CaPhil
Active Member
- First Name
- Phil
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2021
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 57
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Vehicles
- 2021 Mustang Mach e Premium SR, Star White
- Occupation
- Retired engineer
- Thread starter
- #1
I am posting this rather long commentary to alert my fellow Mach e buyers of dealer shenanigans that they need to watch for. You will see that I dropped the ball early on that resulted in my incurring a $1,500 ADM but through persistence and threats, I prevailed in the end.
I first saw the Mach e at the LA Auto show in November 2019 and put down a $500 refundable deposit right then. I am a little fuzzy on exactly how I picked details of my order like color but think I did this online. Nevertheless, I ordered my car directly from Ford. Afterwards, I received frequent emails from Ford re Mach e production progress. Eventually, I was asked to confirm my order and pick a dealer for delivery, which I did.
After several emails from Ford re the delivery schedule, a presentation by the dealer and telephone calls from a dealer representative, I finally was notified by the dealer that my Mach e had arrived. I immediately scheduled a pick up date. That’s when the adventure began.
I arrived promptly at my appointment time. After a test drive and some preliminary introduction to the Mach e features, I started the paperwork process. After providing information re financing and waiting for the credit check another dealer rep who I had not yet met started to review some of the paperwork with me. During this process he said there was a $1,500 charge for something to do with paint and fabric care and theft protection. To this day I still don’t know the exact benefits associated with these charges. However, I thought it was something they had already done to the car and that I had no choice but to pay for it. I was also “offered” an extended warranty for about $2,500 which I turned down.
I now know I should have been prepared for this and should have resisted having these charges added to the price. However, I had been waiting about 18 months for my Mach e and didn’t want to do anything to comprise delivery. Also, I was uncomfortable being in the confined office (Covid anxiety) so I didn’t resist these up charges like I should have.
In reviewing the completed paperwork I noticed my $500 deposit was not included so that part of the paperwork had to be revised.
I finally got out of there with my Mach e, happy with my new Mach e but unhappy about being ripped off.
Shortly thereafter I received a survey from Ford re my purchase experience. Being upset about my experience, I gave the dealer a poor review. A few days later I received a call from the dealer about my review. He was “concerned” that I didn’t have a good experience and wanted to make it right. He offered me a $1,500 adjustment and hoped I would revise my overall score on my experience. That sounded like a win for me and it was, but not like I thought. I had to re-do the paperwork but this time was able to do this over the internet so it wasn’t a big problem.
I was quite happy with myself for getting the $1,500 price adjustment until I received an email from the California Clean Fuel Rewards (CCFR) program asking for my review of their program and the $1,500 state rebate I had received. WTF! The email stated the CCFR program was initiated in 11/20 and provided a $1,500 rebate to EV purchasers. The rebate is initiated by the dealer at time of sale. I looked back through the papers I had just signed and did find a page that I signed re CCFR but didn’t see anything about a $1,500 rebate. So it turns out the so called dealer credit against the ADM was actually the CCFR rebate that I was already eligible for at time of sale.
So, I called the dealer again and asked to have this corrected or I was going to contact Ford Customer Service. It took about a week but the dealer relented and issued me the $1,500 credit against the ADM.
To summarize my experience: ADM of $1,500; had to remind dealer re my $500 deposit; received $1,500 CCFR disguised as dealer credit against ADM; finally received $1,500 dealer adjustment to ADM.
Hopefully, you as an anxious, new buyer like I was, will take away one important lesson that I learned the hard way. DON’T TRUST THE DEALER!!! Also, although the dealer may technically have the ability to add ADM, it is obvious that Ford is strongly discouraging the practice on any Mach e ordered via the internet. A threat to contact Ford will get them to back down.
I first saw the Mach e at the LA Auto show in November 2019 and put down a $500 refundable deposit right then. I am a little fuzzy on exactly how I picked details of my order like color but think I did this online. Nevertheless, I ordered my car directly from Ford. Afterwards, I received frequent emails from Ford re Mach e production progress. Eventually, I was asked to confirm my order and pick a dealer for delivery, which I did.
After several emails from Ford re the delivery schedule, a presentation by the dealer and telephone calls from a dealer representative, I finally was notified by the dealer that my Mach e had arrived. I immediately scheduled a pick up date. That’s when the adventure began.
I arrived promptly at my appointment time. After a test drive and some preliminary introduction to the Mach e features, I started the paperwork process. After providing information re financing and waiting for the credit check another dealer rep who I had not yet met started to review some of the paperwork with me. During this process he said there was a $1,500 charge for something to do with paint and fabric care and theft protection. To this day I still don’t know the exact benefits associated with these charges. However, I thought it was something they had already done to the car and that I had no choice but to pay for it. I was also “offered” an extended warranty for about $2,500 which I turned down.
I now know I should have been prepared for this and should have resisted having these charges added to the price. However, I had been waiting about 18 months for my Mach e and didn’t want to do anything to comprise delivery. Also, I was uncomfortable being in the confined office (Covid anxiety) so I didn’t resist these up charges like I should have.
In reviewing the completed paperwork I noticed my $500 deposit was not included so that part of the paperwork had to be revised.
I finally got out of there with my Mach e, happy with my new Mach e but unhappy about being ripped off.
Shortly thereafter I received a survey from Ford re my purchase experience. Being upset about my experience, I gave the dealer a poor review. A few days later I received a call from the dealer about my review. He was “concerned” that I didn’t have a good experience and wanted to make it right. He offered me a $1,500 adjustment and hoped I would revise my overall score on my experience. That sounded like a win for me and it was, but not like I thought. I had to re-do the paperwork but this time was able to do this over the internet so it wasn’t a big problem.
I was quite happy with myself for getting the $1,500 price adjustment until I received an email from the California Clean Fuel Rewards (CCFR) program asking for my review of their program and the $1,500 state rebate I had received. WTF! The email stated the CCFR program was initiated in 11/20 and provided a $1,500 rebate to EV purchasers. The rebate is initiated by the dealer at time of sale. I looked back through the papers I had just signed and did find a page that I signed re CCFR but didn’t see anything about a $1,500 rebate. So it turns out the so called dealer credit against the ADM was actually the CCFR rebate that I was already eligible for at time of sale.
So, I called the dealer again and asked to have this corrected or I was going to contact Ford Customer Service. It took about a week but the dealer relented and issued me the $1,500 credit against the ADM.
To summarize my experience: ADM of $1,500; had to remind dealer re my $500 deposit; received $1,500 CCFR disguised as dealer credit against ADM; finally received $1,500 dealer adjustment to ADM.
Hopefully, you as an anxious, new buyer like I was, will take away one important lesson that I learned the hard way. DON’T TRUST THE DEALER!!! Also, although the dealer may technically have the ability to add ADM, it is obvious that Ford is strongly discouraging the practice on any Mach e ordered via the internet. A threat to contact Ford will get them to back down.
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