Questionable dealer tactics, starring Killeen Auto (Killeen, TX)

[JimParker256]

So I'm doing my regular ritual of looking to see if any dealers nearby have a Maverick available for sale... I find a listing at Kileen Auto (Ford/Hyundai dealer in Killeen, TX) for a Lariat Hybrid First Edition in Area 51. As expected, the window sticker shows it was a customer order, but I call anyway - just in case. Eureka! The customer who ordered it declined to buy it, so it is available.

I talked to Karlee Hill (title: Sales Coordinator) who tells me that the Maverick has not yet been delivered to them, but should be at the dealership within a week or so. I asked about the price (the "listed" price was MSRP) and she assured me that the price shown was the price they were charging. I asked "So, are you guys adding any markups, market value adjustments, or anything like that? If so, just tell me what to expect before I drive 2 hours to waste both our times." Again, I was assured that there was no ADM, and no price markup whatsoever. She said (and I quote) "The listed price was the price I would pay for the truck."

So I immediately jumped into my car and drove (over an hour) to the dealership. Karlee introduced me to "Jimmy" who would handle all the details of my purchase, and Jimmy and I sat down. He asked if I would be financing or trading anything in, to which I replied "No" to both. Jimmy explained their great "protection package" to me. That package included:

• Paint protection - not ceramic coating, but basically a 1-year wax job that had to be re-applied every year to keep the "protection" in place, but could be done at any dealer that offered the service (hint - theirs is the only one in a 250 mile radius that does this)
• Dent and ding repair service - they would repair (free) any ding or dent that was smaller than a credit card, but only on the sides of the vehicle. Hail damage was specifically excluded.
• Tire damage insurance – basically road hazard protection like you get at Discount Tire or other places for <$20 / tire.
• Wheel damage insurance – replace the OEM wheels if they were ever damaged severely enough that they would not hold air or could not be balanced properly.
• GPS - this part got real hazy. He admitted that there's already a GPS that can locate the vehicle (part of FordPass), but theirs was "special" – it could not be "deprogrammed" by disconnecting the battery, and would allow the company (whose name he didn't even know) to help police recover your vehicle if it was stolen. But he assured me their special GPS would NOT allow the police to "track me" if I didn't report the vehicle as stolen. (Hmmm, what kind of people are they normally selling to???)

My "spider sense" was already tingling by the time he printed out the buyer agreement for me to sign, but what I saw on that agreement just floored me... After numerous statements that there was no ADM and no "market adjustment" to the price, and that the window sticker price was the price I would pay for the truck, the actual "sales price" shown on the buyers agreement HAD almost $11,000 added to the sticker price. That additional cost was spread over five line items – the "protection packages" Jimmy had discussed. Each of those bogus "protection" packages added between $1000-$3000 cost to the vehicle. None were optional - I had to take them all if I wanted to buy the truck. The $34,600 vehicle I came to buy would actually cost over $46,000 (plus tax, title, etc.) with all that bogus crap included.

Look, I get it. I'm not naive about ADM and/or "market adjustments" on Maverick prices. It's an in-demand vehicle, and so on... But the other dealerships I've talked with have been honest and up-front about it. When asked, they will tell you that they are adding $XXX for market adjustment. They don't want to waste your time or theirs, not to mention taking a hit to their reputation from a pissed-off, deceived customer...

But Karlee just flat-out lied to me, causing me to waste almost three hours of my time. Jimmy played along with this, deflecting all my questions about cost until I talked to the finance guys. He tried repeatedly to get me to just tell him what monthly payment I could afford, and they would work with me to achieve it. I had already told him I was paying cash and had the money in the bank.

I told him I was pretty pissed off at them for lying to me and wasting my time, and walked out. And now I'm sharing this with MTC so everyone will know what kind of dealership Killeen Auto (Killeen, TX) really is.

Caveat emptor.

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[Rojo]

Add them to the list https://markups.org/

 

[IAMav]

Thanks to bringing that to everyone's attention. Hopefully most dealers will realize that in the age of social media it is not worth a short term gain to ruin your reputation

 

[palmtreefrb]

So I'm doing my regular ritual of looking to see if any dealers nearby have a Maverick available for sale... I find a listing at Kileen Auto (Ford/Hyundai dealer in Killeen, TX) for a Lariat Hybrid First Edition in Area 51. As expected, the window sticker shows it was a customer order, but I call anyway - just in case. Eureka! The customer who ordered it declined to buy it, so it is available.

I talked to Karlee Hill (title: Sales Coordinator) who tells me that the Maverick has not yet been delivered to them, but should be at the dealership within a week or so. I asked about the price (the "listed" price was MSRP) and she assured me that the price shown was the price they were charging. I asked "So, are you guys adding any markups, market value adjustments, or anything like that? If so, just tell me what to expect before I drive 2 hours to waste both our times." Again, I was assured that there was no ADM, and no price markup whatsoever. She said (and I quote) "The listed price was the price I would pay for the truck."

So I immediately jumped into my car and drove (over an hour) to the dealership. Karlee introduced me to "Jimmy" who would handle all the details of my purchase, and Jimmy and I sat down. He asked if I would be financing or trading anything in, to which I replied "No" to both. Jimmy explained their great "protection package" to me. That package included:

• Paint protection - not ceramic coating, but basically a 1-year wax job that had to be re-applied every year to keep the "protection" in place, but could be done at any dealer that offered the service (hint - theirs is the only one in a 250 mile radius that does this)
• Dent and ding repair service - they would repair (free) any ding or dent that was smaller than a credit card, but only on the sides of the vehicle. Hail damage was specifically excluded.
• Tire damage insurance – basically road hazard protection like you get at Discount Tire or other places for <$20 / tire.
• Wheel damage insurance – replace the OEM wheels if they were ever damaged severely enough that they would not hold air or could not be balanced properly.
• GPS - this part got real hazy. He admitted that there's already a GPS that can locate the vehicle (part of FordPass), but theirs was "special" – it could not be "deprogrammed" by disconnecting the battery, and would allow the company (whose name he didn't even know) to help police recover your vehicle if it was stolen. But he assured me their special GPS would NOT allow the police to "track me" if I didn't report the vehicle as stolen. (Hmmm, what kind of people are they normally selling to???)

My "spider sense" was already tingling by the time he printed out the buyer agreement for me to sign, but what I saw on that agreement just floored me... After numerous statements that there was no ADM and no "market adjustment" to the price, and that the window sticker price was the price I would pay for the truck, the actual "sales price" shown on the buyers agreement HAD almost $11,000 added to the sticker price. That additional cost was spread over five line items – the "protection packages" Jimmy had discussed. Each of those bogus "protection" packages added between $1000-$3000 cost to the vehicle. None were optional - I had to take them all if I wanted to buy the truck. The $34,600 vehicle I came to buy would actually cost over $46,000 (plus tax, title, etc.) with all that bogus crap included.

Look, I get it. I'm not naive about ADM and/or "market adjustments" on Maverick prices. It's an in-demand vehicle, and so on... But the other dealerships I've talked with have been honest and up-front about it. When asked, they will tell you that they are adding $XXX for market adjustment. They don't want to waste your time or theirs, not to mention taking a hit to their reputation from a pissed-off, deceived customer...

But Karlee just flat-out lied to me, causing me to waste almost three hours of my time. Jimmy played along with this, deflecting all my questions about cost until I talked to the finance guys. He tried repeatedly to get me to just tell him what monthly payment I could afford, and they would work with me to achieve it. I had already told him I was paying cash and had the money in the bank.

I told him I was pretty pissed off at them for lying to me and wasting my time, and walked out. And now I'm sharing this with MTC so everyone will know what kind of dealership Killeen Auto (Killeen, TX) really is.

Caveat emptor.

Post this review on Yelp and Google reviews!!!

 

[MAVRICKDAVE]

On your side. 100% But I do understand the dealerships place.. They just need to be up front about it. Times are hard....

 

[BoboysTruck]

It makes you wonder if that's the reason why the original buyer declined it.

 

[JimParker256]

On your side. 100% But I do understand the dealerships place.. They just need to be up front about it. Times are hard....

What REALLY pissed me off about this was that I bypassed another (virtually identical) Maverick at a dealer closer to home because of Killeen's claim that they would sell it for MSRP. The other guy wanted $2K ADM (which is incredibly reasonable for a hybrid). By the time Killeen was done jacking me around, and I drove 45 minutes to the other dealer, they had already sold the other Maverick. Guess it wasn't meant to be...

 

[SLINGSHOT]

There is a reason the word "stealership" exists.

 

[JimParker256]

It makes you wonder if that's the reason why the original buyer declined it.

I don't think so, since they had already declined it, and it hadn't even gotten to the dealer yet. Killeen is "home" to Ft Hood, and it's possible it was ordered by a soldier who got deployed, transferred, or just had a life change.

 

[athertonbt]

Dealers gonna deal. Good to get the word out, though.

 

[Old Ranchero]

Many dealers don't want to work with people paying cash. I've learned not to announce that too early in the process unless I have a good relationship with a proven trustworthy dealer. Sounds like they basically pushed you to the point of bailing out on purpose because they wouldn't make as much $ as they would selling to a less informed buyer.

 

[commadorebob]

Good on you for walking. That walkaway power is strong and a lot of people underestimate it.

ADMs aren't bad, per se. But damn, don't lie to people. Some people are completely willing to pay it so just be up front about it. If you have to trick people to paying something, maybe it isn't something people really want.

Many dealers don't want to work with people paying cash. I've learned not to announce that too early in the process unless I have a good relationship with a proven trustworthy dealer. Sounds like they basically pushed you to the point of bailing out on purpose because they wouldn't make as much $ as they would selling to a less informed buyer.

For those, unless you just have no credit, the trick is to just take the loan and pay it off with the first statement. Pre-payment penalties pretty much don't exist anymore anyway. Avoids the hassle of what you mentioned and costs the same.

 

[TedTX]

It makes you wonder if that's the reason why the original buyer declined it.

Killeen is the strip-mall like city hugging the fence line of our largest Army Base. Local Business ‘vultures’ take full advantage of the widespread view that the type of young men joining is as dumb as a box of rocks.
Except in food and rent, everything else is 20-30 percent above what it would be in say the next larger city of Temple-Belton area.

 

[Old Ranchero]

Good on you for walking. That walkaway power is strong and a lot of people underestimate it.

ADMs aren't bad, per se. But damn, don't lie to people. Some people are completely willing to pay it so just be up front about it. If you have to trick people to paying something, maybe it isn't something people really want.



For those, unless you just have no credit, the trick is to just take the loan and pay it off with the first statement. Pre-payment penalties pretty much don't exist anymore anyway. Avoids the hassle of what you mentioned and costs the same.

There are a couple reasons I prefer not to finance when I am in a position to pay cash at time of purchase: They do a hard pull credit check that stays on credit report a couple of years, lender requires full coverage on your insurance resulting in much higher rates for me, and your title shows a lien holder as the owner. Then do some or all of it again to refinance + likely paying sales taxes and transfer fees again. No thank you on all that! Cash is King in our household

 

[TheSEARCH]

How is anyone finding ones on the lot?? The dealer websites are worthless as they show mavericks BUT there already sold ones. Same for places like Cars dot are also worthless. as they list cars already sold. its like the internet for looking for cars is worthless.

Are you just calling on the phone asking dealers if they have one?

My story about bad dealer.

Until back in 2020 I have never thought a dealer would just flat out lie to get you to come in BUT I found out some do. I was told on the phone when looking back in 2020 for a Ecosport they would match this price another dealer had but was over an hour and a half away and this other dealer was much closer. So I go to closer dealer who says they will match the other dealers price . I had closer dealer on the phone saying they would match other dealers price. She goes let me check with sales manager. She says yes we can do that. Then I got to closer dealer when sales guy tries to throw a bunch of numbers at me I say what is the bottom line price. I say that's more that $1500 more. I say no then sales guy gets up tells me to get the Hell out very loudly of there dealer. YES yelled at me. Basil Ford Niagara Falls NY . I was shocked. But at least I know there are some places that will do that.

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