Tpaguy

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Im not surprised. I’m new to the ford brand with a preorder for Mach E. My chosen dealer hasn’t contacted me and has no information at all. They are still showing the old launch date on their website with no other info. I’m seriously rethinking my dealer choice based on their less than enthusiastic behavior. I’m not sure I want them servicing my vehicle if they don’t believe in it.

I think Ford will have an uphill battle getting the dealers to get behind electric vehicle. I saw the same with Honda - the dealers who had the Clarity PHEV here locally never even kept them charged for test drives. Now Honda has pulled the PHEV from all states except California, blaming poor sales. No wonder why sales were poor if the dealers can’t even be bothered to sell the product in the condition it’s supposed to be presented in.

fingers crossed for Ford. My backup option is a Tesla.
 

ejss

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If Ford was smart, they would hire people to call dealerships to check their knowledge like this. Then either fine dealerships giving wrong answers, or supply training, or both. Nothing like a little punishment to reinforce knowledge. Sales people have one job, be educated on what you're selling. It's not a hard job. Relate to people, know your product, and do it with a smile.
 

MustangJoe84

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I work for a Ford dealership as the Sync/Technology specialist. The in-vehicle technology is such that forward thinking customer oriented dealerships have someone like me to explain/set up and follow up with customers so they can use the features they paid for. I am constantly updating my knowledge about new products like the Mach-E. These forums are also a helpful resource. I cringe when I see this lack of interest at the dealership level. Ford does provide in-dealership training when a new vehicle is introduced, usually closer to the launch date.
 


Gary Hankins

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My dealer was not supportive of Ford's move to EV's. He was concerned about his service department losing a lot of work because the EV's require significantly less maintenance. His father was a dealer and introduced him to the line when he was 14. He is now in his 80's. He is a stellar dealer who has never flinched at supporting his customers. He, like many other more experienced dealers, are seeing a new leaf turn over in their professional lives. We shouldn't be surprised they are perhaps a little slow to adapt. I know my man, Mr. Shaffer of Cumberland, MD, will come to provide the kind of service and support which has made his dealership so successful. Patience is indeed a virtue.
 

benboy12

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My dealer was not supportive of Ford's move to EV's. He was concerned about his service department losing a lot of work because the EV's require significantly less maintenance. His father was a dealer and introduced him to the line when he was 14. He is now in his 80's. He is a stellar dealer who has never flinched at supporting his customers. He, like many other more experienced dealers, are seeing a new leaf turn over in their professional lives. We shouldn't be surprised they are perhaps a little slow to adapt. I know my man, Mr. Shaffer of Cumberland, MD, will come to provide the kind of service and support which has made his dealership so successful. Patience is indeed a virtue.
I am curious if bias will creep into these types of situations. I’m not saying your dealer is like this, but I’m sure many dealers who are not supportive of Ford’s move to EVs would rather not make the effort, and lose out on EV sales, in hopes that Ford’s EV sales as a whole will be less than stellar.
 

bobyellow

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Two points:
1. I think most of us will travel to find a receptive dealer. I don't fully trust my local dealer so have one reserved 35 miles away.
2. I'm wondering if all of the dealers were in the EV certified network of dealers. Just a thought.
 

benboy12

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Two points:
1. I think most of us will travel to find a receptive dealer. I don't fully trust my local dealer so have one reserved 35 miles away.
2. I'm wondering if all of the dealers were in the EV certified network of dealers. Just a thought.
I totally agree. I reserved one a state away because they were the only one of five dealers to respond promptly (same day) and confirm no ADM. I actually just got off the phone with them today. They don’t have any information that wasn’t already publicized, but I felt like they were going out of the way to try and dig and make themselves available. Totally worth the drive for me.

I think I read/heard that around 2/3 of dealers were EV certified.
 

buzznwood

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With the mach-e over a year a way it is not surprising most dealers haven't got back to those that have made a reservation or have clued up sales staff, after all there are bound to be a % of those reservations that are with people that have reservations for multiple pending vehicles as they don't know what they want yet. Come next year once the mach-e gets finalized the dealers are bound to have more information so would expect the phone calls and emails being sent to reservation holders.

Sure you'll still get dealers that just want to sell you what ever they have sitting on the lot and despite what is written on most ev comparison sites an ev will still need servicing, and most of the ICE service costs comparisons they do are always based around antiqued nonsense like changing oil every 3000 miles, so while there will be a reduction in vehicle servicing that is really only going to impact the dealers that have a stream of gullible idiots that they shadily take advantage of, so if those dealers go under as they want to avoid selling the mach-e well that is a win win in my book.
 

MachSpeed

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Fords biggest challenge in bringing out the Mach E will be educating there dealers.
 

w3rkn

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What more do you need to know..? How much more will a Dealer know..?
 

Bluestang50

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Two points:
1. I think most of us will travel to find a receptive dealer. I don't fully trust my local dealer so have one reserved 35 miles away.
2. I'm wondering if all of the dealers were in the EV certified network of dealers. Just a thought.
I reserved mine with a dealer nearly two hours away and will literally pass 5 other Ford dealers on the way there. I also bought my F150 at this dealer as they are a volume dealer not a meat market dealer.
 

benboy12

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Some of the Facebook comments on the article with the video link come from individuals who claim to work at/manage/own Ford dealerships. They are saying that Ford hasn’t providing information to them on the Mach E and they won’t receive training until Spring 2020. I wonder if Ford didn’t think there would be many questions at the dealership level this early on, or maybe there is just too much up in the air at this point to provide a lot of info to dealers (pricing on option packages, configuration open date, dealer incentives, final EPA numbers, final 0-60 numbers, etc.)
 

ejss

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I just love how they rely on information sent to them. The least they can do right now, while interest is high, is read Ford's website for the current information. It's sales 101, learn your product.
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