Dealers

[Markii56]

I have a local dealer in the Tampa Bay area that does a great job of servicing my Fords, but the salesperson outright lied to me about ordering the Maverick; until I can feel that I can trust their sales department (and they reduce their ridiculous $1,295.00 "dealer fee"), I'll keep going back to Van Bortel Ford in East Rochester, NY for my purchases. 1,320-mile drive, but I feel it's worth it, especially the pricing: 2023 XLT Hybrid for $182.50 over invoice ($175.00 dealer fee + $12.50 temp tag fee), no other charges. Plus a free hood deflector because they installed the front plate bracket when I had asked them not to. Both the mistake and the free deflector were acknowledged over the phone, before I even left Florida to pick up the truck; no need for me to throw a hissy-fit in the showroom to get satisfaction.

As for dealer vs. buy direct, I worked for a Ford dealer in Rochester, NY when Ford stepped in and bought up all the dealers in the area, calling it the "Rochester Auto Collection." It lasted from early 1999 to 2001, and everyone agreed the net result was a disaster. While they had some good ideas as to improving the customer purchase experience, the sales force never got on board with the format, and the "your-new-management-team-THIS-week-will-be" fiasco was the nail in the coffin. Ford also did this in other cities around the country, with similar results. With Ford having lost hundreds of millions of dollars on this boondoggle, I feel safe in predicting that the Blue Oval will never go down this road again.

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[Ozarkbeard]

Only other thing I'll add (purely personal opinion), So if I were a dealer and let's say you decided to purchase direct online, then your battery went bad, had wiring or fuse issues, battery management issues, exhaust issues, axle issues, air bag issues, etc. and you needed warranty or out of warranty service needed, you would be on the hind tit, last in line, with all the customers that purchased from me or another dealer ahead of you. And whenever we did get to your issue, no we would not be giving you a loaner vehicle.

Closest dealer to me loves to tack on BS add-ons to every new vehicle sold. However, their repair & body shops are excellent and very professionally run, according to people I know who have used them. And none of these folks bought their vehicles there. I ordered from a dealer twice the distance from my house because they only sell at MSRP. But I'll be using the closer dealer for warranty work if needed, because of location and reputation.

If I could, I would order directly from the manufacturer.

 

[CTYankee]

I previously owned a truck and offroad shop that also installed what we sold (we were the only ones in the area that offered installation).

I remember one customer coming in for a Putco product, then deciding he could get it cheaper online. A couple of weeks later, he came back with the product he'd purchased and wanted us to warranty it because "you're a Putco dealer". We sent him back to the online seller. That customer was never going to become our customer; he was always going to buy cheap, then use us for free convenience. He was particularly noteworthy, but hardly unique. The difference is that the brands we sold did not pay us to handle warranty work.

Car dealers get paid for performing warranty work, so there's no reason for them to consider where the vehicle was purchased if they have the time to schedule. I can see repeat customers being given scheduling preference, but that's about it.

I think the mistake the car manufacturers make is that they don't value dealers based on the brand loyalty they create in their market area; it seems to be all volume-driven. Volume dealers don't care if they alienate a customer and send them to a different brand; another one will walk through the door in a few minutes. Give the manufacturers back some real ability to discipline shady dealers and the model would work a lot better.

 

[NJBob]

I have a local dealer in the Tampa Bay area that does a great job of servicing my Fords, but the salesperson outright lied to me about ordering the Maverick; until I can feel that I can trust their sales department (and they reduce their ridiculous $1,295.00 "dealer fee"), I'll keep going back to Van Bortel Ford in East Rochester, NY for my purchases. 1,320-mile drive, but I feel it's worth it, especially the pricing: 2023 XLT Hybrid for $182.50 over invoice ($175.00 dealer fee + $12.50 temp tag fee), no other charges. Plus a free hood deflector because they installed the front plate bracket when I had asked them not to. Both the mistake and the free deflector were acknowledged over the phone, before I even left Florida to pick up the truck; no need for me to throw a hissy-fit in the showroom to get satisfaction.

As for dealer vs. buy direct, I worked for a Ford dealer in Rochester, NY when Ford stepped in and bought up all the dealers in the area, calling it the "Rochester Auto Collection." It lasted from early 1999 to 2001, and everyone agreed the net result was a disaster. While they had some good ideas as to improving the customer purchase experience, the sales force never got on board with the format, and the "your-new-management-team-THIS-week-will-be" fiasco was the nail in the coffin. Ford also did this in other cities around the country, with similar results. With Ford having lost hundreds of millions of dollars on this boondoggle, I feel safe in predicting that the Blue Oval will never go down this road again.

NY document fee is set by law at $175 used to be $75 Florida has the highest doc fees in the country. NJ is about $500 avg. I bought my truck in NY. And I ordered Dec 26th 2021 a Sunday. One day before a Mav price increases. Dealer was perfect. Leo Kaytes Ford Warwick Ny,

 

[Old Fart]

I bought my first new truck in 1973, a Chevy Luv it was ok but I swore I'd never buy a single cab again, my dealer experience was ok but I knew nothing, I traded the POS 18 months later for a Vega, another POS but in the interim I'd gotten to know the dealer that I bought the Vega from, by pumping his gas several times a week at the gas station across from the dealership where Marshall had an account, when the Vega had been in his service department for weeks and the service manager was letting the warranty expire, Marshall Berwick of Berwick Chevrolet wanted to know what the ruckus was about, I told him why I'd blocked the one entrance to the service dept with an old 56 Pontiac and refused to move until my car got fixed. Boy did he get pissed at the service department, told them that they didn't know Sh*t about service and could take lessons from me. Got the Vega back in a week, it ran like a racecar and I wish I'd kept it.

Sorry for the ramble, I've bought cars from several dealers in Florida some good and some great. Our local dealers in DeLand are pretty good, Parks Toyota and Coggins Ford, my buddy from Tallahassee got a great deal on his Tundra at Parks Toyota, it was worth the drive, he said.

 

[NJBob]

I bought my first new truck in 1973, a Chevy Luv it was ok but I swore I'd never buy a single cab again, my dealer experience was ok but I knew nothing, I traded the POS 18 months later for a Vega, another POS but in the interim I'd gotten to know the dealer that I bought the Vega from, by pumping his gas several times a week at the gas station across from the dealership where Marshall had an account, when the Vega had been in his service department for weeks and the service manager was letting the warranty expire, Marshall Berwick of Berwick Chevrolet wanted to know what the ruckus was about, I told him why I'd blocked the one entrance to the service dept with an old 56 Pontiac and refused to move until my car got fixed. Boy did he get pissed at the service department, told them that they didn't know Sh*t about service and could take lessons from me. Got the Vega back in a week, it ran like a racecar and I wish I'd kept it.

Sorry for the ramble, I've bought cars from several dealers in Florida some good and some great. Our local dealers in DeLand are pretty good, Parks Toyota and Coggins Ford, my buddy from Tallahassee got a great deal on his Tundra at Parks Toyota, it was worth the drive, he said.

I had a 1980 Chevy Luv. Was a good truck. Was rear ended a week after I bought it. I changed the engine in my job with a forklift at 175k. Pulled a pop up trailer with it. Was my first new car.

 

[Jah.]

Had F150 with problems and never satisfied . maverick ok so far but not a fan of any dealerships no matter the brand .

 

[Old Fart]

I had a 1980 Chevy Luv. Was a good truck. Was rear ended a week after I bought it. I changed the engine in my job with a forklift at 175k. Pulled a pop up trailer with it. Was my first new car.

My engine wiring harness burned up at 18,000 miles, it only had a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty back then, so patched it up, new used battery and traded.

 

[glider]

Going to a car dealer is worse than going to the dentist. You have to go, and most of the time it hurts.

 

[NedF]

I tend to use the dealer for warranty work, but go to a local mechanic (well know by our family) for repairs once my vehicle is out of warranty.

I used to have a great mechanic who was good friends with my parents (I grew up playing with his kids). I knew he was a no BS kind of guy.

One time I took my 4 cylinder Mustang (2.3L) in because it was running on 1/2 the power (had 2 coil packs and 8 plugs - 2 per cylinder that fired alternately). The tachometer was reading 50% of the normal RPMs. He pulled the codes and walked back into his shop, came out with a used coil pack he had salvaged off a car, handed it to me. He said replace one if that does not fix it swap out the other one... you know what to do!

 

[FamousAmos]

Well I'll probably be in the minority on the subject and that's fine. So I'm in my senior years, purchased a lot of vehicles in my time for myself, wife and kids. Lived in the same area all my life. Given that, I generally knew the reputation of the majority of the dealers in my area, generally from word of mouth, etc. There were really only a couple that I had consistently heard negative comments about, so I didn't bother going there. All that being said, I have no negative feelings for dealers and would rather deal through an established dealer, at least I know I can get it serviced locally for warranty issues etc. I've never gotten a terrible deal, did they make some money, of course, their in business to do so. They have all the normal expenses of overhead, employees, health insurance, just as we as individuals/homeowners/family's, etc. do. The concept of the dealer network has a lot of positive benefits in my opinion. Over the years I've encountered numerous times that some warranty work needed done that took longer than a day. In each case, I was given a loaner vehicle at no cost. That's a value to me and technically in the majority of cases a dealer is not required to do so. About a year and a half ago my wife's expedition had a tsb/recall deal on cam phasers, the notice Ford mailed noted normally 2-3 days of repair. Well, it ended up taking 6 weeks due to parts shortages. The day I carried it in for the work the dealer gave us a brand new F150 Lariat 4 door with 4 miles on it. We drove it the entire 6 weeks. Would a manufacture selling direct to me do that, maybe but probably not, I'd be paying rental fees. Am I against buy direct, NO, but I think the buyer should have the choice. For me, I'll go through a dealer. For those would want the direct method, that's awesome, go for it. Whatever makes ya happy - different strokes for different folks.

I'm with OFG. It's the old bell-shaped curve: unless you get out on the far left end of the curve, you will be in pretty good shape. To add to his post, I am even shocked at the quality of USED CARS! In my day, they were putting sawdust into manual transmissions to keep them "solid." In the last 10 years, I have been SHOCKED looking at used cars. They looked like NEW cars, inside and out. Usually, the engine compartment is a giveaway as to how well the car was kept, but the engines looked spotless, discounting the oil sprayed on the plastic to make it shine. I'll gladly recommend Century Ford, in little Mt. Airy, Maryland, as a place to buy a new Ford.

 

[TibX]

If factory direct ever becomes a thing people will not have the option for a better deal, pay what the manufacturer wants or don’t buy a new vehicle. As people in this thread and many others have said, do a little research into the dealers online ( the bad ones will stand out online ) and shop via the internet to get your best price before visiting the dealer. It takes a little more effort on the buyers part but will give a better buying experience and save you money.

 

[BradnChristine]

I had never even heard of X-Plan before a friend told me about it, and I bought via my local dealer with X-plan. To me, that is about the simplest, easiest, and closest to "buying direct" with all the benefits of "buying local". If I buy any more cars/trucks, that is what I will try to do. I've always hated the BS DOC fees, and being limited to $100 is a fair price, given some dealers are as high as $799 or higher. The discount doesn't amount to much, but at least it IS a discount from MSRP and I don't have to wonder if the price was fair.

 

[TwoTone]

I think the mistake the car manufacturers make is that they don't value dealers based on the brand loyalty they create in their market area; it seems to be all volume-driven. Volume dealers don't care if they alienate a customer and send them to a different brand; another one will walk through the door in a few minutes. Give the manufacturers back some real ability to discipline shady dealers and the model would work a lot better.

This is exactly what happened with a few small dealers not trying to screw people on the Broncos.
I had an order with Granger, until Ford caved to the mega dealers and screwed the small dealers on allotments.

The big guys could have had 100's of more orders as well if they didn't want to fuck everyone that wanted a Bronco.

I went into Sheehy Ford Gaithersburg and asked if I could order a Bronco for MSRP, was told they couldn't commit to that and would wait see what the market allowed- Sales talk for We'll wait to see how much we can screw you for.

Call Frederick Motors since I had purchased my last two vehicles from them, asked the salesmen if they would match Grangers 2k under invoice deal. He went to the sales manager and came back and said yes, just don't advertise it on forums. Went up the next day to get it in writing and brought the Granger post with me.
Salesmen goes to the sale manager and comes back to tell me we misunderstood you yesterday.
How does one misunderstand 2k under invoice- it's not complicated. Waste 1.5 hours round trip.

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