Sharing my story of buying a Mach-E - Don't be a Zordude :)

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In a way you have been relieved of that awful day when you get that inevitable first chip in the paint, or the windshield. The curse of having a factory perfect vehicle is that it can never stay that way.

It's not that I welcome the first paint chip, but I do recognize that the first one only happens once. for you that has already happened.

Maybe the car needs a couple of rally stripes on the hood if the touch up isn't perfect.
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Zordude

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I’m probably unique here in saying that at long as the dealer makes the things right that they have promised, then I think it’s not a terrible deal. The ADMs are crazy right now, but you’re getting $7500 off up-front. In my state that also means you’re not paying sales tax and property tax on that $7500, so it ends up being closer to $9000 off (I don’t know how MA works), and also not financing that extra amount.

if you’re someone that needs a pristine new vehicle, then it may bother you. But if not, then you can take solace in the fact that those first few “character marks” are already out of the way, while the rest of us dread our first chip or door-bang.
The dealership is in MA but I am a NH resident so I don’t have any state tax to pay on the vehicle.

You are correct that we are financing 7500 less, so there is that.

i’m hopeful that once I actually have the car my negative feelings about the transaction will subside and we can just enjoy it.
 

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Since May I've had a reservation for an ID4 that is expected to be delivered in about January. This timing worked for us because we need to replace a car by 1/10/22.

Around mid-August I decided that a Mach-E premium had more to offer that I was interested in, and started in earnest to try and find a red or blue Mach-E Premium AWD, Ext Batt.

Obviously supply is ridiculously constrained right now, so I've been spending a lot of time reaching out to dealerships to be told the car in inventory was either a customers special order, or marked up to insane levels (72k in one case!).

Around this time is when I made the first mistake, which was developing such a passion for getting the car I wanted that I was listening to the logical part of my brain less.

Last weekend I got an email from one of the dealerships that I contacted and they had a car available. This particular car was previously a courtesy vehicle. The dealership was about 1hr 40 away from my house. I looked at the pictures on their site, everything looked pretty decent.

Here is the breakdown of what happened:
- Call and talk to the dealer, the car is available.
- Ask about manufacturer incentives on buying a courtesy vehicle, told there are none available for this car.
- Get worried that I'm not going to find a car in time. I put down a refundable deposit over the phone, to hold the car so we could come in later that day.
- Arrive and start looking at the car:
- Has 5800 miles on it already.
- Has one tire that is totally flat (can't drive it)
- Has one wheel with a bunch of cosmetic damage, someone clearly curbed it.
- Has more hood chips than i would ever expect from a car with just 6k miles, but i guess being a loaner didn't help.
- One of the trunk mounting brackets for the flat cover thing is broken off.
- We consider the long list of issues above, but instead of looking at them logically and cumulatively, we kind of individually rationalize them away because of our passion in finding a car.
- The dealer makes the following commitments:
- Tire will be replaced with a new tire.
- He'll get us a quote for a new wheel at their cost
- He'll get the body shop to touch up the chipped hood with the touch up pen.
- The body shop will replace the broken trunk clip thing.
- We decide that we can work past the issues based on his promises, and proceed to discuss the deal further.
- He says the sale price of the car is $58,800 (2400 dealer markup).
- At this point I'm not going to let 2400$ stand in the way of us getting the car we want.
- We tell him that the federal tax credit is a deal breaker if we can't get it. He says the car is being sold to us as "NEW" but he's unsure about the fact that they've previously had it registered to the dealership.
- Unsure is not acceptable, we tell him to get sure.
- After calling his finance manager he says that they have not claimed the credit, but because the car was previously registered to the dealer in MA we aren't eligible.
- We thank him for his time and ask him to refund our deposit, as that is a deal breaker.
- Before we get to the car there is suddenly a $7500 price reduction available from the dealership.
- This seems like an even better deal than the tax rebate, because now we are financing less.
- We proceed with the deal, but after we get home we have a lot more regrets than expected:
- We have no idea what the touchup will look like, and no recourse regardless.
- The replacement wheel is $1387 after tax, which i find really hard to believe is "dealer cost" so no we won't be paying that.
- It remains to be seen if they fix the trunk clip.

At the end of the day, the car that we now own but don't even have yet because we need to wait for them to get it registered in our state currently is a source of mostly bad feelings. I sincerely hope that once we have the car we can get past the negative emotion we're having currently and truly enjoy it.

in the meantime, we are seriously considering placing an order for a 2022 when they open for orders at the end of the month and replacing this car that we haven't received yet with that one in 6-8 months when it would be delivered.

My advice to anyone that reads this is that it's awesome to get excited about getting a specific car, but don't get so excited that you start rationalizing things that you shouldn't.
My man. ENJOY it.

All these peeps on here that are all "OMG terrible deal" are zero fun at parties. At the end of the day you essentially got your tax credit, got a bonus of less finance interest paid and lower excise tax, and didn't have to wait for freaking months on end (like I am--it sucks). Sure you paid a couple grand ADM, but that's just how the market is right now. No one throws a fit when dealers ask more for some rare used car like an E92 M3, but when supply and demand starts affecting the car THEY want they start having these "dealers are scum" meltdowns. They have fewer cars to sell right now people. Chill.

And I'm with space pony on the new vs used. New cars can end up owning you if you're stressed about small paint chips and dents.

As for the wheel though I'd tell them to shove it. I'd sell the other OEM ones individually, and I'd buy some dope Volks and put Michelin Pilot Sport EVs on them. And then I'd recommend driving it like you stole it. Cars are meant to be driven. People who go their whole lives babying some caddy around only for it to eventually get parted out once they hit the pine box miss out on one of the great joys in life.
 
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Since May I've had a reservation for an ID4 that is expected to be delivered in about January. This timing worked for us because we need to replace a car by 1/10/22.

Around mid-August I decided that a Mach-E premium had more to offer that I was interested in, and started in earnest to try and find a red or blue Mach-E Premium AWD, Ext Batt.

Obviously supply is ridiculously constrained right now, so I've been spending a lot of time reaching out to dealerships to be told the car in inventory was either a customers special order, or marked up to insane levels (72k in one case!).

Around this time is when I made the first mistake, which was developing such a passion for getting the car I wanted that I was listening to the logical part of my brain less.

Last weekend I got an email from one of the dealerships that I contacted and they had a car available. This particular car was previously a courtesy vehicle. The dealership was about 1hr 40 away from my house. I looked at the pictures on their site, everything looked pretty decent.

Here is the breakdown of what happened:
- Call and talk to the dealer, the car is available.
- Ask about manufacturer incentives on buying a courtesy vehicle, told there are none available for this car.
- Get worried that I'm not going to find a car in time. I put down a refundable deposit over the phone, to hold the car so we could come in later that day.
- Arrive and start looking at the car:
- Has 5800 miles on it already.
- Has one tire that is totally flat (can't drive it)
- Has one wheel with a bunch of cosmetic damage, someone clearly curbed it.
- Has more hood chips than i would ever expect from a car with just 6k miles, but i guess being a loaner didn't help.
- One of the trunk mounting brackets for the flat cover thing is broken off.
- We consider the long list of issues above, but instead of looking at them logically and cumulatively, we kind of individually rationalize them away because of our passion in finding a car.
- The dealer makes the following commitments:
- Tire will be replaced with a new tire.
- He'll get us a quote for a new wheel at their cost
- He'll get the body shop to touch up the chipped hood with the touch up pen.
- The body shop will replace the broken trunk clip thing.
- We decide that we can work past the issues based on his promises, and proceed to discuss the deal further.
- He says the sale price of the car is $58,800 (2400 dealer markup).
- At this point I'm not going to let 2400$ stand in the way of us getting the car we want.
- We tell him that the federal tax credit is a deal breaker if we can't get it. He says the car is being sold to us as "NEW" but he's unsure about the fact that they've previously had it registered to the dealership.
- Unsure is not acceptable, we tell him to get sure.
- After calling his finance manager he says that they have not claimed the credit, but because the car was previously registered to the dealer in MA we aren't eligible.
- We thank him for his time and ask him to refund our deposit, as that is a deal breaker.
- Before we get to the car there is suddenly a $7500 price reduction available from the dealership.
- This seems like an even better deal than the tax rebate, because now we are financing less.
- We proceed with the deal, but after we get home we have a lot more regrets than expected:
- We have no idea what the touchup will look like, and no recourse regardless.
- The replacement wheel is $1387 after tax, which i find really hard to believe is "dealer cost" so no we won't be paying that.
- It remains to be seen if they fix the trunk clip.

At the end of the day, the car that we now own but don't even have yet because we need to wait for them to get it registered in our state currently is a source of mostly bad feelings. I sincerely hope that once we have the car we can get past the negative emotion we're having currently and truly enjoy it.

in the meantime, we are seriously considering placing an order for a 2022 when they open for orders at the end of the month and replacing this car that we haven't received yet with that one in 6-8 months when it would be delivered.

My advice to anyone that reads this is that it's awesome to get excited about getting a specific car, but don't get so excited that you start rationalizing things that you shouldn't.
My heart goes out to you. Just enjoy the ride, literally.
 

cdale12

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The reality is, it is only a car and it is only money. Those things shouldn't be your focus and merit all of your attention. You'll have a blast driving the car you really wanted and got when you wanted it and that's all that really matters. Enjoy it!
 


fixed

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Best thing is xplan on a new purchase which is also becoming harder to find.
i managed A-plan on a new purchase back in june. it was almost impossible. i'd call, confirm the car was in stock, and then suddenly after i said "i have a-plan" the car was mysteriously sold/not available for sale
 

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If you haven't driven the car off the lot, i.e. haven't taken possession of it, there may still be a way to get out of the deal. I'm not here to judge whether you got a good deal or not, but if you regret it and haven't taken possession, there may be hope. I say look in to it.
I know you said there's no grace period in MA, but my understanding is that the deal is not complete until you take possession so that doesn't apply. Until the deal is complete, either party can still walk away.
 

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I think you got a decent deal.

Unless your household yearly adjusted gross income is at least ~$115k, you weren't going to get the full $7500 tax credit anyway. Getting it up front is a bonus.

The wheel would bug me the most. For about 15 minutes. But, that can be replaced, for far less than the dealer claims. And I would use it as an excuse to get a full set of winter wheels and tires.
 
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Zordude

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I think you got a decent deal.

Unless your household yearly adjusted gross income is at least ~$115k, you weren't going to get the full $7500 tax credit anyway. Getting it up front is a bonus.

The wheel would bug me the most. For about 15 minutes. But, that can be replaced, for far less than the dealer claims. And I would use it as an excuse to get a full set of winter wheels and tires.
The thing that currently bugs me the most is the 8-10 deep paint chips in the hood / front. As of right now they're not even going to try to touch them up at all, they're just going to give me the touch up pen.

I'm going to get a quote from another dealership closer to home to properly fix the paint.
 

SpaceEVDriver

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The thing that currently bugs me the most is the 8-10 deep paint chips in the hood / front. As of right now they're not even going to try to touch them up at all, they're just going to give me the touch up pen.

I'm going to get a quote from another dealership closer to home to properly fix the paint.
Oh, I'd misunderstood. I thought they were going to have those fixed. Most decent body shops have the skills to do that right so I'd assumed that was already taken care of. It's usually not dependent on the dealer. (At least around here, the dealers sub that out--might be easier/cheaper for you to go straight to a body shop instead of going through the dealer unless you think you can get it covered under warranty).

I recently brought my truck in for service and one of the dealer's "valets" parked it against a cement pylon, gouging deep scratches into the rear quarterpanel and door. They covered the cost of repair. If I didn't know what to look for, the fix would be invisible.
 
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Zordude

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Oh, I'd misunderstood. I thought they were going to have those fixed. Most decent body shops have the skills to do that right so I'd assumed that was already taken care of. It's usually not dependent on the dealer. (At least around here, the dealers sub that out--might be easier/cheaper for you to go straight to a body shop instead of going through the dealer unless you think you can get it covered under warranty).

I recently brought my truck in for service and one of the dealer's "valets" parked it against a cement pylon, gouging deep scratches into the rear quarterpanel and door. They covered the cost of repair. If I didn't know what to look for, the fix would be invisible.
Sorry, I wasn't clear that was a new development today.

Before we signed the deal they said they'd get the body shop to touch it up. Today that has changed to "we'll give you the touch up pen".

We screwed up by not getting that in writing in the deal that it was an open item that they "owe us".
 
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ZuleMME

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Sounds like they are in breech of contract and you can legally back out... Honest truth is you're looking at near $1000 to repaint the hood at a cheap but competent shop. If you're ok with $4k (hood and wheel + ADM) over MSRP for a 6000+ mile car you can complete this and be done with it. Personally I'd light up social media galore that they are backing out of their agreement and shady. Bet you they QUICKLY take care of it themselves.
 

SpaceEVDriver

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Sorry, I wasn't clear that was a new development today.

Before we signed the deal they said they'd get the body shop to touch it up. Today that has changed to "we'll give you the touch up pen".

We screwed by not getting that in writing in the deal that it was an open item that they "owe us".
Oh, that sucks! I think it's time to contact Ford corporate with a write-up of the dealer's shady practices. I'd probably still buy the car (I'm so itching to find one here), but report them to both the BBB and to Ford.

These kinds of behaviors are why I hate the dealer model of car sales. They add essentially no value and I always drive away with the taste of bile in my mouth, even if it's a great vehicle.
 
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Zordude

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Oh, that sucks! I think it's time to contact Ford corporate with a write-up of the dealer's shady practices. I'd probably still buy the car (I'm so itching to find one here), but report them to both the BBB and to Ford.

These kinds of behaviors are why I hate the dealer model of car sales. They add essentially no value and I always drive away with the taste of bile in my mouth, even if it's a great vehicle.
I don't currently have any way out of buying the car, so that is still going forward.

I'll wait until I actually have it in my possession before I start throwing around the corporate complaints.

It's not going to be ready until "at least" Friday because they are waiting for a replacement tire.
 

SpaceEVDriver

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I don't currently have any way out of buying the car, so that is still going forward.
...
It's not going to be ready until "at least" Friday because they are waiting for a replacement tire.

If it was mine, I'd start looking at easy, cheap mods I can do that will make it even more mine and will tend to increase my excitement of owning the vehicle.
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