Dealer sold my reserved car

[mjschillingtec]

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.

i think i am basically saying the same thing. Thanks

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[DennisD]

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.

The main problem is Ford Motor Company set this way of purchasing cars in motion with the perception that the purchaser "feels" that they locked in a price at the time of placing an order.

IMO, if Ford is proactive I would suggest that they change the way the ordering process takes shape so to speak.

Just imagine if you ordered something from Amazon thinking that you locked in a price when ordering and when the package arrived you needed to cough up 10% more to retain said purchase because you didn't officially "sign anything" at time of ordering? I realize that fine print is the kicker but it may also be the decider of going else where in the future when you feel robbed.

In the end, Ford has the ultimate leverage and if these shenanigans continue with a few dealerships that Ford sells to, this could sway many customers (including me) to never deal with Ford again. If Ford doesn't think this can happen, just remind them of the late 70's and early 80's when many said F off to the big 3 and left for greener pastures across the pond. They began to wake up when that happened and hopefully they can learn from past mistakes.

 

[Astro19]

The main problem is Ford Motor Company set this way of purchasing cars in motion with the perception that the purchaser "feels" that they locked in a price at the time of placing an order.

IMO, if Ford is proactive I would suggest that they change the way the ordering process takes shape so to speak.

Just imagine if you ordered something from Amazon thinking that you locked in a price when ordering and when the package arrived you needed to cough up 10% more to retain said purchase because you didn't officially "sign anything" at time of ordering? I realize that fine print is the kicker but it may also be the decider of going else where in the future when you feel robbed.

In the end, Ford has the ultimate leverage and if these shenanigans continue with a few dealerships that Ford sells to, this could sway many customers (including me) to never deal with Ford again. If Ford doesn't think this can happen, just remind them of the late 70's and early 80's when many said F off to the big 3 and left for greener pastures across the pond. They began to wake up when that happened and hopefully they can learn from past mistakes.

A big problem is some have zero issues and everything goes according to plan, then others get screwed. It CAN work, but doesnt always.

 

[Mach1E]

Reminds me of a story I heard about a father and daughter.

Daughter wanted to see a rated R movie. She told her dad, “the movie is mostly good, just has a little bit of bad stuff in it.”

As the daughter started getting ready to go to the movie with her friends, the dad started baking a pan of brownies.

When the brownies were done, he gave one to his daughter but warned her first, “the brownies are mostly good, but there’s a little bit of dog poop in them……”

It doesn’t take much to spoil the whole batch! ?

 

[Regularmache]

So many other dealers that would not have done this to a customer. If the dealer sells more than 20% of customer orders to someone other than the name listed on the order the dealership gets some really severe ramifications from Ford. Never been told what that's entails and it's Ford and dealerships confidential.
I wonder if the dealer is tracking their percentage and just keeping them under the 20, especially if they've not dealt with you before as a client? Still poor long term business practice.

 

[scoopman]

I think in this environment, it pays to have more than one order in at different dealers (because invariably one will be staffed with scumbags) and also, if they call and say your car is here, you gotta be on it immediately to pick up that car. Rule #1 of working with any car dealer -- you cannot trust them.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

If the supposedly honest dealers would band together to remove the auto franchise laws that harm customers, and in particular allow us to choose to purchase directly from the manufacturer, I would believe they exist.

Until then, I will distrust every dealer.

 

[mkhuffman]

The main problem is Ford Motor Company set this way of purchasing cars in motion with the perception that the purchaser "feels" that they locked in a price at the time of placing an order.

IMO, if Ford is proactive I would suggest that they change the way the ordering process takes shape so to speak.

Just imagine if you ordered something from Amazon thinking that you locked in a price when ordering and when the package arrived you needed to cough up 10% more to retain said purchase because you didn't officially "sign anything" at time of ordering? I realize that fine print is the kicker but it may also be the decider of going else where in the future when you feel robbed.

In the end, Ford has the ultimate leverage and if these shenanigans continue with a few dealerships that Ford sells to, this could sway many customers (including me) to never deal with Ford again. If Ford doesn't think this can happen, just remind them of the late 70's and early 80's when many said F off to the big 3 and left for greener pastures across the pond. They began to wake up when that happened and hopefully they can learn from past mistakes.

I agree with you but the Amazon example is not equivalent. You are placing the order directly with Amazon. When buying a Ford, or GM or just about any legacy car, you are buying it from the dealership, not the manufacturer.

Anyway, Ford should make it more clear when you submit the order request that you are not buying the car directly from Ford and the final price is not just what Ford charges. All dealers have processing fees, even if they don't add ADM. And most dealers try to add things like paint protection.

Ford has no idea what those extras are. You have to negotiate them directly with your dealership when place the order with them. It would help if Ford made that more clear.

 

[RickMachE]

Ford needs to establish a process whereby the buyer gets specific paperwork from the dealer, all filled out and signed, that clearly lays out the fees, commitments, etc.

I have no concern that my dealership's GM is going to charge me anything beyond what the DORA says, and he signed it, but unfortunately that is not true for others.

 

[scoopman]

I will say that most of these problems may go away when Ford's Model E plans get going -- they have certainly said they'll be requiring dealers who sell their EVs to adhere to online, no haggle, no surprises pricing and a process more similar to all of our 2022 consumer expectations.

I'll believe this when I see it....

 

[ridgebackpilot]

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.

Putnam Ford is the worst. They quoted me massive ADM when I called about a GT.

I suspect any dealership located in an area (like Silicon Valley) where incomes are very high will be tempted to take advantage of that and mark up their cars wildly. Some young Facebook exec, flush with stock options, will pay whatever the dealer charges just to have a unique car.

Thank heavens for The Ford Store and Walnut Creek Ford, two standup dealers in the Bay Area that never fleece their customers by charging ADM!

 

[DennisD]

I agree with you but the Amazon example is not equivalent. You are placing the order directly with Amazon. When buying a Ford, or GM or just about any legacy car, you are buying it from the dealership, not the manufacturer.

Anyway, Ford should make it more clear when you submit the order request that you are not buying the car directly from Ford and the final price is not just what Ford charges. All dealers have processing fees, even if they don't add ADM. And most dealers try to add things like paint protection.

Ford has no idea what those extras are. You have to negotiate them directly with your dealership when place the order with them. It would help if Ford made that more clear.

I fully realize that the "model" that Amazon does and Ford are different.

That was exactly my point. ?

Back in the good ole' days, once you negotiated a price when buying a car, believe it or not that is what you ended up paying for it out the door.

Now, the Dealerships add on crap that some people buy and get totally ripped off because they think this is baked in and non-negotiable. Many are very misleading and confusing and you get that funny feeling in the pit of your stomach that you were taken advantage of.

You didn't need to do this in the past, but every time I buy a vehicle I clearly state "out the door price". They come back with processing fee's and I clearly say that you need to add this in to the total price that we are speaking of. No hidden fees, upfront out the door price so we both understand where we stand. They don't like this aggressive approach but that is what you need to do to these "kind".

Because of past abuses of Dealership practices, for the life of me I don't understand why people would defend these "models". I would guess more than 50% of the Dealerships are terrible on a good day and down and outright rotten on bad days. Jus' sayin'.....................?

 

[ARK]

I will say that most of these problems may go away when Ford's Model E plans get going -- they have certainly said they'll be requiring dealers who sell their EVs to adhere to online, no haggle, no surprises pricing and a process more similar to all of our 2022 consumer expectations.

I'll believe this when I see it....

What’s ironic is this approach would make customers happier and make dealers more money.

I think people put a premium on having a seamless experience, but if the average person on here went back in time and paid straight MSRP for all their vehicle purchases, i.e. no ADM, no involuntary add-ons, but also no invoice pricing, no haggling with the sales manager, the average person would probably be worse off financially, but definitely experience less stress.

 

[Mach1E]

I fully realize that the "model" that Amazon does and Ford are different.

That was exactly my point. ?

Back in the good ole' days, once you negotiated a price when buying a car, believe it or not that is what you ended up paying for it out the door.

Now, the Dealerships add on crap that some people buy and get totally ripped off because they think this is baked in and non-negotiable. Many are very misleading and confusing and you get that funny feeling in the pit of your stomach that you were taken advantage of.

You didn't need to do this in the past, but every time I buy a vehicle I clearly state "out the door price". They come back with processing fee's and I clearly say that you need to add this in to the total price that we are speaking of. No hidden fees, upfront out the door price so we both understand where we stand. They don't like this aggressive approach but that is what you need to do to these "kind".

Because of past abuses of Dealership practices, for the life of me I don't understand why people would defend these "models". I would guess more than 50% of the Dealerships are terrible on a good day and down and outright rotten on bad days. Jus' sayin'.....................?

I used to think that everyone likes to negotiate (because everyone does).

But after buying 2 cars at X plan in the last year and both deliveries were done within an hour…… I changed my mind.

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