Dealer showed up at my door (2 hours away) said they need to take my MachE for recall, or they will "Deactivate It" - WTF

[pbgear]

here it is...

VIN: 3FMTK4SE5MME04028

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[Vulnox]

That was going to be my question, if you spoke to your sales person. I know you said you called the dealership while they waited, but was going to ask, did they give you a business card with a number on it or did you call a number you KNEW was the dealer. There are plenty of scams where they contact you, say you can do your own check with the company and they conveniently have the phone number, and then you are calling some other representative of the scam.

But if you spoke to your sales person, then that seems legit enough.

If you want to send me your VIN, I can look it up in OASIS (system Service uses for vehicles) and see what is listed for open recalls there.

 

[pbgear]

thanks, vin posted above.

sent the @Ford the vin, and dealer contact person name/number for clarification, will advise on/if they respond

 

[hybrid2bev]

here it is...

VIN: 3FMTK4SE5MME04028

Your vehicle had a delivery hold for this:

 

[Vulnox]

here it is...

VIN: 3FMTK4SE5MME04028

Thanks! I found it, and here is the part of this field service action the dealer is freaking out about:
" Federal law requires dealers to complete this recall service before a new vehicle is delivered to the buyer or lessee. Violation of this requirement by a dealer could result in a civil penalty of up to $21,000 per vehicle. Correct all vehicles in your new vehicle inventory before delivery. "

The FSA is for the seat belt system, that's the dangerous part. I would get this fixed.

 

[pbgear]

thanks, I guess I will let them take it tomorrow

 

[generaltso]

thanks, I guess I will let them take it tomorrow

Just for clarity, the fact that there's a recall isn't why the dealer is freaking out. They're freaking out because they sold you the car while it had a stop-sale order on it for the recall, which is completely their fault. If the recall had come out the day after you bought it, they wouldn't care one bit.

 

[highmesa]

my salesperson is who I spoke to at the dealership this afternoon. they are in a panic over this ridiculous situation.

Did the driver give you the dealership # to call?

I'd be careful and verify the correct dealership phone #.

This sounds like a scam.

 

[Maquis]

When I first read this, I suspected the seatbelt recall. Unbelievable it wasn’t fixed before they delivered your car.

But just showing up unannounced and asking for you to hand over the car is an insane way to do business.

 

[ripperAZ]

Make sure they are not scheduling an episode of recall, wars, or repo wars. You could be on cable TV. Don’t laugh.

Jes sayin. It’s how Vanilla Ice made his comeback. Remodeling homes.

Seriously that seems very wacky situation. Keep us updated. You may need to hire a creepy lawyer like Saul Goodman.

 

[hyrulianruffio]

thanks, I guess I will let them take it tomorrow

I would not let those random guys come and take it. Take it to the dealership on your own and deal with the sales rep you bought it from.

 

[rhougey]

Smells awfully fishy to me. If they were going to get fined $40K (A DAY!) for an unperformed recall, they would surely have let you know quite some time ago. In any case, I don't' see any mechanism by which a car manufacturer can fine a dealer for an action a customer hasn't taken.

Do not hand over your keys, don't give them any info, and call your sales guy right away.

I'd call the police.
Nothing about your story rings true.

 

[gordonf238]

Someone showed-up at your door demanding to drive away your new $55k vehicle.

Sure, here are the keys sir. Be sure to bring her back with a full tank!

Wait, you're not actually serious, are you?

 

[ctenidae]

I would not let those random guys come and take it. Take it to the dealership on your own and deal with the sales rep you bought it from.

It was fishy at first, but the pieces are right for it to be legit. Terrible communication and an awful way to try to fix it. The person who thinks it's a good idea to send a couple of random guys around to pick up your car might be the same person who thought it was a good idea to deliver a car with a known stop-sale recall on it in the first place.

IF your sales guy says it's legit, and IF you trust the service guys and IF they're willing to pick up and deliver a loaner, then at the very least you can save yourself 8 hours of driving and who knows how long sitting around a dealership. I bet if you let on that you know just how far up the creek they are you could get a nicer loaner. Shoot for a Lightning. Or an ICE Mustang, just for fun. You can drive around telling all the MME owners they don't have a real mustang.

 

[gordonf238]

This sounds like all kinds of bs. Even if they sold a car that has an active recall, the fine is like $25k one time. It could be true, the recall part, which would then be awesome to get home pick up and drop off service, but you need to drill down and make sure.

Call and talk to the service manager/director and ask for the specific recall info. Don't just give random dudes showing up to your door the keys to your car.

Also, do your own search on the recall info they give you. Don't just trust a piece of paper that can be easily doctored. You NEED to call the dealership and make sure these are actual reps from the dealer.

A privately owned dealership is absolutely in no way liable for manufacturer or government-issued recalls. After the car is sold, all ties between the buyer and the dealership are severed. This sounds like a scam artist walking around a neighborhood, and using fear tactics to get a set of keys to a Mach-E which he'll probably export to south america for profit.

The fact that a person would even consider handing their keys over is beyond stupid.

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