Update dang those dealerships GET YOUR GAME FACE READY !!!

[Anvina72]

The one thing I've learned about negotiations is *ALWAYS* be ready to walk. Simply get up, push the chair in, and walk out. If they change the deal on you and won't budge, walk.

Sure, you may need to wait again, but unless you are absolutely stuck and need to buy (in which case you are already at a disadvantage) be ready to walk.

There are enough dealerships out there (in most cases). F*ck 'em.

I'm angry just reading this.

If its any other ICE car, absolutely we can walk away and try a different dealer who is more honest. In this case, after a 10 month wait, we don't have the same luxury or option to just walk away knowing that Dealer will take advantage of this situation to make 10-20K profit on the car which he didnt order in the first place. Sign of the times we are in !

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[yngwenli]

The one thing I've learned about negotiations is *ALWAYS* be ready to walk. Simply get up, push the chair in, and walk out. If they change the deal on you and won't budge, walk.

Sure, you may need to wait again, but unless you are absolutely stuck and need to buy (in which case you are already at a disadvantage) be ready to walk.

There are enough dealerships out there (in most cases). F*ck 'em.

I'm angry just reading this.

I don't think walking is great in this current car buying scenario. Dealers would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if people instantly walked. I much rather people fight it, make noise, go to press, etc...

We're not in normal times and if someone can walk across the street and buy the same thing at the set price, sure walk, but in these times, walking means waiting ANOTHER 9 months possibly or even longer and/or a headache in 9 months from now so out of the frying pan, into the fire here.

I don't even want my car to be stolen/have problems because now, I'm going to have another 6-9 months headache. This includes ordering/buying anything else pretty much, not even only EVs.


I think the best everyone can do here is keep sharing who the bad dealers/salespeople are....Eliminate those from consideration from even buying/ordering from...Then pick a good one and hope it goes well.

It pays a LOT for folks ordering to now get everything in writing, make it clear what you want to pay. X-plan is no more, but at least talk about add-ons/ADM, etc...

A lot of dealers are ok/fine/fair/honest and certainly, bad apples are all over, but those should just stop selling EVs I think and too bad it's not till 2024 for that to happen.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Sorry to hear of your bad experience. I had virtually the opposite. My Fusion back in ‘14 was a mess to deal with. The sales and finance guys were opaque as hell and would not tell me the bottom line when I asked. They threw on so many add-ons without my knowledge (service contract, extended warranties, paint protection, and about a dozen other things). Just signing documents took 6 hours.

My MME GT-PE was purchased at a different dealer, and I was in and out in less than an hour (including they’re taking about 15 minutes to figure out Ford Options Financing). The only issue was that the dealer decided not to participate in X-Plan.

 

[jay1122]

That is the problem with the current model. It relies on the dealers being honest and have integrity. The dealers know you waited so long for your ordered car that you won't just leave and buy at another dealer. They are taking advantage of the situation. In this case, the dealer puts in bogus fees and items. Some cases are sudden ADM after car arrival. There was one thread in the forum where one guy's dealer lied to his face about the delivery status and sold the ordered car with ADM to another customer.

I think I can see why Ford is setting up the new requirements for dealers.

• eCommerce:
  • Transparent, non-negotiable pricing
    • To be clear, dealerships still set the pricing, that’s the law. However, Ford wants pricing to be consistent and fair for its customers and said it will be monitoring the process from entry to exit to ensure that the customer signs on the dotted line for the same price as originally promised on day one.
    • Ford says it will be surveying customers post sale and monitoring the consistency of prices across different customers at each dealer
  • Opportunity for the greatest customer satisfaction
  • Ford told us it saw online orders jump from 6% to 50% in one year

Lets see if it actually works. Why do I feel this is more of a suggestion from Ford.

 

[ripperAZ]

Hmmmmm. Smells a lot like Earnhardt Ford ever since Tex Earnhardt passed away it hasn’t been the same place.
Jes sayin

 

[minders]

Reading your experience makes my blood boil. I've had dealerships try to take advantage of me as a female before and called them out on their bull crap real quick. I've walked out of deals only to have them chase me through the parking lot with their tails between their legs, begging me to come back in. Don't let them intimidate you!! Be strong and stand your ground.

I took my husband with me to order mine on 8/30 since he's the numbers guy and will catch something I might not. My dealership is on the list on the Bronco forums that doesn't do ADM and seems to be above board. That said, I still made it VERY clear to the sales person that I was NOT going to play games with him, that I didn't want any add-ons, and not to even think about putting their dealership decal on the car. I also let him know that I wasn't afraid to post negative reviews everywhere if necessary and that I would gladly refer them/post positive reviews if they treat us right. I was nice, but firm with my words. I think I might have scared him a little with how blunt I was, but that's just my personality. He's probably not used to someone like me in this tiny town. I made sure to get a purchase agreement signed by us AND the manager along with a copy of my order sheet before leaving. I'm ready for a fight, but hoping not to have one!

 

[Southern92]

I would not walk away.
(Pre-planning) confirm when ordering NO mark-ups & NO add-ons. Verbally is fine initially, but should be followed up/confirmed via email. (For the consumer, this is one of the largest purchases they make, but for the dealer/salesman, it is 1 of the 15 people they talked to on a Tuesday. And the person you were dealing with might not even work there anymore by the time your car arrives...but the email is forever.) If they can't / won't do this, find another dealership.

(Arrival) make it clear that you intend to buy the car based on prior agreements. Preferably send an email to this effect before you go to the dealership.

My current understanding is when you order a MME from a dealership, you are actually "using up" one of their allotments. But the truth is, based on the current constraints building these cars, that dealership is NOT going to get their full allotment! In effect, your order is getting them a car they would not otherwise have received!!

 

[Stevey]

I think they could fix a lot of these issue if the customer could take their reservation with them, even after delivery, and go to another dealer.

 

[MellowJohnny]

I don't think walking is great in this current car buying scenario. Dealers would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if people instantly walked. I much rather people fight it, make noise, go to press, etc...

We're not in normal times and if someone can walk across the street and buy the same thing at the set price, sure walk, but in these times, walking means waiting ANOTHER 9 months possibly or even longer and/or a headache in 9 months from now so out of the frying pan, into the fire here.

I don't even want my car to be stolen/have problems because now, I'm going to have another 6-9 months headache. This includes ordering/buying anything else pretty much, not even only EVs.


I think the best everyone can do here is keep sharing who the bad dealers/salespeople are....Eliminate those from consideration from even buying/ordering from...Then pick a good one and hope it goes well.

It pays a LOT for folks ordering to now get everything in writing, make it clear what you want to pay. X-plan is no more, but at least talk about add-ons/ADM, etc...

A lot of dealers are ok/fine/fair/honest and certainly, bad apples are all over, but those should just stop selling EVs I think and too bad it's not till 2024 for that to happen.

I don't disagree - but the dealership DOES NOT DESERVE YOUR MONEY.

Presented with the same scenario we have two choices, based on your principals:

1) you care about how you have been treated, refuse to put up with it, and walk away.

2) you reward bad behaviour by continuing to put money in their pocket.

You teach people how to treat you, so at some point you draw a line in the sand and say "cross this line and we are done". Lying, deceitful behaviour is my line. Cross it and we are done. No exceptions. This dealer BS continues because they get away with it. I can find another car and another dealership.

So I personally would walk away. If you had a chance to treat me properly and you didn't - you lied and tried to extort money from me - you sure as hell don't deserve my business.

What I'm saying is we need to stop reinforcing this behaviour by continuing to accepting it. You can still call them out, name them and shame them, and *also* refuse to put up with it by walking away.

 

[yngwenli]

2) you reward bad behaviour by continuing to put money in their pocket.

When I did my purchase, I constantly asked my dealer/salesperson in writing, voicemail, text, everything will be this or that. People should do that as well, but bottom line is you have no choice if you want/need a car. They deserve my $$ because they aren't making "that much" if you get it at the price you expected. I'm not saying to pay the ADM if that's what you thought.

You can walk away like you claim, but ultimately, you just lost out, dealer wins for being an a-hole and will sell your car for 10k+ and you now have to get back in the back of the line and that line is across ALL car manufacturers.

There is nothing honorable about you walking away since you just let the dealer win with nothing to show for it and did what the dealer wanted. Paying a mark up, yeah, you shouldn't do that neither.

My choice/answer of what to do that's not on your list is you fight like hell and get your car at the price you want and move on with life after you do. I'm probably never going to buy from this dealer again, but I waited 9+ months for my car and I'm not going to wait again NOR pay a mark up. Pretty much do everything the buyer can to fight this. Sometimes it's futile, sure, but make sure you pursue all avenues at least. Some dealerships are just ignorant. The lesson is really people need to do their homework BEFORE THEY ORDER!

Some of this can really be avoided upfront I feel with tons of questions, signed contracts before you even order, but people aren't buying cars daily nor experts in it.

There has been a lot of posts like this here and complaints about Ford not being able to do a thing, but every indication/interview/report has been Ford hates this too, but the dealership franchise laws are rock solid pretty much and they can't do a thing.

There's a good video from InsideEVs which details this of what Ford wants to do and worth a watch if people are interested:


Just watch the 1st part since that's where they discuss it. I'd be curious where prices will be honestly since dealerships can just mark every EV up (it's upfront pricing, but they can add an ADM). May have to go much further for EVs moving forward from Ford.

 

[mkhuffman]

If you didn't want to name why start the thread, I would have waited until the dust settles then posted if that was your intentions

Because the point of her post was not to "shame" the dealership. It was to alert others to be careful and to look out for the problems she found.

Getting a purchase agreement when you order the car is extremely important. I have posted this before, but here it is again: if the dealer you are ordering the car from refuses to provide a signed purchase agreement that itemizes all the costs and provides the "out the door" price, go to another dealer. There is no reason they cannot provide a purchase agreement, but some will make up excuses for why they can't do that. Don't believe the excuses!

If you have a signed purchase agreement, and they try to change it later after the car arrives, Ford has stepped in to help in the past. But they can't help if you don't have proof the dealer changed the deal. Get it is writing!

 

[i8iridium]

I don't disagree - but the dealership DOES NOT DESERVE YOUR MONEY.

Presented with the same scenario we have two choices, based on your principals:

1) you care about how you have been treated, refuse to put up with it, and walk away.

2) you reward bad behaviour by continuing to put money in their pocket.

You teach people how to treat you, so at some point you draw a line in the sand and say "cross this line and we are done". Lying, deceitful behaviour is my line. Cross it and we are done. No exceptions. This dealer BS continues because they get away with it. I can find another car and another dealership.

So I personally would walk away. If you had a chance to treat me properly and you didn't - you lied and tried to extort money from me - you sure as hell don't deserve my business.

What I'm saying is we need to stop reinforcing this behaviour by continuing to accepting it. You can still call them out, name them and shame them, and *also* refuse to put up with it by walking away.

While I agree with the everything you say, there's SOOO many people that just have f*** y** money. They don't care and will walk in and walk out with what they want. Most of us are just the little guy that won't make a dent in what dealers do. That's why corporate or even (as much as i hate to say it) government need to step in. There's laws in most states that prevent gouging when the market is constrained. Now, I get that a car isn't really a necessity, so that aspect won't apply.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
There was one thread in the forum where one guy's dealer lied to his face about the delivery status and sold the ordered car with ADM to another customer.
<SNIP>

If you’re referring to the story I am thinking you are referring to, the dealer in this post has been reported to have done this with at least 3 MMEs on posts on this forum.

 

[snowdoggie]

Because the point of her post was not to "shame" the dealership. It was to alert others to be careful and to look out for the problems she found.

I don't disagree with that, this thread is started as an update which is odd and is full of heresy, there's plenty of threads warning of the shenanigans and what to watch out for if she wants to help the community she should post the dealer so we can avoid. At this point it feels like fear mongering.
Folks here getting their cars now have been waiting a year and should have had things planned out. There are many threads about taking delivery. Should have researched proper trade in values and alternative trade in options. I still don't understand how she spent a whole day at the dealer and got nothing done.
The situation sucks and also feels we are missing information.
Buyer beware and at the same time don't believe everything you read on the Internet, not that I am accusing her of anything but it could just be an isolated case, misunderstanding, or one person's POV.

 

[snowdoggie]

Chapman and San Tan have no ADM on their vehicles, sorry you had a bad experience at AUTO-NATION
If you are already driving your vehicle for 2 weeks now and "loving it" it shouldn't matter and if they are somehow trying to extort you then the forum members and ford corp (whom frequent this forum) can help.

Shocking they got a 4.2 Star rating, most of the negative ratings are about their service center. I would not recommend going there for any dealer updates or service then.

Thanks for the update

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