Dealership Warning

[Lone Mav]

I’m not sure where to post dealership warnings. So, if this gets moved, I’m OK. I bought my Maverick back in July from a large Ford dealership. I won’t name names, but they are in a well-known city in southern Maryland. They share the name of the city, are located on Crain Highway, and the name starts with a Wa and ends in rf.

• They had an ICE Lariat that was pretty much what I had been looking for and I asked the salesman to test drive it. He agreed and brought around a hybrid and told me there was no difference.
• The finance manager was old-school flim-flam with new tricks. All the paperwork was done on a large, flat-screen monitor laying on his desk. He kept talking and pointing to electronic signature lines. When it was all over, he gave me a thumb drive. I repeatedly told him I wanted no extras, just the truck. When I got home, I plugged in the drive and was surprised to see that he had added 2 service contacts worth $3K. They canceled them, but it took 2.5 months and many, many calls to get them taken off my loan.
• After 3 months, I discovered that my old plates had never been transferred and the Maverick was unregistered. Again – many, many phone calls before they finally submitted the paperwork to MD Motor Vehicles.

I should also note that they do not like to answer the phone. The only way you have a chance is to push the button for new car sales and ask to be transferred. Even then, there is little chance anyone will answer and you will be dumped into an unidentified voice mail box with no chance of a return call.

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[SLINGSHOT]

That is not a DEALERSHIP. That is a STEALERSHIP.

 

[Vettereddie]

Ford, Kia, Toyota, Nissan, I've never had a good experience with any dealership in the 'Dorf.

Flat panels appear to be the standard nowadays, finance had the same setup at Lexington Park Ford. They walked me through line by line where I had to do multiple decline statements, but didn't get a hard sale about it. May have helped I was paying cash so there were a lot less games that could be played with financing, etc. I did need to dispute the $400 midyear price increase since it took 9 months from order bank to delivery, but they took the charge off in the dealership without a fight. Everything was as expected on the USB stick.

Hope you find a better dealer for service and the invariable software updates.

 

[Joe Strummer]

That sucks. such dealerships give used car salesmen a bad name.

My local dealership up here in BC is fantastic. Super friendly/helpful and no BS.

 

[Lone Mav]

Read before you sign next time?

Good idea - unless they have the screen angled away from you and mostly covered. Like any new car sale, it gets to the point where you just want it to be over.

 

[Dad]

Sorry for your bad experience. Most dealerships have a Customer Satisfaction Rep. although, it wouldn't surprise me if yours did not. I would contact a customer service rep at Ford Motor Co. and describe your situation.

https://www.ford.com/help/contact/

 

[commadorebob]

That sucks. Registering the sale with the state is one of the last things my dealership did. They even went ahead and gave me the plates off the old vehicle and told me what I needed to submit to get it transferred.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Good idea - unless they have the screen angled away from you and mostly covered. Like any new car sale, it gets to the point where you just want it to be over.

Tell them you want a hard copy to follow along.
I looked it up.
Legally if requested. Maryland car dealers must provide you with a hard copy of your Finance documents.
Not everyone has a computer anymore.
Per the Maryland MVA
Maryland car dealers must provide you with a hard copy of your finance documents if you request it. You should get a copy of the fully signed buyer's order, loan papers, and other documents before you leave the dealership. You should not take the car until you have the copies

 

[Timothyd]

I’m not sure where to post dealership warnings. So, if this gets moved, I’m OK. I bought my Maverick back in July from a large Ford dealership. I won’t name names, but they are in a well-known city in southern Maryland. They share the name of the city, are located on Crain Highway, and the name starts with a Wa and ends in rf.

• They had an ICE Lariat that was pretty much what I had been looking for and I asked the salesman to test drive it. He agreed and brought around a hybrid and told me there was no difference.
• The finance manager was old-school flim-flam with new tricks. All the paperwork was done on a large, flat-screen monitor laying on his desk. He kept talking and pointing to electronic signature lines. When it was all over, he gave me a thumb drive. I repeatedly told him I wanted no extras, just the truck. When I got home, I plugged in the drive and was surprised to see that he had added 2 service contacts worth $3K. They canceled them, but it took 2.5 months and many, many calls to get them taken off my loan.
• After 3 months, I discovered that my old plates had never been transferred and the Maverick was unregistered. Again – many, many phone calls before they finally submitted the paperwork to MD Motor Vehicles.

I should also note that they do not like to answer the phone. The only way you have a chance is to push the button for new car sales and ask to be transferred. Even then, there is little chance anyone will answer and you will be dumped into an unidentified voice mail box with no chance of a return call.

Trust no one.

 

[bgn]

Never, ever, ever sign something you haven't read. Remember, their goal is always to maximize revenue and profit, and every customer interaction has that angle.

 

[npaladin2000]

I know the F&A guy is trying to get you to just sign just sign just sign...it's because he doesn't want you to read it. So always read it.

 

[CTYankee]

I just bought a CPO 2022 Mini S convertible from a Mini dealership. It's the first time I've seen anyone use a tablet with electronic signatures for all the paperwork. The difference is that the finance manager printed out all the documents and walked us through them before asking for signatures. We left the dealership with hard copies of everything - no memory stick.

I do have a secret weapon, though. My wife is a former legal secretary and won't sign anything she hasn't read. It makes my life much easier because, if she's willing to sign, that's all I need to know.

 

[pigsareus]

Good idea - unless they have the screen angled away from you and mostly covered. Like any new car sale, it gets to the point where you just want it to be over.

yep that's exactly what they want you to do...amazed that people entering into contracts worth 10s of thousands of dollars don't just say well I'm going to read everything line by line - I want a hardcopy - and I'm not signing or initialing anything until it's all in ffront of me and if it takes hours or my and YOUR time to get thru this well that's just the way it's going to be. Just initializing to 'get it over with' is a pretty terrible idea.

 

[Exranger]

As with anything, get it in writing…sorry for your hassle

 

[Dochatley]

Ford dealership in Desoto Texas did the same thing to me except they used this little tablet you could hardly see anything on. Finance guy ended up being fired and as you, it took me months and many phone calls to get my money returned that he fraudulently added to my contract.

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