Dealership experience - How was yours?

[KeyWestEViking]

Good Morning MME friends,
I am looking to get some real world data for how people's experience's were at your Dealership. This could be anything from ordering, delivery, shopping on the lot, service visits, buying/installing accessories, or calling in asking a question.
I work at a dealer in Canada and am a part of the dedicated EV Team. I am hoping to use your experiences and feedback to better support our Guests, both those looking to purchase and those who already have.
We have seen a huge uptake in EV ownership in the last year or two and would love any feedback you have! I'd also love to be able to use real world examples to debunk EV myths and try and sway the naysayers.

Thanks in advance and stay charged!

Sponsored

 

[RickMachE]

Most dealerships don't know squat about EVs.

 

[KeyWestEViking]

Most dealerships don't know squat about EVs.

That's the reaction we're getting from a lot of our Guests as well. Many shopped elsewhere and found no one could tell them about it. Which is exactly why we have the EV Team. Our lead is probably the most knowledgeable EV guy I've ever met. We've had a ton of people who bought elsewhere and came to us so we could actually explain the vehicle.

 

[zvez]

Good Morning MME friends,
I am looking to get some real world data for how people's experience's were at your Dealership. This could be anything from ordering, delivery, shopping on the lot, service visits, buying/installing accessories, or calling in asking a question.
I work at a dealer in Canada and am a part of the dedicated EV Team. I am hoping to use your experiences and feedback to better support our Guests, both those looking to purchase and those who already have.
We have seen a huge uptake in EV ownership in the last year or two and would love any feedback you have! I'd also love to be able to use real world examples to debunk EV myths and try and sway the naysayers.

Thanks in advance and stay charged!

ordered a 21 premium in Jan 21, my local dealer went well above and beyond in making this happen. I got the car with xplan in about 3.5 months when others were waiting much longer. Had that car for 2.5 years, and only had one visit with the service dept to do the 10 k service, update some software. with parts dept, they ordered the second key fob under the customer satisfaction program, took two days. From the same dealer I ordered a 23 gtpe and got sept 23. It had an initial charging issue which was identified and fixed after four months (tsb out on this now). The lead tech for mach es is extremely knowledgeable and his wife owns a mach e (she recently traded in for a gt). When ford notified my dealer the fix was available for my car, they called, made an appt for first thing next morning, was in and out in 90 minutes. I'm very happy with this dealer and the fact that they're four miles from my house is even better.

I will say the sales staff really don't know anything about the mach es, but I only had contact very briefly when I picked both cars up.

 

[RickMachE]

That's the reaction we're getting from a lot of our Guests as well. Many shopped elsewhere and found no one could tell them about it. Which is exactly why we have the EV Team. Our lead is probably the most knowledgeable EV guy I've ever met. We've had a ton of people who bought elsewhere and came to us so we could actually explain the vehicle.

In my experience, it depends on the dealership's willingness to commit resources (people, time, money) to it AND whether the employees actually live and breathe it (i.e. drive one as their vehicle).
I once had a Ford employee ask me if I relied upon the dealership to help me on EV issues, and I laughed.

THIS FORUM is the best source of EV info that exists, period, largely due to a few of the experts including @Mach-Lee.

 

[KeyWestEViking]

ordered a 21 premium in Jan 21, my local dealer went well above and beyond in making this happen. I got the car with xplan in about 3.5 months when others were waiting much longer. Had that car for 2.5 years, and only had one visit with the service dept to do the 10 k service, update some software. with parts dept, they ordered the second key fob under the customer satisfaction program, took two days. From the same dealer I ordered a 23 gtpe and got sept 23. It had an initial charging issue which was identified and fixed after four months (tsb out on this now). The lead tech for mach es is extremely knowledgeable and his wife owns a mach e (she recently traded in for a gt). When ford notified my dealer the fix was available for my car, they called, made an appt for first thing next morning, was in and out in 90 minutes. I'm very happy with this dealer and the fact that they're four miles from my house is even better.

I will say the sales staff really don't know anything about the mach es, but I only had contact very briefly when I picked both cars up.

Glad you had a good experience. Sounds like your Dealer is one of the good ones. We have been noticing the same sort of trend. A lot of the sales staff at surrounding dealers know how to sell it, but not answer any of the questions Guests have.
Our service department is very similar, we have 6 techs who specialize in EV repairs and the lead is also one of our master electric techs. Too many times we've booked in service customers because their selling dealer refused to ever book in an EV, even when they bought it from them

 

[RickMachE]

Glad you had a good experience. Sounds like your Dealer is one of the good ones. We have been noticing the same sort of trend. A lot of the sales staff at surrounding dealers know how to sell it, but not answer any of the questions Guests have.
Our service department is very similar, we have 6 techs who specialize in EV repairs and the lead is also one of our master electric techs. Too many times we've booked in service customers because their selling dealer refused to ever book in an EV, even when they bought it from them

6 EV techs? Certified?

Most dealerships in SE Michigan have ONE. One of the largest in the country, Bill Brown, had 3 last year, one of which is dedicated to fleet vehicles, so 2. 6 would be unheard of around here.

 

[KeyWestEViking]

In my experience, it depends on the dealership's willingness to commit resources (people, time, money) to it AND whether the employees actually live and breathe it (i.e. drive one as their vehicle).
I once had a Ford employee ask me if I relied upon the dealership to help me on EV issues, and I laughed.

THIS FORUM is the best source of EV info that exists, period, largely due to a few of the experts including @Mach-Lee.

You're exactly right. A lot of our local competitors simply refuse to learn about or even sell EV's. We have put the time and money into it and it's definitely paid off.
But, what I love most about the EV world is the community it's created from it's owners. This forum included. Plus I find you get unbiased answers and not 'Ford says...' We try and model our EV Team around that. The worst thing you can do is get someone into an EV who isn't ready for it

 

[kdonnel]

My purchase experience was horrible but not from an EV specific perspective. It was obvious I knew much more than them about the MME but that didn't matter to me.

What mattered to me was how they tried to cheat me and had no remorse when caught.

 

[KeyWestEViking]

My purchase experience was horrible but not from an EV specific perspective. It was obvious I knew much more than them about the MME but that didn't matter to me.

What mattered to me was how they tried to cheat me and had no remorse when caught.

Thanks for the feedback. We get that from time to time as well. Some dealers in our area just see their Guests as a paycheque and it shows. Hopefully that changes soon

 

[KeyWestEViking]

6 EV techs? Certified?

Most dealerships in SE Michigan have ONE. One of the largest in the country, Bill Brown, had 3 last year, one of which is dedicated to fleet vehicles, so 2. 6 would be unheard of around here.

We are quite fortunate in that regard. With the amount of EV's we sell, we needed a good team both on the sales side, and service. Many of our staff are either interested or passionate about EV culture and adoption. Hopefully more and more places follow suit, but only time will tell

 

[ToOldForThis]

Most dealerships don't know squat about EVs.

I second this statement. Weakest point of purchasing an EV, is the lack of knowledge from the dealership itself. Even from the so-called "Certified EV Dealers".

 

[B177y]

I had a decent experience but still hated dealing with all the upsell stuff while doing the paperwork signing.

I was getting ready to buy an Edge, like literally walking into the dealer to write up the deal, and the salesperson asked if I had ever driven an MME as we walked past them. This was Sept 2023 so the lot was full of MME's. I laughed as I thought electric wouldn't work for me living in a rural area. I also like to take road trips. I took it for a test drive out of curiosity. The hook was set and I went on an EV info binge to see if it would work for me.

4 days later, the sales manager let me take an MME for a weekend test drive which is what ultimately sold me on it. I put about 300 miles on it on during Sat and Sun driving my kids to their soccer games. I did a DCFC to get the whole experience. Fell in love with the car and put a deposit down on a CR1 that arrived later that week.

I had a little hiccup in November when my car stopped accepting any charge. I had to wait 3 months for a charging port to be manufactured, delivered, and installed. Other than that, no issues, and that wasn't a dealer issue, it was a Ford issue.

I just had my 10,000 mile service last week.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Good points so far. You should also focus on transparent upfront pricing for EV buyers. An increasing number of us want to buy online, or at least have a simple out the door price. Price games anger me to the point I’ve walked out the door.

I also recommend doing a charging consult before the sale so people are aware of gotchas. You want to make sure someone in an apartment realizes they will have to set aside extra time for public charging, etc before they commit to purchase. Or that they realize road trips will take longer. And know the difference between AC and DC charging. If you have a DC charger, you should demonstrate how to use it.

 

[ToOldForThis]

And know the difference between AC and DC charging. If you have a DC charger, you should demonstrate how to use it.

That part would really be pushing it, for some of the dealers I visited during my recent search for an EV.

Sponsored