RCProAM
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2020
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 43
- Reaction score
- 62
- Location
- Atlanta
- Vehicles
- Mustang Mach E
- Thread starter
- #1
Welp it’s official: today I canceled my order.
TL; DR
After reserving my Mach-E June 2020, I finally decided to cancel my order, and request for my deposit to be refunded immediately after dealer gave the run around.
LONG STORY
The reason? The dealership model is the most horrible point of the overall experience - if you’ve seen my previous post back in February you’ll understand this is a generous understatement.
The charging network challenges? PAaK? Buzzy screens or wind draft noise? I wish I could say I’d have gotten a feel for the car to actually have an opinion on these — all of which for me amazingly enough weren’t all too concerning or indicative of every car off the lot. The 6 hour test drive was wonderful however. In the end though, it was dealers who ended the experience before it started for me.
Strike one this weekend after handing my CC to reinstate the $500 deposit since it was transferred/refunded from the previous dealership, this guy charged my card for the FULL AMOUNT OF THE FINAL DEPOSIT I MENTIONED I WOULD BE WILLING TO MAKE AT FINAL SALE WHEN I PLANNED TO RETURN. Now, I wasn’t too pressed because I expected to close within the week and I have the funds liquid- I’m trying to maximize my cc points like the next guy. Skeevy, but NBD. So peeved and annoyed - but not deterred, since I knew those funds could be refunded if everything fell through.
Strike two was going in an endless loop with a salesman and then general manager as to whether “Ford Options” was available. I was very up front that (and no disrespect the Mach-e is a WONDERFUL car, obviously if I reserved one last year I believe in it) that the Mach-e was a 2nd choice compared to Audi e-tron sportback that I also had paperwork ready for a 3 yr lease down to the final penny of tax. I knew that if we weren’t talking the option plan, I’d have a hard time justifying to myself paying more for the Mach-e per mo. than an e-tron Sportback (sure lease vs. purchase aren’t the same - but the money leaving my bank account for one vs the other is definitely different ?).
I was clear that it’s likely the resale on EVs could go down year by year as tech evolves - so again the option plan gives me the sense of security/flexibility I’m comfortable with. I was transparent that because my wife is shopping for a new Subaru, if the Ford Options plan (which IMO elevates it past the e-tron for me) wasn’t available, there’s a whole other car that I’d be ready the purchase that isn’t a Ford, even *if* I waited to not get the e-tron or decided to go for the GT and wait. Basically, *somebody* in this house is getting a new car soon— no special treatment is being requested - just do your due diligence to facilitate the Options plan, because that is the deciding factor for me the customer.
This dealer unlike others wasn’t denying its existence — they just kept trying to steer me towards other packages. First they stated it wasn’t available in my state. When presented with the dealership bulletin, links to Ford’s site, and even calling a neighboring dealership that has in fact facilitated a Ford Options plan — they simply didn’t respond to any of that. After clarifying that *if* for some reason it still wasn’t available I’d at least need a few days for my credit union to draft their terms in case I would have to compare a traditional purchase — it just resulted in an endless game to try and pressure me to come into the dealership ASAP today.
STRIKE THREE the dealer says we’re “rolling out the Red Carpet for you, we figured out the terms...congratulations.” When I asked whether he meant the “saying” or the RCL financing plan, he was forced to acknowledge he was referring to the plan, clearly in hopes to dupe me into coming in under the auspices of being “treated special” and coming for Ford Options.
At that point I threw my hands up, and told them to throw my money back and have a nice day. As annoyed as I am for all of the headache, I’m more exhausted and relieved to not bother with thinking about purchasing a car for a few days. Polestar reached out, Audi is still an option, wife’s Subaru test drive is coming up. But right now...I’m completely allergic to the idea of having to walk into a Ford dealership ever again ?.
great car, horrible salesmanship = a lost sale for no reason other than presumably greed and trying to steer a customer into a more profitable term for the dealer.
TL; DR
After reserving my Mach-E June 2020, I finally decided to cancel my order, and request for my deposit to be refunded immediately after dealer gave the run around.
LONG STORY
The reason? The dealership model is the most horrible point of the overall experience - if you’ve seen my previous post back in February you’ll understand this is a generous understatement.
The charging network challenges? PAaK? Buzzy screens or wind draft noise? I wish I could say I’d have gotten a feel for the car to actually have an opinion on these — all of which for me amazingly enough weren’t all too concerning or indicative of every car off the lot. The 6 hour test drive was wonderful however. In the end though, it was dealers who ended the experience before it started for me.
Strike one this weekend after handing my CC to reinstate the $500 deposit since it was transferred/refunded from the previous dealership, this guy charged my card for the FULL AMOUNT OF THE FINAL DEPOSIT I MENTIONED I WOULD BE WILLING TO MAKE AT FINAL SALE WHEN I PLANNED TO RETURN. Now, I wasn’t too pressed because I expected to close within the week and I have the funds liquid- I’m trying to maximize my cc points like the next guy. Skeevy, but NBD. So peeved and annoyed - but not deterred, since I knew those funds could be refunded if everything fell through.
Strike two was going in an endless loop with a salesman and then general manager as to whether “Ford Options” was available. I was very up front that (and no disrespect the Mach-e is a WONDERFUL car, obviously if I reserved one last year I believe in it) that the Mach-e was a 2nd choice compared to Audi e-tron sportback that I also had paperwork ready for a 3 yr lease down to the final penny of tax. I knew that if we weren’t talking the option plan, I’d have a hard time justifying to myself paying more for the Mach-e per mo. than an e-tron Sportback (sure lease vs. purchase aren’t the same - but the money leaving my bank account for one vs the other is definitely different ?).
I was clear that it’s likely the resale on EVs could go down year by year as tech evolves - so again the option plan gives me the sense of security/flexibility I’m comfortable with. I was transparent that because my wife is shopping for a new Subaru, if the Ford Options plan (which IMO elevates it past the e-tron for me) wasn’t available, there’s a whole other car that I’d be ready the purchase that isn’t a Ford, even *if* I waited to not get the e-tron or decided to go for the GT and wait. Basically, *somebody* in this house is getting a new car soon— no special treatment is being requested - just do your due diligence to facilitate the Options plan, because that is the deciding factor for me the customer.
This dealer unlike others wasn’t denying its existence — they just kept trying to steer me towards other packages. First they stated it wasn’t available in my state. When presented with the dealership bulletin, links to Ford’s site, and even calling a neighboring dealership that has in fact facilitated a Ford Options plan — they simply didn’t respond to any of that. After clarifying that *if* for some reason it still wasn’t available I’d at least need a few days for my credit union to draft their terms in case I would have to compare a traditional purchase — it just resulted in an endless game to try and pressure me to come into the dealership ASAP today.
STRIKE THREE the dealer says we’re “rolling out the Red Carpet for you, we figured out the terms...congratulations.” When I asked whether he meant the “saying” or the RCL financing plan, he was forced to acknowledge he was referring to the plan, clearly in hopes to dupe me into coming in under the auspices of being “treated special” and coming for Ford Options.
At that point I threw my hands up, and told them to throw my money back and have a nice day. As annoyed as I am for all of the headache, I’m more exhausted and relieved to not bother with thinking about purchasing a car for a few days. Polestar reached out, Audi is still an option, wife’s Subaru test drive is coming up. But right now...I’m completely allergic to the idea of having to walk into a Ford dealership ever again ?.
great car, horrible salesmanship = a lost sale for no reason other than presumably greed and trying to steer a customer into a more profitable term for the dealer.
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