Shady dealer tactics still going strong

[Redneck Garage]

Ford announced that they were going to rein in the aforementioned practices. So yes they have some ownership of the problem.
Ford could help the author if they chose to. All it would take is a phone call.
if I were in the authors shoes I would contact the state attorney general. All states have a consumer affairs division.
They might be able to get something done. If there is a local tv station that has the investigative group that goes after shady business dealings. I guarantee that the dealer and sales person does not want their dirty dealings paraded on the 6:00 news.
When Mazda originally brought out the Miata these types of business practices were going on. It took a couple years to put the fire out.
it’s too bad that a lawyer and their fees would exceed what the dealership is marking up the truck.
If there is a purchase agreement I don’t see how the dealer can get away with the price changes.

That is the truth. Jim Farley threatened - we will take away allocations - zilch, nada, nothing. All these posts saying " dont blame Ford" No, I do blame Ford for failing to reign in these rapist dealerships.

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[Cad]

You are blaming Ford for the dealer's tactics. Blame the dealership's owners and ensure you avoid any dealership they own without regard to the marque or manufacturer.

For example, I have seen several warnings coming from different parts of the US stating that a certain US national chain has a policy change resulting in individual dealerships having to find creative ways to add required services or accessories to improve profitability. Thus, there is a general recommendation that buyers should beware before selecting a dealership owned by this US national chain. You can figure it out by going to the list of recommended dealers' thread and looking at the Google spreadsheet I maintain.

Please report this dealership and the salesperson using the Google Form so we can send other customers elsewhere.

Google Form: https://forms.gle/k1SuLHps6FL1ATPM7

I think he’s blaming ford because they know exactly what the dealers are doing to customers that ordered mavericks any are doing absolutely zero to correct it. They are worse than this scum bag dealership. They can always zero out the dealerships authorization for a year or 2.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

??? If the sun sets on shady dealers would they be open all night???

 

[Mav_RICK]

Iʻm not naive that markups exist. That being said, I would not be on this forum if they had disclosed the 6K from the beginning. They are adamant that the fee was disclosed from day 1, and it absolutely wasnʻt. Charge whatever you want, just be somewhat upfront about it. Sneak it in the fine print if you have to, I actually read all that stuff. They needed the trucks to be delivered, and they knew I would never have made the order if the 6K was even hinted at.

I appreciate that there are dealers out there like the one you work at. My last 2 vehicles were purchased from a family-owned dealer who sold me vehicles straight off the lot for zero markup - and this was in the middle of the extreme vehicle shortage the last couple years when EVERYBODY was marking stuff up. I know they missed out on lots of money, but they stood by it and gained tons of loyalty. I have a Toyota and a Chevy from them, and it looks like Iʻll be driving their cars for a while longer since Honolulu Ford shit the bed with this Maverick order.

Questions for you.

Were your last two vehicles purchased there in Honolulu?

Have you considered ordering from a dealership on the mainland or do you have another option there on the Islands? You are in a very tough market there.

July 17 is Monday. You still have time for taking a shot at a MY24

Personally if I were in your position I wouldn’t do an interview with the news I would make an effort to negotiate and maybe go 3k over. You would have a truck in hand. I wouldn’t buy both though unless you really need two. I don’t blame you for being upset , I would be too.

There was a time when paying MSRP was unheard of and now we all think that is a fair price. The reality today is used cars are often being priced above new car MSRP.

I’m not at all advocating for this dealership but the reality is in that market it’s probably much more common to see this type of business practice in many different transactions. I could be wrong. You would know better than me.

I also wonder if the car market crashed this coming year ( and it could ) and there were Mavericks sitting on lots all over the place, if everyone that could would drop their MY 24 dealership custom order and buy the below MSRP Maverick off the lot? Would that be wrong?

 

[Hdang1980]

I don't know what the main catalyst was but the dealer I bought from was sold 6 months after my purchase to another auto group. They tried to add a 5k markup to my Dora price as well. Being naive at the time I put in my order I thought I was all set but after reading the many horror stories, I decided to call them up to make sure they would honor msrp a couple of months before my truck was estimated to be shipped to them. Lo and behold, the salesman could not guarantee that they would. He gave the standard supply and demand, supply shortages spiel...etc.

I blasted them on here and every review site i could find. Contacted ford shareholders, Levine, the auto group and all that. No one responded but a few members bombarded the dealer on my behalf via phone or reviews. A couple weeks later the salesperson called me complaining about my social media internet exploits were hurting their reputation and actually had the gall to say if the reviews stayed up then they would not entertain the thought of working with me on the sales price. Like, that isn't giving me any incentive to take them down. And he said I was lying, and I shot back... what part? All I posted was our conversation, unless you've changed your mind and will put in paper/email that you will honor msrp. Nope... crickets from him.

He was a young pup, and I knew he didn't have the experience to win this, so I offered an olive branch to take down the reviews but assured him, they will go right back up with 100x the vitriol if I didn't get a satisfactory result when my truck came in. That I would make it my mission to put them out of business.

Fast forward a few months and my truck comes in and he contacts me and then texts me the price sheet. No mark ups, instead there's a whopping 9k worth of dealer add ons. That took a few hours and multiple calls back and forth from him, the finance guy and finally the the sales manager to get it down to $900 for a stupid LoJack system, wheel locks, and door and handle protectors.

I consider myself lucky I was able to get what I got. Belatedly learning the ins and outs of ordering a brand new vehicle, I knew the dealer had me over a barrel, but being proactive helped. I know had I not confronted the dealer months in advance he would've made up some bs 24-48 hour time limit to make a decision or forfeit my right to purchase. This happened to a fellow MTC member who only found out about the 11th hour adm and dealer add ons when his truck got delivered to the dealer. Unfortunately for him, he did not get the same results as me.

This is all to say reviews do have an impact, and in my case, they gave the dealer a chance to see how the review affected their business. I left a lukewarm review after everything, but it appeared they did not learn from it. I recall seeing more horrible reviews for them before they were sold, which deleted all their review history from the web. When they and another local ford dealer were purchased by the new owners, their location was converted to a service center entirely.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[5ninefish]

Well, it’s done. I signed for 2k markup on each truck. Yesterday was a long, long day. I had a massive headache, and I just wanted to be out of there. In the end, neither of us got exactly what we wanted, so I guess that’s somewhat balanced. Depending who I talk to, I either caved and got scammed for paying 2K over MSRP, or I got an insane deal for only paying 2K over MSRP. At this point, I’m just happy to finally get the vehicles we’ve wanted for the last 2 years, and I can’t believe it’s actually over. Prices on the 2024 Maverick are only going up, so I’ll eat the 2K, move on, and hit "buy" on this massive list of Mav accessories sitting in my Amazon shopping cart.

Notes for those who are in similar situations moving forward:

- I got a hold of Ford Corporate via DM on Twitter. They took all my info down and forwarded it to the dealer management team. Not sure if it helped, but at least this was a better response than the non-response I got over the phone with Ford Corporate. I recommend this as a first and immediate course of action. They are very responsive via Twitter DM and will get all the details of your situation.

- I contacted Mike Levine via Twitter and Threads. He never replied, so I have no idea if he saw it and got involved or not.

- I got a hold of a local news station, and they were immediately wanting to interview me for tonight’s news - especially when I mentioned that I was not the only one experiencing this type of situation. I was literally scheduling an interview while at the dealership negotiating. This had a powerful effect.

- Unknown to me, my dad crashed the dealership as soon as they opened the doors. He’s a 300lb kahuna (literally he’s a very large, very native, very spiritual leader) and he was definitely restless while he was there. They also recognized him since he’s a slightly famous local musician. This also had a powerful effect. Offer him smoked brisket, and he will fly to your location and visit your dealer.

- I let them know that I was not going anywhere, and I was prepared to hit every social media and review website possible. I believe this was powerful as they specifically requested that I please not do that while agreeing to the final terms. They repeated this request this several times and made absolutely sure that I was not going to launch a negative review campaign.

In the end, the dealership holds 99% of the pricing power. The only true counterbalance we have to that is news, publicity, online reviews and social media networks. I did not anticipate how sensitive they are to all that, and it’s pretty much our only card to play if you find yourself on the wrong side of the MSRP battle. To anybody else running into this situation, stay the course, bring lots of Tylenol, and escalate the negative review campaign. If you need help blasting a shady dealer, hit me up.

Aloha,
D

 

[Grumpa]

Well, it’s done. 2k markup on each truck. Yesterday was a long, long day. I had a massive headache, and I just wanted to be out of there. In the end, neither of us got exactly what we wanted, so I guess that’s somewhat balanced. Depending who I talk to, I either caved and got scammed for paying 2K over MSRP, or I got an insane deal for only paying 2K over MSRP. At this point, I’m just happy to finally get the vehicles we’ve wanted for the last 2 years, and I can’t believe it’s actually over. Prices on the 2024 Maverick are only going up, so I’ll eat the 2K, move on, and hit "buy" on this massive list of Mav accessories sitting in my Amazon shopping cart.

Notes for those who are in similar situations moving forward:

- I got a hold of Ford Corporate via DM on Twitter. They took all my info down and forwarded it to the dealer management team. Not sure if it helped, but at least this was a better response than the non-response I got over the phone with Ford Corporate. I recommend this as a first and immediate course of action. They are very responsive via Twitter DM and will get all the details of your situation.

- I contacted Mike Levine via Twitter and Threads. He never replied, so I have no idea if he saw it and got involved or not.

- I got a hold of a local news station, and they were immediately wanting to interview me for tonight’s news - especially when I mentioned that I was not the only one experiencing this type of situation. I was literally scheduling an interview while at the dealership negotiating. This had a powerful effect.

- Unknown to me, my dad crashed the dealership as soon as they opened the doors. He’s a 300lb kahuna (literally he’s a very large, very native, very spiritual leader) and he was definitely restless while he was there. They also recognized him since he’s a slightly famous local musician. This also had a powerful effect. Offer him smoked brisket, and he will fly to your location and visit your dealer.

- I let them know that I was not going anywhere, and I was prepared to hit every social media and review website possible. I believe this was powerful as they specifically requested that I please not do that while agreeing to the final terms. They repeated this request this several times and made absolutely sure that I was not going to launch a negative review campaign.

In the end, the dealership holds 99% of the pricing power. The only true counterbalance we have to that is news, publicity, online reviews and social media networks. I did not anticipate how sensitive they are to all that, and it’s pretty much our only card to play if you find yourself on the wrong side of the MSRP battle. To anybody else running into this situation, stay the course, bring lots of Tylenol, and escalate the negative review campaign. If you need help blasting a shady dealer, hit me up.

Aloha,
D

Go for it! What have you got to lose?!

 

[5ninefish]

Go for it! What have you got to lose?!

I edited the original comment for clarification. I ended up signing yesterday.

 

[dalola]

Well, it’s done. I signed for 2k markup on each truck. Yesterday was a long, long day. I had a massive headache, and I just wanted to be out of there. In the end, neither of us got exactly what we wanted, so I guess that’s somewhat balanced. Depending who I talk to, I either caved and got scammed for paying 2K over MSRP, or I got an insane deal for only paying 2K over MSRP. At this point, I’m just happy to finally get the vehicles we’ve wanted for the last 2 years, and I can’t believe it’s actually over. Prices on the 2024 Maverick are only going up, so I’ll eat the 2K, move on, and hit "buy" on this massive list of Mav accessories sitting in my Amazon shopping cart.

Notes for those who are in similar situations moving forward:

- I got a hold of Ford Corporate via DM on Twitter. They took all my info down and forwarded it to the dealer management team. Not sure if it helped, but at least this was a better response than the non-response I got over the phone with Ford Corporate. I recommend this as a first and immediate course of action. They are very responsive via Twitter DM and will get all the details of your situation.

- I contacted Mike Levine via Twitter and Threads. He never replied, so I have no idea if he saw it and got involved or not.

- I got a hold of a local news station, and they were immediately wanting to interview me for tonight’s news - especially when I mentioned that I was not the only one experiencing this type of situation. I was literally scheduling an interview while at the dealership negotiating. This had a powerful effect.

- Unknown to me, my dad crashed the dealership as soon as they opened the doors. He’s a 300lb kahuna (literally he’s a very large, very native, very spiritual leader) and he was definitely restless while he was there. They also recognized him since he’s a slightly famous local musician. This also had a powerful effect. Offer him smoked brisket, and he will fly to your location and visit your dealer.

- I let them know that I was not going anywhere, and I was prepared to hit every social media and review website possible. I believe this was powerful as they specifically requested that I please not do that while agreeing to the final terms. They repeated this request this several times and made absolutely sure that I was not going to launch a negative review campaign.

In the end, the dealership holds 99% of the pricing power. The only true counterbalance we have to that is news, publicity, online reviews and social media networks. I did not anticipate how sensitive they are to all that, and it’s pretty much our only card to play if you find yourself on the wrong side of the MSRP battle. To anybody else running into this situation, stay the course, bring lots of Tylenol, and escalate the negative review campaign. If you need help blasting a shady dealer, hit me up.

Aloha,
D

Good for you! Glad you were able to bring the scum partly to their knees. I would still provide an honest, factual review of their business, warning of surprise ADM's. That is, after all, exactly what they did.

All in all, given the '24 model price increases, I'd say you came out pretty good, given all the different directions this could have taken...

Hopefully now, you can just enjoy your trucks and put these scumbags in your review mirror....(& go elsewhere for warranty/service!)

 

[prsncat]

Good for you! Glad you were able to bring the scum partly to their knees. I would still provide an honest, factual review of their business, warning of surprise ADM's. That is, after all, exactly what they did.

All in all, given the '24 model price increases, I'd say you came out pretty good, given all the different directions this could have taken...

Hopefully now, you can just enjoy your trucks and put these scumbags in your review mirror....(& go elsewhere for warranty/service!)

Although the sale was resolved at a level the OP was willing to accept; the warning was already submitted. I think this dealer should still come with a warning. As such, I am not amending the list of dealerships.

 

[Mav_RICK]

I edited the original comment for clarification. I ended up signing yesterday.

I think you did the right thing.

 

[GBR-TTU]

----DO NOT BUY FROM Shottenkirk Ford ---

Steer Clear of Shottenkirk Ford in Granbury, TX....
So, I've been looking for an XLT Hybrid with the Lux pkg for months. Got a call late June from a sales rep with Shottenkirk Ford in Granbury, TX about a new Maverick that was in to be in production soon and there were no customers assigned to the build. I pulled the trigger the next day on the vehicle and paid a $1000 deposit. I had a signed buyer's worksheet between me and the sales mgr on June 26th. Since then I had phone conversations and exchanged text messages with them numerous times. The vehicle was shipped on or about July 3rd and the dealer received it on July 12th. I received an email from their service dept saying it has passed inspection later that day and had a text message also on July 12th confirming that I would pick up the vehicle on Saturday, July 15th.

About noon today, July 13th, I get a call from the sales rep stating that Ford made an error and the vehicle was being sold to another customer. No explanation other than it was an issue with Ford.

I called Ford customer care and they said that this was a dealer issue and they had no control of to whom the dealership ultimately sells a vehicle. I asked to speak to the GM.

I finally got a call several hours later from the GM and he said there was nothing he could do other than refund my deposit and the sales mgr would be should never has allowed this situation to happen. He said all he could do is refund me my deposit. Nothing else. He later stated that this Maverick was a "stock order" placed in March of 2023, which seemed odd to me....thinking Ford was not accepting any new orders since Oct 2022. So, if it was a stock order, wouldn't this would have been for dealer inventory and not a specific customer build (window sticker was blue, not green - someone posted that Blue is dealer stock and not a customer order, which is Green)???

Personally, I think they found someone who would pay a $5k market adjustment, which they tried on me when I first spoke to the sales rep. We later agreed to a "protection pkg and tint" at an extra $2490 over MSRP just to get the deal done. I had heard the hybrids would be an extra $1500 in 2024, not to mention any other price increase from 23 to 24.

So now I am back to ordering a 2024 on Monday, when order banks open. I think I'll order 2 from different local dealers here in town...Wish me luck!

----DO NOT BUY FROM Shottenkirk Ford ---

 

[Old Man]

That is the truth. Jim Farley threatened - we will take away allocations - zilch, nada, nothing. All these posts saying " dont blame Ford" No, I do blame Ford for failing to reign in these rapist dealerships.

How do you know allocations weren't reduced? Maybe you should go to law school and study contract and franchise law. Then you can go to Farley with your superior intellect and knowledge and help him with these dealers.

 

[Redneck Garage]

How do you know allocations weren't reduced? Maybe you should go to law school and study contract and franchise law. Then you can go to Farley with your superior intellect and knowledge and help him with these dealers.

Well if allocations were reduced then dealers wouldn't be doing what they are doing such as adding 6k to an ordered truck. You can add all the snarky comments you want but Farley was the one who said he was going to end the price gouging.

Fox BusinessFord CEO Farley cracking down hard on $3.6 billion dealer markups.

Doesn't take a great degree of superior intellect to determine Ford did little to punish the stealerships that are dishonest. But sure, if you want to believe Ford "has your back" go ahead.

 

[OceanMan]

We ordered 2 XLTs almost a year ago, and they finally came in yesterday. Went into the dealer today - Honolulu Ford - and got hit with 6k markup each, so 12k total. Salesman swore up and down he disclosed the markup from the beginning, which is absolutely false. We’ve had numerous calls, texts, and emails over the last 11 months and there was nothing about 6K markup. We even have a signed order sheet without the 6K. Then he got heated when I was calling him out on never disclosing the markup and told us to try go buy a used one for this price, or go out on the lot and see how much it costs to buy one now. No shit, man. That’s why we put in an order and waited patiently for a year. Beyond infuriated. Called Ford and was basically told that they can do nothing. I thought this markup fiasco was supposed to be over.

I get the vibe the salesman is trying to be purposefully combative and abrasive just so I’ll walk away and he can actually sell them for the 41k sticker price. They are practically begging us to just walk away. He was also going off on heated tangents about if I ran a business, I would understand about profit and margins, blah blah blah. I actually do own a business, even though that's none of his business. He was also adamant that there are zero dealers out there actually selling any vehicles at MSRP, and he acted shocked that I was gullible enough to think so. Well, we bought a new Chevy straight off the lot last year at MSRP so we had something to run around in while waiting for our Maverick. More lies.

Greed sucks, and this is so shortsighted on Ford’s part. They have a sweet moment in the sun with this truck and the Bronco, and they’re killing themselves long term by bullying and shitting on customers who put in orders and were willing to wait 1 year for a chance to drive a Mav. If this is how they are going to run things, then this is basically the last time I walk into a Ford dealership.

Edited: Just wanted to add that I've already tried contacting Ford via twitter and Mike Levine as well. I'm not agreeing to go away, so I'm hoping they can't just sell the trucks anyhow?

Edit #2: I should mention since this has been brought up a few times. I said I'd buy all the extended warranties, rust proofing, tinting, undercoating, etc. He said "no, that's just you paying for stuff you benefit from." I shit you not.

This is my worst fear. My truck gets delivered in a week or so, and I was promised verbally 100% for sure, it will be sold at msrp. If they try to screw me I haven't decided yet if I wil sue or just go buy another vehicle and post bad online reviews all over. I flat out told them when I paid the deposit that if it wasn't msrp I would order from another dealer.

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