Dealership experience - How was yours?

[Paisano]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear they keep following up with you. Our team does that same and it's helped a lot of guests feel confident about their vehicle. Glad to hear you got a newer model as well, did they honour the sales price of the vehicle when it was ordered?

Yes they did and they gave me $750 off the price because of the wait.

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[George Knighton]

My experience was not great.

Salesman did not know much. Had to establish relationships with four people in the dealership.

Like pulling teeth to get the price I wanted. They actually let me walk out and then called me as I was driving to say come back.

Very lightweight indoctrination.

Was still learning things the hard way weeks later.

What can you do, eh.

 

[AKgrampy]

My recall service was excellent and was my Mach was just scheduled for its 20,000 mile check-up. Too bad my dealer is not even a Model e dealer any longer but their best mechanic remains EV certified and they have all the tools and equipment. Will enjoy the two years left on my Options contract and see where things are at that time. Really would like another Mach but nearest dealer is 300 miles away.

 

[Zekester]

My sales experience at Crouse Ford in Taneytown, Maryland was excellent. My salesperson, Lewis, owns a Mach-E and is very knowledgeable about the car. He pointed me to this forum before the purchase so I could gather background. All dealers we visited or explored at that time were selling at thousands above the MSRP sticker. Mr. Crouse told me straight up, if we order one he'd sell it for the sticker price. At that time, that was a great deal. We waited from October of '22 until June of 2023 for delivery. The delivery experience was excellent, there was absolutely no pressure for add-ons and Louis took us both through the car and its features in a very thorough manner.

I had one issue with connectivity a few weeks after purchase, and Louis volunteered to help me out and see if we could troubleshoot it between us before putting it in to the service department. We were able to fix it.

WRT service, I've had it in twice to have the tires rotated (routine service and that's it.) Other than that the car has not required any. I am, however, sad to say that this dealership has decided (at least at the present time) not to maintain/update their EV certification with Ford. As I understand it, that would require the addition of DC fast chargers; the level of electricity required to support that is not easily available on their side of town, and that would require a three million dollar investment on their part to make happen. Not viable for a small family dealership in a rural community that is mostly focused on trucks for farms. As a result, if I have any major issues, I'll have to find another dealership. Frustrating.

 

[Dwood11]

Buying the car was easy. But the rest has been nothing short of a drastic disappointment.

Purchased a certified mme gt with pretty low miles on a Saturday. Took it back to the dealer two days later that Monday and they had it for a month while they fixed a pretty severe issue even though it was “certified”.

Next day while I was washing my now 3 day old/new car I noticed that some one had either backed Into the car or whoever was driving backed into something. Either way I noticed the bumper was damaged and needed to be repaired. Damage that was not there when we purchased the car.

So total time with our car, about 4 days. Total time without it, going on 40 and we have zero idea of when we will get it back. Never imagined we would be making car payments on a car we don’t get to drive. Lol. But that’s one way to keep the miles off it I guess?
And the dealer is fixing the damage for us, but I’m a little worried about what it will look like when they are done. Cannot imagine a dealer bodyshop is super proficient at paint matching. Especially our color.

I also have a little gripe about the Bev team. I called them after the dealer could not give us any time frame when we first took the car in. They talk a big game but in the end they were pretty much no help at all. It’s almost like they couldn’t get me off the phone fast enough the two times I called. They also said they would follow up with me both times and that never happened. So I find it odd that I hear about people getting courtesy calls from ford or small gestures of compensation like cute little charge pads, and 50 dollars of funny money? Maybe I’m in the naughty list at this point because of some of my other disgruntled post’s?

So far I’m thinking this is turning out to be a big mistake. Which is sad as we have owned lots of fords over the years(8) most of which have turned out to be good vehicles. Heck my first car was a Ford pickup that I literally bought with my paper route money!

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

Thank you for the feedback. We have been looking into the 48 hour test drive as well. Did you find it was the deciding factor?
We have also run into some part shortages from Ford and I will be the first to say it's very frustrating. Glad you've had an overall good experience though!

48 hour test drive sold us on the first mach-e, and the exceptional sales experience (no hassle, good price, no gotchas, no overselling extras and no pressure) sold us on a second mach-e a week later.

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

I have asked them not to clean. I prefer to do it myself.

I'll second this one. I prefer the vehicle is not washed or cleaned. I'm very particular about how they are cleaned (black cars) and what chemicals are used. I think the vehicle coming back washed and detailed is a nice touch, but I think it might be a good idea when the vehicle is being dropped off to mention that you include complimentary washing and cleaning before pickup, let the customer decide if they want it done or not. It's easy to forget to say "don't wash it, don't clean it", so I think defaulting to a confirmation before adding a wash and clean would be the safest way to add it in without upsetting your more particular customers.

 

[Jeff DeMello]

Thanks in advance and stay charged!

My dealer experience has been exemplary. The purchase cycle was quick and painless. And I've only taken the car into the dealer once, the rest of the times they pick up my MachE and leave me a loaner car, no charge. The 2 10k services I've had, including the recalls, have been flawless. I have zero complaints!

Big Valley Ford in Stockton, CA!

 

[agoldman]

dealer servicing has been awful here. I only thing that gives me pause on what to get next. maybe that's just the way EVs are handled. like the unwanted complete with unskilled labor and long excessive waits to get into the dealer Mach e service rep que. it's pretty bad. 3 dealers in proximity and my thoughts are based on the best one which says very little.

 

[Tangofox]

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!

I ordered my 2022 through the Ford Website and Ron Norris Ford in Titusville FL. They were upfront and helpful. When the car arrived I drove away happy and completely-pleasantly surprised by the process. They performed the first service in my driveway; once again a great experience.
I had the second service performed at another dealer in another city. 180° difference in experience. I felt like they were trying to get me to go back to ICE. The dialog in the service department was filled with negative statements about EVs, lack of practically, immature technology, etc. Besides the insult to my intelligence there was the inconvenience. The car needed a software fix for the camera module and a seatbelt warning and stayed in the service department for ten days.
Im overdue for a service, but have no desire to walk that walk again. Anyone have a better experience in the Orlando area?

 

[jtoast]

I leased a 23 Mache-PE 2 weeks or so ago. It had been a service loaner and had ~5K miles when I picked it up. Other than being completely clueless in regard to EVs, my dealer process was fine. No issues so far but a few annoyances:

1) I hate that I am unable to see software/module versions. The software load on this vehicle definitely feels like it's in active development and it bugs me that I don't know for sure I'm current -1 or thereabout. I work in infosec and keeping things current is a large part of application security.

2) It was a huge pain in the ass to figure out exactly what the MSRP was on the vehicle as it was built pre price drops. I asked the dealer several times for an updated windows sticker but got nowhere. I eventually just went to the ford website, built a 2023 with the same options, and worked off those numbers. Hopefully I got close.

3) All 3 salesmen I worked with at the dealership were clueless. My test drive consisted of the someone handing me the keys and saying:

"Is it charged up? Oh yea, you've got 100 miles or so, you should be good! Have fun, I'll call and check on you if you aren't back in about an hour."

They then walked away. Luckily my 2 previous vehicles were also EVs, so I was able to figure things out fairly quickly. However, an actual demo or at least an overview of major features would have been appreciated. At a minimum they should know how to change drive modes or to enable one pedal driving. When I asked, they looked for a physical button, didn't see one, and said "I'm not sure but I think there's just the one drive mode. if there were more, there would be a button."

3) Delivery - My process consisted of

"Okay, here's the keys; and the temp tag is on the back. I will text you in about 2 weeks to pick up your plates. Have a good one"

and then the salesman walked away. I then spent about 15 minutes or so in the parking lot configuring settings. I picked up my plates a couple days ago and haven't heard from anyone since.

4) Dealership did not know Ford was moving to NACS and had no clue when I asked how to get the free adapter. I only knew it was being offered because a tesla salesmen mentioned it when we were discussion their competition.

5) Apparently, the vehicle also came with 250kwh of free charging from Electrify America. I had no idea that was true until I saw it in the app about an hour ago. I would have probably let it expire had I not noticed it.

As a comparison, I also looked at a Tesla Model Y the week prior to my purchase. The Tesla salesman was awesome. He gave me a full feature overview of the vehicle, walked me through the common configurations, and was even able to answer my competitor comparison questions. I spent 45 minutes, (about 15 minutes going over the vehicle and then a 30-minute test drive on my own,) and left feeling confident that I understood exactly what I would be buying and how it would and would not suit my needs. In fact, the only reasons I didn't' lease a model Y on the spot was because Tesla doesn't lease in my state, and it would have taken 2-3 weeks for the vehicle to be delivered to my area anyway.

If this were a basic ICE vehicle, none of the above would matter to me most likely. However, it's not an ICE vehicle. Had I not been an experienced EV owner already, there is no way in hell I would have bought this vehicle based on my dealership experience.

 

[Tangofox]

Sharing a positive dealer experience. Had the car serviced at Tropical Ford in Orlando. They did the 30k and tackled the Blue Cruise not available- Driver facing camera fault. Impressive service staff was friendly, professional, and knowledgeable. They assigned a tech - Kel who along with a half dozen other proton staff owns an EV (MME). We went for a test drive and verified the fault. He and the service rep explained the software reinstallation and off they went. 2.5 hours later the job was done, the car was tested and I drove away happy. With Blue Cruise. 180° from my last service at another dealership

 

[Jerrytball]

Most dealerships don't know squat about EVs.

Some don’t remember they sold you an EV and I got that call today hey Jerry, the car you ordered is here, I’m like hey do you remember what we did right? Oh hell yeah I’m sorry. Well, here’s a photo of your car you were gonna get lol.

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