rapidredmustang
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Wanted to share my story in case it helps anyone else along the journey.
TL;DR: It was extremely frustrating to have to wait, but it is a nice, nice car, and I'm glad I now have my Mach-E!
My Mach-E Select was manufactured on 9/10, supposedly delivered to the Argentine Ramp on 9/22 and initial Ford.com site delivery dates said mid October, but those dates slid through November and December.
In December, the site said the vehicle was delivered on 11/23. Then a few back-and-forths between me and the dealer; me and Ford customer service, and various folks and my dealership ensued, getting a straight answer was near impossible.
One of the primary reasons I ordered this car (in lieu of the GT, which I also have on order) was I wanted to buy this car for the 2021 tax year (tax rebate). Finally, I heard from Ford (dealer convinced their rep to email me) that the vehicle was returned to the factory (I got this clarified-- it didn't go back to Mexico, but to Michigan) for "quality hold". They never explained what the issue was.
I wasn't able to take advantage of the 2021 tax credit with the Mustang, but at least I'll be able to apply it to 2022.
Here were a few details I discovered about the vehicle:
- At first, my wife and I were worried about the build quality, because the rear doors would not open from the inside.
- The sales person/product specialist was baffled, and ultimately, she came back and explained that the child window locks also operate the door locks.
- Some minor fit/finish issues
(the leather lining of the seat from the rear passenger side seat wasn't lined up, but some massaging made it look less obvious)
(the sunglass holder trim doesn't align nicely with the rest of the plastics - maybe I'm used to Audi and this is routine for Ford?)
- Some comfort/size issues (I'm 6'2" and most of that height is in my torso, so I sit high in the seat)
(the rear mirror is limited in rotational angle such that I have to tilt my head down to see the full view of the vehicles behind me)
(the telescoping steering wheel comes out just far enough towards me, but not high enough for me to see the entire rectangular driver display)
One I learned about the product specialist:
- She said the 2022 model year had "cooled" seats. I didn't know that was an option (I have a GT on order, but it already has a VIN and a build date, and they told me I couldn't make changes).
- Turns out (unless someone here sets me straight) she was wrong. Perhaps she read the ActiveX "perforated" seats meant cooling, but there is no mention of cooled seats.
And finally, a warning or four about the buying process:
- The initial order form they printed didn't include my $500 deposit. Just because they've had it for 7 months, doesn't mean they (or you) should forget about that!
- It also didn't include (even after I reminded them) the $750 discount certificate that Ford offered for the delayed delivery
- In Washington state, there is a sales tax exemption for vehicles with a sales price under $45K, of up to $20K. (Here it's about 10% sales tax, so a $43K vehicle would have ~$4300 tax) They were trying to charge me $4300 tax but should've only charged $2300.
- On one sheet, the dealer tried to sneak by B&O taxes into the price of the vehicle of about $230. With the missing $750 and the $500 deposit missing, the summary sheet was muddled and unclear.
When I sat down with the finance manager, I said, "I would like to not pay the B&O tax." He called over to the Sales Manager (the guy who handles the factory orders for the Mach-E) and I only heard one side of the conversation: "He would like not to pay the B&O tax." [...] "OK" [...] He came back and said, "OK" and took the B&O taxes off.
$43995 (Dealer Selling Price)
- $750 (Ford apology credit)
$43245 (Base price on order form)
Excise tax ($802), Sales Tax ($2438 vs. $4300 they tried to charge initially) + $150 documentary fee (I didn't negotiate this, I suppose I could have tried?) led to an out the door price of $46,636.
I got a good price on selling my previous vehicle, and decided to put down the $7500 tax credit I'll get next year as a downpayment, so my financed amount was low enough that a 36mo. loan was doable to get the lowest rate. My credit union offers an EV/green car rate and discounts for auto-payment from an attached checking account, so I went with a 1.69% APR loan instead of the Ford Options plan. (Options has/had an incentive that seemed to pay more than your finance charges would be!) but since I don't know if I'll keep the Select when my GT comes in (the Select will either be the wife's car or traded in for the GT), I'll consider Ford Options when the GT is available.
And speaking of the GT, the website still says "Scheduled for production: Week of 1/3/2022"...Two weeks later, and no details... (I put the order down on the Select and GT the same day, 6/5, assuming I'd have the Select in 2021, and the GT would slip to 2022-- I was half right)
TL;DR: It was extremely frustrating to have to wait, but it is a nice, nice car, and I'm glad I now have my Mach-E!
My Mach-E Select was manufactured on 9/10, supposedly delivered to the Argentine Ramp on 9/22 and initial Ford.com site delivery dates said mid October, but those dates slid through November and December.
In December, the site said the vehicle was delivered on 11/23. Then a few back-and-forths between me and the dealer; me and Ford customer service, and various folks and my dealership ensued, getting a straight answer was near impossible.
One of the primary reasons I ordered this car (in lieu of the GT, which I also have on order) was I wanted to buy this car for the 2021 tax year (tax rebate). Finally, I heard from Ford (dealer convinced their rep to email me) that the vehicle was returned to the factory (I got this clarified-- it didn't go back to Mexico, but to Michigan) for "quality hold". They never explained what the issue was.
I wasn't able to take advantage of the 2021 tax credit with the Mustang, but at least I'll be able to apply it to 2022.
Here were a few details I discovered about the vehicle:
- At first, my wife and I were worried about the build quality, because the rear doors would not open from the inside.
- The sales person/product specialist was baffled, and ultimately, she came back and explained that the child window locks also operate the door locks.
- Some minor fit/finish issues
(the leather lining of the seat from the rear passenger side seat wasn't lined up, but some massaging made it look less obvious)
(the sunglass holder trim doesn't align nicely with the rest of the plastics - maybe I'm used to Audi and this is routine for Ford?)
- Some comfort/size issues (I'm 6'2" and most of that height is in my torso, so I sit high in the seat)
(the rear mirror is limited in rotational angle such that I have to tilt my head down to see the full view of the vehicles behind me)
(the telescoping steering wheel comes out just far enough towards me, but not high enough for me to see the entire rectangular driver display)
One I learned about the product specialist:
- She said the 2022 model year had "cooled" seats. I didn't know that was an option (I have a GT on order, but it already has a VIN and a build date, and they told me I couldn't make changes).
- Turns out (unless someone here sets me straight) she was wrong. Perhaps she read the ActiveX "perforated" seats meant cooling, but there is no mention of cooled seats.
And finally, a warning or four about the buying process:
- The initial order form they printed didn't include my $500 deposit. Just because they've had it for 7 months, doesn't mean they (or you) should forget about that!
- It also didn't include (even after I reminded them) the $750 discount certificate that Ford offered for the delayed delivery
- In Washington state, there is a sales tax exemption for vehicles with a sales price under $45K, of up to $20K. (Here it's about 10% sales tax, so a $43K vehicle would have ~$4300 tax) They were trying to charge me $4300 tax but should've only charged $2300.
- On one sheet, the dealer tried to sneak by B&O taxes into the price of the vehicle of about $230. With the missing $750 and the $500 deposit missing, the summary sheet was muddled and unclear.
When I sat down with the finance manager, I said, "I would like to not pay the B&O tax." He called over to the Sales Manager (the guy who handles the factory orders for the Mach-E) and I only heard one side of the conversation: "He would like not to pay the B&O tax." [...] "OK" [...] He came back and said, "OK" and took the B&O taxes off.
$43995 (Dealer Selling Price)
- $750 (Ford apology credit)
$43245 (Base price on order form)
Excise tax ($802), Sales Tax ($2438 vs. $4300 they tried to charge initially) + $150 documentary fee (I didn't negotiate this, I suppose I could have tried?) led to an out the door price of $46,636.
I got a good price on selling my previous vehicle, and decided to put down the $7500 tax credit I'll get next year as a downpayment, so my financed amount was low enough that a 36mo. loan was doable to get the lowest rate. My credit union offers an EV/green car rate and discounts for auto-payment from an attached checking account, so I went with a 1.69% APR loan instead of the Ford Options plan. (Options has/had an incentive that seemed to pay more than your finance charges would be!) but since I don't know if I'll keep the Select when my GT comes in (the Select will either be the wife's car or traded in for the GT), I'll consider Ford Options when the GT is available.
And speaking of the GT, the website still says "Scheduled for production: Week of 1/3/2022"...Two weeks later, and no details... (I put the order down on the Select and GT the same day, 6/5, assuming I'd have the Select in 2021, and the GT would slip to 2022-- I was half right)
Sponsored