Frankfort Ford stole my Maverick

[jbpoole]

If someone chooses to be a sheep they deserve exactly what they get.....


.

The OP, a senior citizen, didn't choose to be a "sheep" (victim). The vast majority of new car buyers are unaware of the tactics used by these slimy car salesmen, sales managers, finance guys, general managers and owners. The staff at many dealerships are professional liars. They do it all day, every day. They train for it. From the instant they meet a prospective customer, they are sizing them up. I don't see the point in slamming the OP. In my view, he certainly didn't deserve what he got.

Sponsored

 

[TMFord]

I was concerned when I read the story from ce2nite. But I had already ordered from Frankfort Ford and the order books were closed.
Here's my story in hopes that Ford looks at these messages and takes some action with this dishonest (close to criminal) dealership.
The truck arrived at the dealership 4/12/22. I scheduled to visit the morning of 4/13/22 to finalize the transaction. Someone took my trade-in for a test drive and I sat with the salesman at his desk. He started showing me rather high interest rates to soften me up. I explained I was only interested in the Ford incentive rates and would pay cash if they were not available. On the day I ordered the truck I had told the salesman I would probably pay cash but if Ford had free money (0%36) I would probably go with that. After an hour or so of the typical salesman leaves to talk to the manager stuff, the finance manager arrives with the final offer.
He will only sell me the truck if I agree to finance with his third party at a very high rate. I insisted that I had a valid contract and was prepared to write a check for the balance due. The real final offer was to take my cash if I paid $5,000.00 over the contract price. The finance manager told me in effect that the value of the truck was much higher than the contract price and his business was slow and he needed to make more money. The contract price was MSRP plus $689.00 Doc Fee.
I'm a retired senior (it hurts to say that) and been involved in many high value transactions in the past. This dealer is by far and away the most unscrupulous I have ever encountered.
To add to the insult, while waiting for my deposit refund I could hear one of the salespeople on the phone offering my Maverick for sale. I finally had to find my salesman outside to get him to get my refund and keys as all the managers had left the sales floor.
For anyone interested look out for VIN 3FTTWF99NRA53108

Sounds like a D-Bag dealership but you could have payed the Maverick off immediately if you were capable and wiling to pay cash anyway. The dealer would have gotten a charge back but you would not have been penalized, other than maybe one month of interest. At least you had a chance to purchase it at MSRP instead of $5K-$10K over.

 

[bradFORD]

I didn't see any mention of Ford price protection documentation in the OP. That documentation with negative local and social media on your side should help with dealer.

 

[JesTr]

I ordered from this dealership too and am dreading this. This was a good local dealer that was bought out by a mega conglomerate after I ordered and expected this might happen. If they pull this shit with me I'll accept and refinance with the local credit union. At least now I know what to expect.

 

[Red Ryder]

Don't blame the OP or call him a "sheep" for not agreeing to unknown terms. Only an idiot would do that. There might be a binding clause that stipulates a $5000 prepayment penalty or worse.
If he had a sales contract, he may have some leverage, but to blindly sign the loan and ASSume that one can simply pay it off or refinance without penalty is foolish. Especially since they refused him access to the terms and conditions.

 

[Johnkn]

The OP, a senior citizen, didn't choose to be "sheep" (victim). The vast majority of new car buyers are unaware of the tactics used by these slimy car salesmen, sales managers, finance guys, general managers and owners. The staff at many dealerships are professional liars. They do it all day, every day. They train for it. From the instant they meet a prospective customer, they are sizing them up. I don't see the point in slamming the OP. In my view, he certainly didn't deserve what he got.

Lol, well I guess I’m a senior too but don’t allow people to take advantage of me. OP stated that he could have paid cash but chose to walk away from the deal to do what, prove a point? The only person he hurt was himself. Finance at the dealer and the next day either refi or pay the loan off. And when you finalize the deal and go through the signature phase, one of the docs to be signed is the dealer’s finance agreement which always contains the Ts&Cs of the finance contract stating any prepayment penalties (that normally no longer exist in 2022.)

.

 

[huunvubu]

In California the doc fee is capped by law. Many states have no cap. On this forum one guy said in Florida it was $1200. In NY its capped at $175. NJ dealers are around $500 with no cap.

For the OP in KY the range of DOC fees are from $0 to $698 so his dealer being as greedy as possible wanted to charge $689 which is $9 off the maximum. The average in KY is $354.

Average Dealer Documentation Fees by State

KY

$354

$0 to $698​

No cap or rules

FL can go as high as $999

and CA is capped at $55

here in TX it is capped at $150 which is what I paid.

 

[NJBob]

Guy in Florida said they blew past the 1k now. Up to $1200. NY was 75 now 175. Can't believe how these sleazy dealers stay in business especially in the internet age.

 

[Sivart]

I almost ordered in December with these guys since they're only 15 minutes away. But decided to order from a larger dealer in Louisville. I'm so glad I did to. I got my truck on 3/26 and at MSRP. I financed with them but asked if any early payoff penalty cause I intend to have it paid off this coming December. No issues with early payoff.

 

[jbpoole]

Lol, well I guess I’m a senior too but don’t allow people to take advantage of me. OP stated that he could have paid cash but chose to walk away from the deal to do what, prove a point? The only person he hurt was himself. Finance at the dealer and the next day either refi or pay the loan off. And when you finalize the deal and go through the signature phase, one of the docs to be signed is the dealer’s finance agreement which always contains the Ts&Cs of the finance contract stating any prepayment penalties (that normally no longer exist in 2022.)

.

OK, we can clearly see that you're an expert and the OP was ill-prepared. Happy now?

Rather than wasting time belittling and chastising the OP, maybe you could take the high road and offer a detailed playbook to next guy who buys from Frankfort Ford as posted in this thread.

 

[Samus L. Jackson]

I feel like this is a valuable thread. I know there's some stuff I can learn from here. Just wish the points could be made without pedantic snobbery.

ANYWAY, let's pretend you choose to finance because the dealership won't sell you the vehicle unless you agree to whatever financing they demand you agree to. Let's also pretend that there is a penalty for paying the loan off early. Does this mean that if you choose to refinance the next day you will be penalized because technically whoever you refinance with is paying off your dealer loan early?

If so, would that be an incentive to NOT refinance?

Sponsored