher prices, longer wait times, no test drives and significantly farther distances for service.

 

[JimmyL]

The problem with Tesla is the other side of the coin though - with Tesla you get the locked in sales price, but, without any dealer to advocate for you when your car has any problems you’re 100% at Tesla’s mercy as to their warranty coverage decisions. Many Tesla owners find this out the hard way and then realize the good part dealers can play in getting the maker to cover issues under warranty, rather than just denying the claim and making the customer pay.

I agree with you on the after purchase and delivery of a Tesla. As I said, I'm not a fan of Tesla. I prefer buying direct from the manufacturer with a locked in price for the vehicle with restrictions to dealer antics of adding extras to boost the price the the BEV.

 

[mjschillingtec]

if you placed an order and left a deposit and received the VIN on the vehicle, if they don't return or acknowledge the deposit that may be theft of services you can hit them with. I hope you have a record of the deposit. You credit card should have it on it or cancelled check etc...I also thought they the "signing" of acceptance by the dealer is the same for everyone when you have to electronically "sign" something? You won't get that car back but can give them a huge headache and make them locate one for you etc....

I am certainly no lawyer, but I think the fine nuance in your post is that the deposit is NOT placing an order, it is strictly a reservation with Ford (not the dealer) to place an actual order when the car arrives. That is the problem with this whole process. Ford needs to make the process include a binding order up front when the rez is placed and the dealer is chosen. Too much room for dealers to be self serving (i.e. crooked)

 

[RickMachE]

Yes, it's true that older people tend to get taken advantage of more than younger people. In general, that's true. With cars/trucks, a contributing factor can be that older people bought cars when there was no internet, no way to find pricing, hard to compare dealers, etc.

When my father in-law bought a car years ago I intervened and got him invoice. He was SHOCKED.

I recently read an article where a 78 year old man wrote about how he got scammed over the phone. It involved a fake federal agent, etc. The thing that I found interesting is no where in his story did he acknowledge that as we age we need to take more precautions, have another person look over our shoulder, have large assets more protected, etc. That was sad.

 

[mkhuffman]

I am certainly no lawyer, but I think the fine nuance in your post is that the deposit is NOT placing an order, it is strictly a reservation with Ford (not the dealer) to place an actual order when the car arrives. That is the problem with this whole process. Ford needs to make the process include a binding order up front when the rez is placed and the dealer is chosen. Too much room for dealers to be self serving (i.e. crooked)

Ford does not sell cars directly, as others have posted. The Ford site is an "order request" not a reservation with Ford. You cannot order or reserve anything directly with Ford. The request is sent to a dealer, and then the dealer places the real order/reservation with Ford.

There is no order with Ford until the dealer places it. That is why you need an agreement with the dealer. Nothing from Ford can bind the dealer to a deal they didn't agree to make with you.

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