The dealer gave my reserved vehicle away I waited six months for

[mkhuffman]

I am in Stuart and this does not surprise me about Essential. I do not think much has changed there with the change in ownership. Same bad business.

I however did not get your Mach-E but found one in Orlando. I had been using the Ford site to search with no luck, but did a Google search for MachE for sale Fl and found one for sale that way. Supposed to pick up tomorrow since was due to arrive today

I found that Autotrader works best.

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[Duchess]

I'm so sad and angry for you too. Due to this chip shortage, dealers are laughing with glee while selling cars at high ADM and dont honor what they say. They dont need to. Its a seller's market. My own dealership basically laughed at me when i wanted no ADM , Ford Options, and X Plan. THey said no dealership is doing it because they dont need to. If its not you buying it, its just another person who will.

 

[Valkyrja]

Screw Ford's dealership model. The Mach-e is the sixth Ford I have owned and it will be the last unless they change with the times and allow us to bypass the dealers.

 

[breeves002]

I'm late to the game here but that deposit is ALWAYS 100% refundable no matter what they say. They can have the car ready to sell to you and if you don't want it they have to give you your deposit back by law. Insane they'd tell you otherwise. Get them to write you a check. Call Ford if they won't.

 

[blahmeh14]

I was told something similar to this by a dealer that I ended up not ordering with.

They said that they’ll market the car on their website as it nears delivery and to potential customers as soon as it gets on the lot. If it happens to be sold on the website with ADM before it arrives on the lot or to a customer on the lot before I can get there and sign for it, then tough luck.

Also told me the deposit was non-refundable even if I didn’t end up buying the car for one of the above reasons. Said that it was more like a “fee to ensure a model with the options you want is ordered by the dealership.”

Needless to say I didn’t end up going with that dealer…

New dealer promised no ADM in writing over email and said the deposit was fully refundable at any time. So, fingers crossed.

 

[jlauro]

I'm late to the game here but that deposit is ALWAYS 100% refundable no matter what they say. They can have the car ready to sell to you and if you don't want it they have to give you your deposit back by law. Insane they'd tell you otherwise. Get them to write you a check. Call Ford if they won't.

Unfortunately not true in every state. It is true in some states, but definitely not everywhere.

 

[SigSauer]

Non-refundable deposit and they sold the car out from under you?

Not sure which is worse.

You will definitely get your deposit back. I seriously doubt you’ll have to fight for that one. Shouldn’t even have to talk to a manager, unless you just want to tell them what you think of them.

Would sending a letter to the Florida AG, copy the dealer, copy Ford and ask about Bait and Switch. Good luck.

 

[jlauro]

If they do not refund the deposit, get a lawyer and they should sue for legal fees and punitive damages in addition to the deposit.

Deposits are not refundable because you changed your mind, but failure of the dealer to provide the ordered vehicle in a reasonable amount of time is a reason for them to have to legally refund it.

 

[samev]

Is there anything a customer can do pro-actively to prevent the dealer from selling *your* car (that you ordered and waited months for, fully complying with the contract) without you knowing about it? I mean how is it even possible for them to do this, isn't there be a law against such a practice?

 

[Reign of Ravens]

I'm so sad and angry for you too. Due to this chip shortage, dealers are laughing with glee while selling cars at high ADM and dont honor what they say. They dont need to. Its a seller's market. My own dealership basically laughed at me when i wanted no ADM , Ford Options, and X Plan. THey said no dealership is doing it because they dont need to. If its not you buying it, its just another person who will.

I'm not sure they're laughing with glee... having lower inventory means less things to sell, so the ADM may be a necessary evil for some of them. I'm sure they are enjoying their new prices on used vehicle sales, though.

Having read a few threads on the forum, I get the impression that those of us ordering online almost incentivize the dealers to treat us poorly. I say this for two reasons. First, if we abandon an order then the dealer can mark it up how ever they like. They stand to make more from angering us and making us give up the order than if we complete the sale. Second, I read one story of someone giving up their order before production was scheduled; the dealer took it over (with permission) and then changed it to the most expensive vehicle and options you could get. Basically, Ford does allow some dealers to order their own cars, but otherwise they've reserving a bunch of production slots for customer orders; if a dealer can shake us off of our order early, then they get to request a more expensive vehicle that they can then mark up as well, and I'd guess it does not touch their usual dealer allocation numbers, either. In other words, even more profit.

What incentive does a dealer have to make us happy? We're probably not going to need to come in for much service. It remains to be seen how long EV's last but we're probably not going to be making tons of purchases. If what I've read is accurate, it basically means that if they keep us happy they earn a few hundred dollars, but if they irritate us enough to shake us off then they earn a few thousand - potentially more, if they can get us out early enough in the process. Perverse incentives are at play.

 

[zvez]

First and foremost, I absolutely love the one Mach E I have been able to purchase, however the purchase process has been an absolute disaster .

in March 2021 I ordered a 4WD, premium, extendEd range Mach E and put down my $1,500 deposit through Essential Ford in Stuart.

in April this dealer got a car in that had everything I wanted except the color and I elected to purchase versus having to wait. Since my initial $1,500 deposit could not be refunded or applied to purchase (per the dealer) of the vehicle in inventory I decided to get the second one for my wife.

Recently, I received notice from Ford that my vehicle had shipped. After not hearing from the dealer I checked the status of my order and it has since been sold.

sales managers at the dealership acknowledge they sold the car, however no one ever offered to refund my deposit or assist with finding another vehicle. I specifically asked for both options and was told to call back once and come back later when I stopped in as sales manager was with a customer (lol) .

anyway, if you picked up a black Mach e premium from essential Ford recently , congrats. That is the car I ordered. Would love to see it .

as for me, I’m on the hunt for another Mach e for my wife for Christmas and still have to get my original deposit back

that's probably one of the shadiest things I've heard any dealer pull. Not only keeping your $500 order deposit, charging you and extra $1k, make it non refundable and then sell the car you ordered out from under you.

 

[Neilthepilot]

I would send a certified letter from a lawyer, even if it costs $1500 out of principle.

One reason I picked the dealership that I did was a $500 deposit vs $1000 at a closer dealership. Gouging on the deposit sends a bad vibe about the rest of the transaction. A manager at the dealership I ordered from seemed to indicate that he didn't care about a deposit on the Mach e because he knew he could sell it tomorrow if I backed out. I ordered online so I did pay the $500.

 

[Bongjovi]

not sure how you all got $500 deposits.

I ordered online through Ford and they pushed my order to dealer. I did not put deposit down at dealer

ford isn’t owning the issue and the dealer has no interest In resolving either

I did like the suggestion of copying the Florida AG on my letter.

my plan is call and ask for GM Today. If no response in 24 hours certified letter to GM. If no response within 48 hours of that letters to dealer, Florida AG, and local BBB.

plus I need to find a car for my wife. She was really looking forward to having her own. I may have a lead on that, fingers crossed.

 

[Mach1E]

I was told something similar to this by a dealer that I ended up not ordering with.

They said that they’ll market the car on their website as it nears delivery and to potential customers as soon as it gets on the lot. If it happens to be sold on the website with ADM before it arrives on the lot or to a customer on the lot before I can get there and sign for it, then tough luck.

Also told me the deposit was non-refundable even if I didn’t end up buying the car for one of the above reasons. Said that it was more like a “fee to ensure a model with the options you want is ordered by the dealership.”

Needless to say I didn’t end up going with that dealer…

New dealer promised no ADM in writing over email and said the deposit was fully refundable at any time. So, fingers crossed.

The above does NOT seem normal.

I also would bet it goes against how Ford wants things done. I would report them to Ford directly.

I also would bet there is a 0% chance they could legally keep your deposit in the above situation.

 

[MachE1977]

not sure how you all got $500 deposits.

I ordered online through Ford and they pushed my order to dealer. I did not put deposit down at dealer

ford isn’t owning the issue and the dealer has no interest In resolving either

I did like the suggestion of copying the Florida AG on my letter.

my plan is call and ask for GM Today. If no response in 24 hours certified letter to GM. If no response within 48 hours of that letters to dealer, Florida AG, and local BBB.

plus I need to find a car for my wife. She was really looking forward to having her own. I may have a lead on that, fingers crossed.

I think if you tweet this out to Levine or Farley @Ford Motor Company will find you a car to purchase today and get your deposit back.

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