Looking for advice from any dealers or lawyers on here. Deal gone bad.

[Carmel Mach E Auto]

The Ford financing and Ford Options rates are published and known (assuming your credit is good enough to qualify)

But we don't know know his credit score, so we don't know what his Ford Options rate would have been. We know the rate for the traditional loan he agreed to is 3.99%, but we we don't know the loan term. So even if we can look up the going rates in CT, that won't, by itself, reveal his credit score.

Stated in specific terms, we don't know the equivalent Ford Options rate for a standard Ford Credit loan in CT with a 3.99% rate for an unknown duration.

Here's a spreadsheet where you can do the math to check out the comparison between traditional loan and Ford Options. In general, the Ford Options has a higher interest rate, but if you factor in the $2,500 incentive it costs less overall. A moot point if you pay it off after a month either way (or refinance through private financing).

Yes, I'm very familiar with that spreadsheet and the Ford Options financing plan. And your last sentence is exactly my point - none of it matters if Ford Credit will no longer be holding the loan anyway. It doesn't matter to the OP, and neither should it matter to Ford or Ford Credit either. So the latter two can square up with the dealership on their end as desired. Or not. But it needn't and shouldn't involve the OP.

This is completely irrelevant. The rates and incentives are what they are, they were available and should have been known to both parties at the time of the contract signing, and the reason for Ford setting those rates has nothing to do with this.

Completely irrelevant to what? To the OP's situation? I agree. I only brought it up in response to the suggestions to switch to the Ford Options plan as a means to "fix" things. The fix for this is for the OP to refinance his loan as he intended to do irrespective of this screw up, and to let the various concerned parties under the Ford corporate umbrella clean things up on their side as they see fit.

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[Scarpia]

Completely irrelevant to what? To the OP's situation? I agree.

Yes, irrelevant to the OP's situation.

 

[deadduck]

So, I'm no expert on any of this but two things seem possible to me.

First, it could just be a honest error. I had a dealer blow my financing setup, and let me drive away with a new car while still owning my trade. I had no idea because I was signing what was in front of me. They also sold me a car that needed a TSB applied before it was sold.

These aren't the smartest or most organized folks.

Second, there are scams run where a dealer calls you back a few days later and says, "gosh, the financing fell through, ya need to..."

These, also, aren't always the most honest folks.

Maybe it's none of these things.

Me, if I ever buy one of these things, which actually is really likely, I would make them do Ford Options and nothing else. It should be very straight-forward, no weird variations because they can't figure things out. Ford Options isn't hard and shouldn't be confusing at all to a dealer.

 

[Deleted member 4669]

So here is the outcome of the situation. I finally ended up dealing directly with the owner as I was done with the sales manager and his BS. It most likely was an error made by the sales team. When I was making the purchase they must have changed their minds 5 times on what was required to qualify for the rebate, I guess they should have changed it one more time.

I thought about switching to options, which they offered, but he they really had zero idea how it worked and claimed i would owe interest on all unmade payments, plus a disposal fee and higher interest rate. I dont think any of that is actually true, but could not find enough solid info to see what happens when you pay off an options loan early.

So in the end they agreed to wave all dealers fees, the stupid etching fee and get the price under $50k so I could avoid the CT luxury tax. They also found me another lender to get 1.7% rate which lowered my payments $20 a month. Overall I had to pay $1k more principle on the car but still $1600 less then I guess I technically should have. I did not think I could find a better deal at this time so decided it was not worth the aggravation and took the deal.

 

[RonTCat]

So here is the outcome of the situation. I finally ended up dealing directly with the owner as I was done with the sales manager and his BS. It most likely was an error made by the sales team. When I was making the purchase they must have changed their minds 5 times on what was required to qualify for the rebate, I guess they should have changed it one more time.

I thought about switching to options, which they offered, but he they really had zero idea how it worked and claimed i would owe interest on all unmade payments, plus a disposal fee and higher interest rate. I dont think any of that is actually true, but could not find enough solid info to see what happens when you pay off an options loan early.

So in the end they agreed to wave all dealers fees, the stupid etching fee and get the price under $50k so I could avoid the CT luxury tax. They also found me another lender to get 1.7% rate which lowered my payments $20 a month. Overall I had to pay $1k more principle on the car but still $1600 less then I guess I technically should have. I did not think I could find a better deal at this time so decided it was not worth the aggravation and took the deal.

You won... anyone else (with your credit rating) walking into a dealership to buy the same car the same way would have paid more for it.

 

[Carmel Mach E Auto]

I thought about switching to options, which they offered, but he they really had zero idea how it worked and claimed i would owe interest on all unmade payments, plus a disposal fee and higher interest rate. I dont think any of that is actually true, but could not find enough solid info to see what happens when you pay off an options loan early.

I believe that this was covered by user hybrid2bev (who works for Ford Credit, as I understand it) in the master thread here about Ford Options. My recollection is that you can pay off the loan as you would any other, with interest owed only on the amount of time past since your last payment (give or take), but I would not swear to that. At any rate, I think the answer is in that thread.

I did not think I could find a better deal at this time so decided it was not worth the aggravation and took the deal.

So what would have happened if you had simply left things as they were? Did it become apparent from the language in the contract that they had the upper hand, and could have voided the contract?

 

[JSW]

Good result. Enjoy!

 

[lwilliams0514]

I will try and stick to the cliff notes version of my recently purchased Mach-e.

I purchased a Mach-e a couple days ago from Torrington Ford in CT (Yes I am calling them out on this).

My purchase was through x-plan. The Ford partner site was showing a $2600 incentive through x-plan For my zip code. Dealer seemed a little confused on the incentive and changed several times on what the fine print of it was. Eventually they determined that I would need to use Ford credit and if I took the incentive I could not get the 1.9% interest rate so would need to take a higher 3.99% rate. Told them I would take the $2600 incentive and refinance with another lender later for lower interest rate.

I complete the deal and take delivery of the vehicle. All paper work was signed by both parties.

Yesterday I get a call from the dealer indicated the incentive was actually not valid. They said the only way to get it was if I went with the Ford Options Loan. They told me Ford Credit cancelled the transaction and I had no actually deal. They said they cancelled my registration and I was not allowed to drive the car. They said I could go in, pay them the $2600 or return the vehicle.

At this point I decided to call Ford Credit. They basically had no idea what I was talking about. They said the account was active, they did not reject the loan and the car was currently listed as mine. They suggested calling ford as it sounded like a shady dealer. I did call Ford and didnt really get anywhere. They said they could open a case but dealers are independently owned.

My feeling on this is the dealer just plain effed up. They made a mistake in understanding the terms of the incentive and when they went to recoup it from Ford, they didnt get it and dont want to lose the $2600 on the sale. They are trying to strong arm me into undoing the deal. They lied about Ford Credit rejecting the loan and cancelling the registration was shady at best and I am wondering if it is illegal. I asked several times for written documentation from Ford Credit that the loan and deal was rejected and have not received anything from the dealer.

So looking to see if there are any dealers here or maybe even members who might be better versed on the law in a situation like this. Can the dealer void a completed deal if they made a mistake? Am I legally obligated to actually return the car? Can I just go register it myself at this point?

I wont even go into the numerous crazy things the dealer told me over the course of my conversations with them that just further convince me that they aren’t being strait. Honestly if they just came to me and were completely honest and tried to work this out maybe I would have tried to be reasonable but at this point, nope.

What a nightmare

Ok I am a finance manager at a dealership in CA.

Not sure on CT laws but here in California, we would eat the $2500 and someone would get in trouble. If you have good credit and the deal can be bought by a bank, then you can refuse to resign and there is nothing they can do. They CAN get it financed, but don't want to in order to get you to come back and refinance. Now they did legitimately make a mistake. If you intend on keeping a relationship with this dealer, then perhaps making it right would be a good thing.
Maybe offer to split the difference with them seeing as how you have all the leverage.

If they are trying to force you to re-sign, then take the contract to your credit union/bank and obtain a loan there and take them the check for the amount financed. Once you have a contract that is the contract that is enforced. If they can't "secure" financing at the terms you have currently, then you will secure it for them with the legal contract you have

I am assuming you have good credit and can easily obtain financing so work with the dealer but you hold all the cards (in CA you would).

 

[lwilliams0514]

I will try and stick to the cliff notes version of my recently purchased Mach-e.

I purchased a Mach-e a couple days ago from Torrington Ford in CT (Yes I am calling them out on this).

My purchase was through x-plan. The Ford partner site was showing a $2600 incentive through x-plan For my zip code. Dealer seemed a little confused on the incentive and changed several times on what the fine print of it was. Eventually they determined that I would need to use Ford credit and if I took the incentive I could not get the 1.9% interest rate so would need to take a higher 3.99% rate. Told them I would take the $2600 incentive and refinance with another lender later for lower interest rate.

I complete the deal and take delivery of the vehicle. All paper work was signed by both parties.

Yesterday I get a call from the dealer indicated the incentive was actually not valid. They said the only way to get it was if I went with the Ford Options Loan. They told me Ford Credit cancelled the transaction and I had no actually deal. They said they cancelled my registration and I was not allowed to drive the car. They said I could go in, pay them the $2600 or return the vehicle.

At this point I decided to call Ford Credit. They basically had no idea what I was talking about. They said the account was active, they did not reject the loan and the car was currently listed as mine. They suggested calling ford as it sounded like a shady dealer. I did call Ford and didnt really get anywhere. They said they could open a case but dealers are independently owned.

My feeling on this is the dealer just plain effed up. They made a mistake in understanding the terms of the incentive and when they went to recoup it from Ford, they didnt get it and dont want to lose the $2600 on the sale. They are trying to strong arm me into undoing the deal. They lied about Ford Credit rejecting the loan and cancelling the registration was shady at best and I am wondering if it is illegal. I asked several times for written documentation from Ford Credit that the loan and deal was rejected and have not received anything from the dealer.

So looking to see if there are any dealers here or maybe even members who might be better versed on the law in a situation like this. Can the dealer void a completed deal if they made a mistake? Am I legally obligated to actually return the car? Can I just go register it myself at this point?

I wont even go into the numerous crazy things the dealer told me over the course of my conversations with them that just further convince me that they aren’t being strait. Honestly if they just came to me and were completely honest and tried to work this out maybe I would have tried to be reasonable but at this point, nope.

What a nightmare

Your deal has not gone bad..... your actually in the driver's seat. The dealer is trying to "shame" you into coming back to help them fix their mistake. But they are not being shady.... they made a mistake. Up to you what you want to do.

 

[Deleted member 4669]

So what would have happened if you had simply left things as they were? Did it become apparent from the language in the contract that they had the upper hand, and could have voided the contract?

most likely I think I was in the right on this one but honestly didn’t want to invest the energy in the fight that was ahead. I still made out ok I think. They ate some money and I still get a Pretty solid deal as I got xplan plus about 1600 of the 2600 in the new deal and a better interest rate, not that the rate matters as much I was going to refi shortly after the completion with Another bank anyway.

 

[Deleted member 4669]

Ok I am a finance manager at a dealership in CA.

Not sure on CT laws but here in California, we would eat the $2500 and someone would get in trouble. If you have good credit and the deal can be bought by a bank, then you can refuse to resign and there is nothing they can do. They CAN get it financed, but don't want to in order to get you to come back and refinance. Now they did legitimately make a mistake. If you intend on keeping a relationship with this dealer, then perhaps making it right would be a good thing.
Maybe offer to split the difference with them seeing as how you have all the leverage.

If they are trying to force you to re-sign, then take the contract to your credit union/bank and obtain a loan there and take them the check for the amount financed. Once you have a contract that is the contract that is enforced. If they can't "secure" financing at the terms you have currently, then you will secure it for them with the legal contract you have

I am assuming you have good credit and can easily obtain financing so work with the dealer but you hold all the cards (in CA you would).

I agree that any good reputable dealer would have eaten this mistake as a cost of doing business. But I have learned they are neither of those. They continued to claim because the incentive did not exist the contract was not valid and I would need to resign one way or the other. I think they are full of crap but again it was not worth the aggravation.

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