After 520 Days of Waiting, Elder Ford Purposely Sold My Hybrid To Someone Else

[NoVaJimmy]

Typically, I would agree with you. I can't skip work though and lose my job trying to work around their schedule picking up the truck.
As I mentioned in a different post, if I still lived on that side of the state, I would have picked it up from the dealer the first day it was available. Since I now live 3.5 hours away, it's not like I could swing over any day after work. I was going to head over there the very first chance I had.

I would have tried to pick it up last weekend but as I mentioned, I was working a boat show for work. I just started this new job 4 months ago after I moved to this side of the state, so it's not like I have any extra vacation time where I could have taken off to pick up the truck.

The order process does not favor people who placed an order and then moved. It's basically up to the dealer to honor the initial order or be scumbags like Elder Ford is.

I feel like I did everything in my power to secure this vehicle, without compromising my job.

So your job is your priority, nothing wrong with that. A year from now the economy could take a nose dive and these things even in hybrid form may accumulate. I like to think things happen for a reason.

Sponsored

 

[Disappointed B]

No doubt, sorry to hear all this. It is pretty obvious to me that they never had any intention to sell you the vehicle, unless you would have been willing to pony-up more $$$. You took away their opportunity to make money on your trade-in & financing, so they took away your ability to purchase. If you have followed the Forum for any period of time, you will see many examples of this kind of behavior.

HRG

Thank you, and yes, that's the feeling I got from them as well. It felt like they were trying to keep me away from the dealership until they were able to claim the truck as theirs to sell however they wanted.
If they would have told me I needed to finance through their dealership, I would have done it no problem and just refinanced at a later time. They never said a word about that being an issue though, and they even sent me the buyer's order to submit to my credit union last Friday.

It is what it is and I know there's nothing that can be done about it now. I'm just hoping someone else might read this and avoid being taken advantage of.

You're right, I should have paid more attention to this Forum and learned from everyone else. Moving and starting a new job had my mind in other places unfortunately.

 

[Ianhacker]

Sounds like they had it sold when they adding option your not wanting them. Che k if anyone has the email and # for ford usa and let them know how they did you dirty. Cambridge ford in Canada is another dealer to avoid. Wants a 5 out 5 rating when they missed option on reorder. And nothing is the dealer's fault it's the head office.

 

[Hrenklin]

Thank you, and yes, that's the feeling I got from them as well. It felt like they were trying to keep me away from the dealership until they were able to claim the truck as theirs to sell however they wanted.
If they would have told me I needed to finance through their dealership, I would have done it no problem and just refinanced at a later time. They never said a word about that being an issue though, and they even sent me the buyer's order to submit to my credit union last Friday.

It is what it is and I know there's nothing that can be done about it now. I'm just hoping someone else might read this and avoid being taken advantage of.

You're right, I should have paid more attention to this Forum and learned from everyone else. Moving and starting a new job had my mind in other places unfortunately.

contact Mike levine on twitter (@mrlevine ). he posted last year about people who get their fold sold out from under them. the dealership could lose their allocations for doing what they did

 

[Disappointed B]

contact Mike levine on twitter (@mrlevine ). he posted last year about people who get their fold sold out from under them. the dealership could lose their allocations for doing what they did

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll reach out to him on Twitter tonight. Nothing to lose at this point. I would love to see the dealership be held accountable for its shady practices.

 

[mp2]

Sucks and while elder Ford is definitely scum, based on things that have happened over and over it was your mistake for doing anything other than showing up the day it arrived and if needed using their financing and then refinancing with your credit union. These dealers are unscrupulous but at the same time it's our job to be informed and understand their methods and also learn from other experiences that have been posted over and over here. When my Maverick arrived at the dealer I knew it had thanks to United road tracking and I showed up at the dealer with a check in hand. I was also able to get a check from my credit union without any kind of paperwork from the dealer, all I needed was the dealer name and the VIN. People, don't let your Maverick sit there! Take a day off of work if you have to. I blame the dealer for being shitty but I also put some blame on you for making mistakes that have already been made many times here. I know it's harsh but maybe it will sink in for the next person who is in the same shoes you were in so they don't make the same mistakes.

That's if they happened to read this forum. I've never been on a forum before purchasing a vehicle before. I feel for OP, but their experience has better prepared me for when I go through this process beginning whenever the next order window opens. I'm glad I'm reading through things on this site.

 

[Twixel Jackson]

Since you are no longer in the running to buy the truck, do you mind adding the VIN to this thread? There are some people who can check and see what date the truck was actually sold. I am not one of them, but would be interested to know if they had already sold it prior to contacting you on the 27th.

 

[pigsareus]

Sorry about the long post but I need to vent. I'm very disappointed and slightly heartbroken after waiting 520 days for my HPR Hybrid.
Hopefully this post will help someone else in the future, or at least steer them away from this shady-ass dealer in Tampa, FL.
The dealer's name is Elder Ford and I strongly recommend avoiding them if at all possible.

• Ordered a 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid back in late October 2021. They never placed the order until I called them almost a week later. Dealt with all the delays for well over a year, got rolled to a 2023 model, and finally was lucky enough to get built in January of this year. During this entire process, I received 0 updates from the dealer unless I called in to check on stuff. They always made it seem like it was an inconvenience to help and look up any information about my order. Lucky for me, I knew better than to rely on them so I kept up with the progress through the ford vehicle tracker.
• I got a call from the dealership on the day they claimed the Maverick arrived at their dealership, and in the same conversation, I asked the salesman to take possession of the truck exactly the way it comes off the truck (I had my own plans to customize the truck exactly the way I envisioned it - custom color spray-in bedliner). I wanted to pick up the truck 3 days later on the weekend since I no longer live in the Tampa area and it takes me about 3 and a half hours to get to Tampa. I work M-F so there's no way I could have made it to the dealer during the week before they close.
  
  
  
• The salesman told me this was not possible and even though the truck had just arrived 15 minutes ago, the windows were already being tinted and the regular spray-in bedliner was already added (lies....). The same goes for the floor mats, nitrogen tires, wheel locks, and a few other BS items that jacked up the order $1,500.
• Feeling like I had no other option, I agreed to take the truck with the additional accessories because hey, I've been waiting on the truck for a year and 5 months, things could be worse and I could still be waiting right?! I told them the next weekend I had any time available was Saturday, April 1st and they said picking up the truck that day would be no problem! (they only said this because they knew the truck would be theirs at this point so they could sell it to someone else for more money by that time).
• I let them know I wanted to complete as much paperwork and get everything lined up before I made the drive over there, to help speed up the process once I got to the dealership. I told them I had a vehicle I would be trading in, as long as they could match or come close to Carvana's offer. LOL, they were $8,000 less than Carvana and said they couldn't touch that price. No problem, I was happy with the offer from Carvana so I was going to sell it to them.
• Well after 7 days of struggling to get a buyers order sent over so I could get financing through my credit union, I got a call from the RUDE General Sales Manager named Nacer letting me know that since it has been longer than 7 days since the dealer received the Maverick, they no longer had to hold it for me and they were going to sell it for more money to someone else.

• They claim they sold the vehicle to someone else the same day I received that call, less than 3 hours later... The vehicle that was ordered in my name, the one that arrived at the dealer in my name, the one that I had been waiting a year and 5 months for.
  
  
  
• The only reason that the truck was at their dealership was that I ordered it through ford.com...
• When I called the Assistant GM trying to figure out what happened, he basically spewed a bunch of BS trying to make me feel sorry for him and saying that not everyone at the dealership is shady.
  He said that Nacer did not want to sell me the vehicle that I ordered from ford.com because he did not feel that I would leave a 5-star review for the dealership, and because they could make a lot more money selling it to someone else with their aftermarket adjustments.
  
  
  
• I had already assured them that I would leave a 5-star review because I wanted the vehicle so bad. That didn't matter to them and they went ahead and sold it to someone else regardless of our agreement of me picking it up on April 1.

I will never do business with any Elder Automotive dealership again, nor will I ever order or purchase another Ford vehicle. This dealership is absolutely shameless and the ONLY thing they care about is stuffing as much money in their pockets as possible.

I can't even describe how disappointed I am with this entire experience with everyone at Elder Ford.

The dealer was obligated to inform you upfront that there was some 7 day pickup window, them telling you on day 7 that it was zero hour does not qualify. What if you drove down there the next day + 1 hour and they said oh well we sold it we have a 24 window? Don't let this go - even though you'll likely never get any satisfaction - you'll regret letting them get away with this cr-- without them being ridiculed. Post this on every site you can and make them beg you to stop it.

 

[Xbbqpitmaster]

Well, I guess now you can give them the rating they thought you would give them…

 

[JBL14]

I had to initial a 48 hour time limit the second it lands at dealer. Sounds like your dealer was being a bit shady, and not upfront though. I feel your pain, so sorry.

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

Well, I guess now you can give them the rating they thought you would give them…

He has,,,,,,,

HRG

 

[skadizzle]

I was looking at some Mavericks on the lots after I ordered mine and had been waiting awhile. I think Elder Ford was marking them up like $10,000 and had their BS package and dealer fees they added on top. Definitely a scummy dealer. Don't know what part of Florida you are in but Autonation in Jacksonville sells theirs at MSRP when they are available. Almost bought one past July but held out.

 

[Disappointed B]

The dealer was obligated to inform you upfront that there was some 7 day pickup window, them telling you on day 7 that it was zero hour does not qualify. What if you drove down there the next day + 1 hour and they said oh well we sold it we have a 24 window? Don't let this go - even though you'll likely never get any satisfaction - you'll regret letting them get away with this cr-- without them being ridiculed. Post this on every site you can and make them beg you to stop it.

I've left bad reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and filed complaints through the BBB & FTC. I've also emailed several news stations in the Tampa area. Maybe I'll get lucky and one of them will run with it.

I was looking at some Mavericks on the lots after I ordered mine and had been waiting awhile. I think Elder Ford was marking them up like $10,000 and had their BS package and dealer fees they added on top. Definitely a scummy dealer. Don't know what part of Florida you are in but Autonation in Jacksonville sells theirs at MSRP when they are available. Almost bought one past July but held out.

As far as looking for another, I appreciate the insight but I'm choosing to avoid Ford after this whole fiasco. Too many things that left a bad taste in my mouth. With a vehicle being one of the top 5 most expensive things I'll purchase in my lifetime, I'd rather give my money to people that have a moral compass and show others respect. In my opinion, those are things Ford has lacked throughout this entire process.

 

[Jozell]

Yes, I received the call that the Maverick had arrived via truck on Wed, March 15th. I asked them if I could pick up the truck on Saturday, March 18th, or Sunday, March 19th since I was free that weekend (3 days after it was delivered).

I was told I could not pick up the vehicle that early since they had to inspect it/go through everything. I was told that it takes at least 7 days to process the vehicle before I could take delivery.

After hearing nothing from them for a week, I called on Wednesday, March 22nd to see if the vehicle was ready yet. They told me it was available and tried to get me to come pick it up that night (I couldn't - I work until 6pm and the dealer is 3.5 hours away).

Since I could not pick up the truck the weekend of the 18th or 19th, I let them know that I would be working a boat show the following week, and the next time I could make it over to that side of the state was on Saturday, April 1st. I was told that this was no problem and that the vehicle would be held for me.

I guess I'm stupid for believing the dealer would stay true to their word and hold the vehicle for me.

I just received the call that they sold it yesterday (March 27th) without any type of warning or notice they would try and sell it to someone else. They even sent me a buyer's order late last week that I could submit to my credit union for financing.

I sent over the buyer's order for the vehicle to my credit union last week and they were going to overnight a check to me today. Up until yesterday, I was still under the impression that I would be picking up the truck on Saturday, April 1.


My biggest issue is that by the time they were done "inspecting/going through the truck," it was already past 7 days, so technically they could sell it as retail from that point on. Since I no longer live in the Tampa area, they knew that they could lie to me and take possession of the truck to sell to someone else.

Talk about bad timing for having to work a boat show on the weekend...
There was never any contract from the dealership telling me I had to take possession of the truck within 7 days, nor was it mentioned to me at any point. I guess that's my bad for not knowing every single detail about the order process.

Man that sucks and I am very sorry to hear it. But the 7 days to make it ready is a lie. I picked my truck up the day after it arrived at the dealership. There's no way it would take 7 days, I even added the bedliner a few days after and that only took about 4 hours.

I would call Ford Customer Service and complain as well as review bomb them into the ground.

 

[Old Man]

Regardless - that sucks. I wish Ford would control their dealers more.

I can assure you that I will never order another Ford (or even purchase a used one) unless they change their ways and start holding dealerships accountable.

Understand that state franchise laws prohibit car manufacturing from exercising too much control over dealers. Ford can try to limit future allocations along with other measures which they are trying to do with their new electric division but that is spurring lawsuits from dealers and dealer associations plus legislators talking about hearings to grill Ford.

Your issue is just with the dealer. It sounds like you didn't get your requests in writing from the day you ordered it. Maybe the BBB in their city can help but if people don't research dealers ahead of ordering others will fall into their trap. You can talk to your state attorney general and see if they have a consumer protection office. But dealer associations have big power over politicians with their campaign contributions so there won't be much change for consumers or manufacturers to hope for. You'll run into bad dealers for all car manufacturers so blaming them means you won't be buying many cars. Hopefully you've become a more educated consumer and won't let this happen again.

Sponsored