Navigating dealership games (let's help each other)

[itstrue526]

If anyone has any advice or further details for me (and others) to navigate dealership games. I think I speak for everyone when I say, we waited nine months for our car and now we have to haggle just to get things like the price when we ordered it. Very frustrating.

My story as of Sunday 7/31

Delivery:
On Wednesday afternoon 7/27, I went to Ford chat and they said my car was in Ohio and will be delivered on August 12. Two hours later I got a text from the dealership saying it was there. That’s fine.

Price:
I was out of town when the car arrived. So we set a time for me to pick it up on Monday 8/1. And my sales person requested the normal stuff (insurance finish the credit application etc.)

When completed I asked him to provide me the final pricing details and financing options. He said we’ll talk about it on Monday. I told him to send me the price. He sent me the price and it was clearly wrong. I asked him to send it with all the calculation details. He did. The base price was the current price of 49100 not the price protected price from November of 48,100. I text him my November order form which showed 48100. I told him that once he fixed it that the calculation should be fine. I asked him to resend the pricing details with the correct price. He did not. He said we would finalize the pricing when I show up on Monday. I told him that was unacceptable. He has still not sent it.

Financing:
He text me some nonsense hand written paper with payment amounts. I said I wanted interest rates with terms. He said someone from finance would need to discuss that with me. I said to have them call me. He said they would call me. they did not. He text the next day and he said they would call me and they did not.

He finally told me financing would talk to me when I was at the dealership.

I told him I would not come in until the pricing and the financing was set. I “want to walk in, sign the papers, take the keys and leave."

He said it wouldn’t work that way. they would not talk to me anymore over the phone and we only negotiate in person. I told them I’m not coming to pick it up until I’ve finalized the price and financing.

What I want to achieve:
November price, minus park assist, plus xplan and financing incentives from November.

This great video explains how the dealers achieved all of this in their system. Keep in mind as you are reading that I sent this video and Screenshots to them how to do it.

Summary:
So what I’m gonna do is on Monday I’m going to call the dealership and keep escalating until I get somebody to finish the process for me over the phone.

These dealers pretend like they’ve never done this before and don’t know how to do it. When they literally sell cars all day every day. What upsets me is how many other buyers are getting taken advantage of and overpaying.

I'm not sure how this will end. But I'm going to keep fighting. Will keep you updated

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[Phil-Springs]

Keep us posted. Given your current strategy, I’d say you are well in your way to them selling your car to someone else.

 

[Thor2j]

Keep us posted. Given your current strategy, I’d say you are well in your way to them selling your car to someone else.

100%

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I would not insist on getting things over the phone. Go to the dealership armed with every piece of paper that supports your case. Plan to spend 3-4 hours there and fight it out until you get what you want. Based on what you’re describing, what you’re asking for is fair and with a bit of patience, you should be able to get it. Just my two cents…

Good luck to you.

 

[scoopman]

If anyone has any advice or further details for me (and others) to navigate dealership games. I think I speak for everyone when I say, we waited nine months for our car and now we have to haggle just to get things like the price when we ordered it. Very frustrating.

My story as of Sunday 7/31

Delivery:
On Wednesday afternoon 7/27, I went to Ford chat and they said my car was in Ohio and will be delivered on August 12. Two hours later I got a text from the dealership saying it was there. That’s fine.

Price:
I was out of town when the car arrived. So we set a time for me to pick it up on Monday 8/1. And my sales person requested the normal stuff (insurance finish the credit application etc.)

When completed I asked him to provide me the final pricing details and financing options. He said we’ll talk about it on Monday. I told him to send me the price. He sent me the price and it was clearly wrong. I asked him to send it with all the calculation details. He did. The base price was the current price of 49100 not the price protected price from November of 48,100. I text him my November order form which showed 48100. I told him that once he fixed it that the calculation should be fine. I asked him to resend the pricing details with the correct price. He did not. He said we would finalize the pricing when I show up on Monday. I told him that was unacceptable. He has still not sent it.

Financing:
He text me some nonsense hand written paper with payment amounts. I said I wanted interest rates with terms. He said someone from finance would need to discuss that with me. I said to have them call me. He said they would call me. they did not. He text the next day and he said they would call me and they did not.

He finally told me financing would talk to me when I was at the dealership.

I told him I would not come in until the pricing and the financing was set. I “want to walk in, sign the papers, take the keys and leave."

He said it wouldn’t work that way. they would not talk to me anymore over the phone and we only negotiate in person. I told them I’m not coming to pick it up until I’ve finalized the price and financing.

What I want to achieve:
November price, minus park assist, plus xplan and financing incentives from November.

This great video explains how the dealers achieved all of this in their system. Keep in mind as you are reading that I sent this video and Screenshots to them how to do it.

Summary:
So what I’m gonna do is on Monday I’m going to call the dealership and keep escalating until I get somebody to finish the process for me over the phone.

These dealers pretend like they’ve never done this before and don’t know how to do it. When they literally sell cars all day every day. What upsets me is how many other buyers are getting taken advantage of and overpaying.

I'm not sure how this will end. But I'm going to keep fighting. Will keep you updated

You have to take that car within 7 days or the stealership will sell it to someone else. That's what they're trying to do here.

You have to get stuff in writing at the time you place the order. This isn't going to end well, you have no leverage here.

 

[HuntingPudel]

If you continue to insist on getting everything solved before you go there, they will continue to play games with you until the 3rd, whereupon the car will be put into their inventory and probably sold within hours with ADM. Some dealers are like this. Gather together every piece of documentation you have on the deal and go there ASAP. Expect to spend 3-5 hours babysitting them into making things right. ??

 

[Reign of Ravens]

I support the spirit of this thread, but currently fighting a similar battle, it sort of feels like we're posting about how to beat the house at poker in a Vegas casino. This is a game that is rigged against us, and if the dealership wants us to lose, we're going to lose.

In my case, I went in person and my sales guy said he didn't know anything about price protection for my vehicle. It's not in the system, which is how they usually do their price adjustments. He suggested I get a private offer code from Ford. When I called Ford, they suggested the dealership contact their regional representative. I also sent along the various documents on this forum, and the YouTube video. I'm sure they didn't watch the video - but even if they did, the video basically says it's automatic, there's nothing to do for price protection (it shows how to get the rates that were available at the time of order). Nail in the coffin for me: they said they called the regional rep, who basically said if it's not in that incentive system then I don't qualify. I called Ford back, and that agent was clueless about it (but very nice, as most of Ford's reps seem to be).

Now, here's the deal: the dealership probably doesn't want to sell the car to you. What ever incentive or penalty Ford is dishing out for selling to someone besides the original order requestor must be less than the markup that dealerships are adding on. My dealership outright said to my face, in a somewhat contentious earlier visit, that they were going to lose money by selling the car to me. (Someone no longer with the dealership had an email exchange with me in which they said that custom orders would not have markup over MSRP, and the dealership - which refused to sign a price agreement with me earlier on - seems to be respecting that email as holding them to MSRP. For me, that would be grounds to work with a lawyer if they didn't.)

What's the ultimate hand you can play? Get a letter from a lawyer. I think two people on this forum did it before - one didn't end up having to use it as the dealership came around, and the other used it and got what they wanted. But that does also have the potential to blow up in your face.

As for me, I haven't totally let go of it yet - I'm ready to spend another 2+ hours on it in person. But at the end of the day, I'm probably not going to walk away from this vehicle. It's not just that I sort of need it and, after about 10 months of waiting, really can't afford to wait much longer. It's also that even if I don't get price protection, I'm petty enough to want to reduce the profits they'd receive by not being able to sell it to someone else, and thankfully am in a position where I can afford the increased price.

Do what you feel is right, and what works best for your scenario. Unfortunately, recognize that traditionally our ultimate power as consumers is to walk away from the deal, and right now that's what the dealers want us to do. The current market, and the demand and relatively rarity for this vehicle, heavily favor the dealerships.

 

[yngwenli]

I think you need to escalate to someone higher up (Dealership Manager/Sales Manager) or call their finance folks who may know more about price protection.

I think salespeople are the lowest knowledge folks on the totem pole in the dealership and won't know/care about price protection and keep spouting the system decides the price and that's that and it's out of their control.

I agree that ordering/waiting, no matter how great/correct the process "should" be, it's extremely stressful to have to deal with this after 9+ months for a lot of folks (me included).

Also, assume if you do get PP, they may opt to send you a check after 75 days which is still legit since they wait for Ford to send the check. I'm sure someone at the dealership knows about it, but a lot (salespeople) don't and don't care to learn.

Ford should improve the process and lock everything in online, but we're probably a long way off from that. As long as it's upfront, I'd much rather dealerships/Ford pull a Tesla and just say MSRP is now $XXXXX.XX when you ORDERED and consumers can chose to pay that price if they want (even if dealerships add a markup there). Tesla just raised prices again and MY is now $66k+$1200 destination. Still a long wait (Apr - Jul 2023).

 

[krafty81]

For anyone who has not yet purchased, remember to get a formal, written price sheet on what your car will cost as soon as the order is placed. Also, get it in writing or email that your $500 deposit is refundable. Have them also put X-Plan discount in there as well as any other local rebates. When your car comes in, you HAVE to go pick it up or they will sell it to someone else!

 

[PupSideDown]

Refusing to honor price protection, or pretending not to understand the concept is SOP for dealers. They would prefer it if you walk away, as they can immediately sell the car with a much larger markup to a willing buyer. In a market where demand far exceeds supply, sellers are going to price gouge.

Have the dealer agree, in writing, to refund the overpayment to you when Ford reimburses the dealer for protecting the price. This was the best deal I could wrangle from our dealer. At the time, I thought it was stupid, because why would the dealer be reimbursed for price protection when they overcharged $2k above original price. I was positive they would just keep the $2k I overpaid, and then keep another $2k from Ford, assuming they got it. Imagine my shock when a couple months later, the dealer sent a check to me for $2k.

The dealer is holding all the cards here, and you have to decide if it's worth it to walk away just to make your point. My guess is, if the new legislation passes, which has $7.5k rebates, (as opposed to tax credits) demand will even further outstrip supply.

 

[Reign of Ravens]

I'm not sure how this will end. But I'm going to keep fighting. Will keep you updated

It's been about a week - has it all been settled now? How did it play out?

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