I'm giving up

[RickMachE]

Regarding unanswered emails, my experience is that many businesses, and business people, have a SPAM folder / filter setup that is losing them sales by the day. I never get tired of hearing, "I didn't get an email from you" followed by "oh, it's in my SPAM folder with hundreds of other emails". If you're an idiot with email, then you deserve the lost business.

As for cancelled orders, we ordered 5/29. Returned from a vacation on 6/28, went on dealer's website the morning of 6/29, and saw two identical premiums that matched our order. Contacted dealer, one was taken, one was cancelled order. Said we could have it if we closed by 7/2. Took it for a drive, wife unsure. Took demo Select home for 2 days, came back and bought it.

When our existing order, now a 2022, comes in, I will assess the market and if we can breakeven or better, or maybe even a small hit, we will take the new vehicle and sell or trade the old one. Likely sell, since Michigan limits the trade-in tax benefit to $7,000 of value in 2021 and $8,000 in 2022. I will probably post it on this site as delivery date approaches.

So, you can buy a cancelled order.

Sponsored

 

[blue92lx]

I understand where you're coming from as I was also looking a couple of months ago, but I was looking across the board - Mercedes, BMZ, Audi, Volvo and Ford. They all sucked and they all marked it up. Some were upfront and told me "oh, by the way, it has an ADM of $5k" others, I'd get there and see the crappy little makeshift note saying its marked up. This was ACROSS THE BOARD.

I sympathize with you, but it is getting annoying as heck with everyone going after just the manufacturer they're trying to buy from, not just here against Ford. This is the climate we're in. Everyone is going nuts on where there car is. I was actually trying to purchase an S class when I was turning in my E class since the 2021s look super cool on the inside. I go to the dealer in July and he's telling me they haven't gotten a single 2021 S class, all the people who ordered them are going nuts and they don't even know how to respond. He said they were expecting them anytime now but then they're also supposed to get 2022s at the end of this year and it is just a mess. This is Mercedes, a luxury brand, and they can't even make heads or tails of it.

You think that's bad? During my current shopping for a GV70 the Genesis website showed MSRP, the window sticker showed MSRP, and thankfully I wasn't willing to pay the strangely high monthly payments because after thinking about it for a couple days I went back to the paperwork and I had somehow missed the $6k markup. Not a single mention or notice that the vehicle had been marked up anywhere on paper or verbally. If I wasn't someone unwilling to pay above what I wanted I would've been swindled. Since then I've found a dealer that does MSRP and no dealer fees that I'm going to today.

Buying a car really is an exercise of self preservation, it shouldn't be like this. The term "car salesman" will forever be a put down because it's exactly what they deserve.

Sorry to the few honest car salesman out there that actually do their jobs properly.

And in my book the GM's don't get a pass because they're even worse trying to wear you down into submission. I haven't see a single honest GM yet.

And sorry to the honest GM's out there, because I'll never trust you even if you're doing what's right, unfortunately.

 

[jeffMachE]

Since you're working with SilTerhar, you could always look at leasing an XC40 Recharge through the Volvo program. You can turn it in after 5 months with no penalties. The XC40 Recharge is pretty nice.

 

[0t60-3.5]

Well, I bought a second Mach-E yesterday and had a great experience. A new MME Select AWD in Space White Metallic, second to the first customer delivery Mach-E GT Performance Edition. I was quick to the draw on the deal when one was delivered to a local dealership 15 miles away, bought it before it was officially checked in.

No dealer markup & good deal on the trades (yes, two trade-ins). I'm happy. This dealership is "rural" Iowa and pride themselves on "doing it a different" way by no negotiations (at least in the past), which now means no ADM. They may be able to do ADM, but it's their modus operandi to be fair and not negotiate.

Our family needed another new car - two previous cars had 155K & 100K miles and trade value was quite high than just a year ago. I was just waiting for something major to happen with high repair costs... they had to go and the timing was right. For instance, the minivan with 155K miles was offered to us as a trade for $3K in July 2020, we declined to trade it in when we bought a 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid and kept it, now got $7,300 for it yesterday, Oct 2021.

This was as much an investment as anything - instant equity value: combined with federal tax credit, no ADM, great deal on trade-ins, and 0% interest financing, market value probably higher than MSRP, it was a no brainer. I'd admit had to convince the wife, though, not an easy doing.

 

[yngwenli]

I think when consider buying new cars, avoid all the normal "salespeople".

Go straight to someone who probably isn't commissioned based like the fleet manager (are they?) or their Internet sales manager and just try to do it all over email and never walk in till your numbers are set. Tell them you have cash in hand, can sign right now and need no financing, have no trade in, etc...

Don't ask random questions about the car since you probably know more (or should know more) about it anyways.

That's the only way I've done it in the past and have gotten decent prices without all the back and forth. I walk in with literally pages of inventory numbers, but that was during the days when car shopping was normal.

In these times, I honestly have no issue buying sight unseen and never test drive as well. My thinking is if I don't like the drive, it's a 'me' problem since enough other professional drivers/reviewers who do this for a living have taken it for it's paces already and there are so many youtube reviews/channels out there now.

I got my Bolt sight unseen and never test drove it. Car works fine and met/exceeded my expectations (other than spontaneously catching fire).

 

[Jeff_S]

I enjoy reading the askcarsales subreddit. There is a lot of useful perspective from the car sales person's standpoint.

Even in normal times, I find that car dealers have a terrible time managing customer contacts. All of the OP's comments about not getting callbacks, getting clueless replies, etc, are par for the course. In normal times, I'd eventually find a competent sales person to help me get my deal done at a fair price, and the amount of effort OP put into her search would have led to such a sales person. The supply-demand situation is so out of balance that, as another poster said, they don't need to effectively manage phone calls or emails. They have 1/10 or 1/20 the usual number of cars on the lot.

I have some relatives that ordered a CR-V hybrid a few weeks ago. Their dealer had un-sold builds in the queue. They expect to receive the car mid-month, and the dealership is apparently selling for slightly under MSRP, at least before the crazy doc fees everyone charges in North Carolina. So it's possible to get a car in a reasonable time, at a reasonable price, but there's nothing on the lot.

I work in an industry that supplies components to, among other customers, auto makers. Normally, it takes about 8 weeks to receive one of our parts after ordering. These days, our competitors are quoting a year or more for delivery- if they will even accept a customer's order. *And* those competitors have raised prices by 25% or more. It's just really crazy. Many industry executives have publicly stated that they don't see the supply-demand balance stabilizing until 2023 at the earliest- maybe not even until 2024, barring a global economic event.

My own GE PE is on the train and I expect to receive it next month. My dealer accepts x-plan pricing and I hope there's no drama.

 

[GABAR]

First world problems.
Very hilarious ? to me how people get so bent out of shape because they can’t get something when they want it.

 

[Caramel]

Do you want a GTPE? I’ve got one on order, due in about 2 weeks, that I’m not going to take delivery. It’s dark matter gray, fully loaded. Let me know. I don’t want anything for it.

Thanks! I wish I could but the PE is a bit out of my budget and my needs though. I also don’t want to deal with switching to and from snow tires. (I’m in Colorado.) Why aren’t you taking it, if you don’t mind me asking?

 

[Caramel]

Either way, I feel for you, Caramel. I read over some of the responses you received and I am fairly certain you received a number of them specifically because you're a woman, which is even more irritating. I hope it works out for you either way.

Thanks! I hate to jump to that conclusion, but I started to feel that way too. There’s a certain tone sometimes that’s hard to convey in text.

Sorry you dealt with some crappy experiences too.

 

[Dmhccs]

Since you're working with SilTerhar, you could always look at leasing an XC40 Recharge through the Volvo program. You can turn it in after 5 months with no penalties. The XC40 Recharge is pretty nice.

I actually had to do this while waiting for my mach e. My lease was up on my other vehicle in July. My mach e is still en route. The Volvo subscription allowed me to wait out the delays.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We've rejected multiple dealers because they have excessive ADM; ignored my wife; spoke to her as if she was a child; never answered our email (I won't talk to a dealer on the phone until I have certain responses in writing); all sorts of other totally unacceptable behaviors.

The dealer we finally went with had an earnest teen/early 20s kid as their front person, he didn't know enough to be dishonest. We have it in writing that they'll accept X-plan and won't add junk or add ADM. We had to deal with a more seasoned and less trustworthy sales person when we went in. We'll cancel our order if it becomes necessary.

In this transaction, I have the money, so I have the power; The Mustang will become less restricted eventually and we are going to wait if we have to.

 

[Mach1E]

We've rejected multiple dealers because they have excessive ADM; ignored my wife; spoke to her as if she was a child; never answered our email (I won't talk to a dealer on the phone until I have certain responses in writing); all sorts of other totally unacceptable behaviors.

The dealer we finally went with had an earnest teen/early 20s kid as their front person, he didn't know enough to be dishonest. We have it in writing that they'll accept X-plan and won't add junk or add ADM. We had to deal with a more seasoned and less trustworthy sales person when we went in. We'll cancel our order if it becomes necessary.

In this transaction, I have the money, so I have the power; The Mustang will become less restricted eventually and we are going to wait if we have to.

Except that right now, having the money doesn’t mean squat if there are 10 people behind you with MORE money wanting to buy your car and willing to pay a premium because they aren’t as patient.

Just like with houses, it’s a sellers market right now. The sellers have the power. Why do you think it was so difficult for you to find someone willing to sell to you on your terms?

 

[Reign of Ravens]

The dealer we finally went with had an earnest teen/early 20s kid as their front person, he didn't know enough to be dishonest.

Just to share another silly dealership story, the place we got our Leaf from had something like this. Our salesperson was fairly new, first time being a car salesperson, and we weren't his first sale but would be his first electric vehicle sale. Definitely honest - told us about how his family used to advise against dealer BS like brake line flushes, and then literally within ten minutes one of the other regular dealer people (who had not been a part of the conversation) was advising us to get brake flushes regularly (we all sort of shared a knowing look, it was pretty amusing). He took us as far as his dealership would let him and then he had to get "the EV guy" involved. That guy largely fit the stereotype - came in acting a bit like a know-it-all, haughty attitude, sent our regular dealer guy on little errands like making photocopies or getting his coffee, something that seemed to be a power play but just really turned us off to him.

All I can say is, as much as we hate to have to deal with it, it must be 10x worse to work in that environment. I can't imagine that people act that way in dealerships because they want to, or because car salesman jobs attract those personality types...

 

[secondBlueStang]

Have you contacted @mrlevine on Twitter? He seems to be able to help with things like this

 

[Mach E JT]

Thanks! I wish I could but the PE is a bit out of my budget and my needs though. I also don’t want to deal with switching to and from snow tires. (I’m in Colorado.) Why aren’t you taking it, if you don’t mind me asking?

Because they are calling it a Performance Edition and it is very much not. And I’m not willing to spend the money on the risk that the problem is a hardware limitation that cannot be resolved via an update like a software limitation could be resolved.

Sponsored