Shady Dealership in Terrell, TX - Platinum Ford

[thallman1125]

I don't understand why he would trade in a Bronco 3 weeks after buying it and paying a $5k mark up

He said because of the damage and needing a repair, the dealership could not guarantee that it would not end up on the Carfax. So he wanted to get rid of it because of that, and he thought that the best possible method would to trade it back into the dealership since they marked up the trade-in amount a little bit (not enough) and not lose out on the tax credit.

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[volksnuts]

He said because of the damage and needing a repair, the dealership could not guarantee that it would not end up on the Carfax. So he wanted to get rid of it because of that, and he thought that the best possible method would to trade it back into the dealership since they marked up the trade-in amount a little bit (not enough) and not lose out on the tax credit.

yeah, that's ridiculous
FInd another shop to fix it
I feel like there is more to this story

 

[40caliber]

Isn’t it crazy that dealerships are threatening? That’s why I emailed the GM my work info for sending all legal matters to. I just wonder if he would actually have the kahunas to seek any legal action at my work since I work for the US Attorneys Office / Department of Justice.

Dept of injustice more like

 

[dags1207]

I had a completely different experience with them (where I am also waiting for my Maverick). I ordered and bought a 2023 Bronco from them for my wife. Custom ordered and got it delivered in less than 5 months (even though it had a ton of constraints). Paid exactly what the MSRP was, no haggling and no push to sell me anything extra (not even warranty or service contracts). I was extremely clear with the sales manager (I've been dealing directly with him from the beginning), and had no issues. I told them no markup, no front plate, no dealer added stuff, no tints, no nothing, just the car. And they fully respected every single one of them.

I've heard bad stories about their service department so I will not be using them for service (plenty of bad reviews about that). It truly sucks your father-in-law is in that position and had to experience it first hand.

 

[thallman1125]

yeah, that's ridiculous
FInd another shop to fix it
I feel like there is more to this story

Definitely not more to it bro. That’s why there are so many negative reviews on this dealership.

 

[thallman1125]

I had a completely different experience with them (where I am also waiting for my Maverick). I ordered and bought a 2023 Bronco from them for my wife. Custom ordered and got it delivered in less than 5 months (even though it had a ton of constraints). Paid exactly what the MSRP was, no haggling and no push to sell me anything extra (not even warranty or service contracts). I was extremely clear with the sales manager (I've been dealing directly with him from the beginning), and had no issues. I told them no markup, no front plate, no dealer added stuff, no tints, no nothing, just the car. And they fully respected every single one of them.

I've heard bad stories about their service department so I will not be using them for service (plenty of bad reviews about that). It truly sucks your father-in-law is in that position and had to experience it first hand.

I agree completely that there is no markup when you order from them. He purchased off the lot where he did not order from them. Don’t get me wrong. There are good people there, like Eddie and Jesse. But there are bad ones too.

 

[dags1207]

I agree completely that there is no markup when you order from them. He purchased off the lot where he did not order from them. Don’t get me wrong. There are good people there, like Eddie and Jesse. But there are bad ones too.

Totally agree with you. They had a fully loaded Maverick hybrid once (same color and everything that I wanted). $15k+ markup. Sold the next day though

This just reassures me to not use them for service. They should really just take care of the damage, plain ridiculous behavior.

 

[mdsalemi]

Honestly, given the GM's current attitude, would you really TRUST them performing ANY type of service on your vehicles? Just sayin'

Right. To heck with this shady dealer and GM and the horse he rode in on. Pity the fools that still go there. Take your business elsewhere.

 

[A.Bursell]

As someone who is often skeptical of dealers, I read this story with a bias toward the customer. But it seems it isn't quite so black and white. I think there are really multiple parts of this story to look at -- the damage, the trade-in, the reviews, and the financials.

The trade-in is what it is. The dealership can offer $1 for the truck, it's up to them what they are willing to pay. The fact that there was an ADM 3-weeks ago doesn't change the value of the truck, it's always worth what someone is willing to pay. It doesn't make them shady if they aren't willing to pay as much. I'm sure you would have thought twice before paying above MSRP for a 3-week old truck with damage to the tailgate. It's unfortunate, but not shady for a business to want/need to make money and that is how dealerships do it. You can always go somewhere else or sell privately or not sell at all. You have options.

As far as the damage goes, that just plain sucks. Things happen though. The question is, were they willing to fix it - which it sounds like they were. I think the Carfax thing is a legitimate question, but the dealer doesn't control Carfax. Nor do they control AutoCheck or Joe's Car Record Service or anyplace other than their dealership. They can't make guarantees over things they don't control. What they can do is fix the damage. And maybe kick in an accessory or some oil changes or who knows what to try to make it a little better. That's what they can control. I would say it would be shady of the dealer to put guarantees on things they can't control. It's not that they made a mistake, because things happen, it's how they handle it that matters.

About the reviews. You are not getting sued over reviews. Plain and simple. You know that in order for them to be successful they would have to prove a lot that they won't be able to. Making threats and banning someone from the dealership is not ok. They are definitely in the wrong here. I think it may be the only place they are in the wrong though.

The whole situation -- it makes no sense at all to trade the Bronco because of something that might happen. So now there is $5k lost on the trade-in. The alternative is that there might have been a record someplace or maybe not. Even if there was a record, would it have resulted in the value being $5k less when the Bronco was sold 3, 5, 10-years down the road? I would say probably not - especially the further down the road you get. Even if it did result in $5k less at sale time, that would mean you broke even -- except had that extra $5k for all those years and got to enjoy the Bronco. This was a financial blunder to make. Now he's at least $5k upside down on the new truck, plus maybe there was an ADM on that one too? No other way to put it - this was just not a good deal to make.

Sorry the whole thing happened, hopefully at this point everyone can just move on. It's the best thing to do at this point.

 

[thallman1125]

As someone who is often skeptical of dealers, I read this story with a bias toward the customer. But it seems it isn't quite so black and white. I think there are really multiple parts of this story to look at -- the damage, the trade-in, the reviews, and the financials.

The trade-in is what it is. The dealership can offer $1 for the truck, it's up to them what they are willing to pay. The fact that there was an ADM 3-weeks ago doesn't change the value of the truck, it's always worth what someone is willing to pay. It doesn't make them shady if they aren't willing to pay as much. I'm sure you would have thought twice before paying above MSRP for a 3-week old truck with damage to the tailgate. It's unfortunate, but not shady for a business to want/need to make money and that is how dealerships do it. You can always go somewhere else or sell privately or not sell at all. You have options.

As far as the damage goes, that just plain sucks. Things happen though. The question is, were they willing to fix it - which it sounds like they were. I think the Carfax thing is a legitimate question, but the dealer doesn't control Carfax. Nor do they control AutoCheck or Joe's Car Record Service or anyplace other than their dealership. They can't make guarantees over things they don't control. What they can do is fix the damage. And maybe kick in an accessory or some oil changes or who knows what to try to make it a little better. That's what they can control. I would say it would be shady of the dealer to put guarantees on things they can't control. It's not that they made a mistake, because things happen, it's how they handle it that matters.

About the reviews. You are not getting sued over reviews. Plain and simple. You know that in order for them to be successful they would have to prove a lot that they won't be able to. Making threats and banning someone from the dealership is not ok. They are definitely in the wrong here. I think it may be the only place they are in the wrong though.

The whole situation -- it makes no sense at all to trade the Bronco because of something that might happen. So now there is $5k lost on the trade-in. The alternative is that there might have been a record someplace or maybe not. Even if there was a record, would it have resulted in the value being $5k less when the Bronco was sold 3, 5, 10-years down the road? I would say probably not - especially the further down the road you get. Even if it did result in $5k less at sale time, that would mean you broke even -- except had that extra $5k for all those years and got to enjoy the Bronco. This was a financial blunder to make. Now he's at least $5k upside down on the new truck, plus maybe there was an ADM on that one too? No other way to put it - this was just not a good deal to make.

Sorry the whole thing happened, hopefully at this point everyone can just move on. It's the best thing to do at this point.

Believe it or not, I actually agree with most of what you’ve said.

Was It my father-in-law’s fault for buying the Bronco with an ADM? Yes.

The dealership damaged the Bronco while installing the table a couple of weeks after he bought the Bronco. They were willing to repair it but had to wait on parts or a new door (and who knows how long that would’ve been).

The shadiness #1 = Selling the vehicle with an ADM and buying the vehicle at a low is business, I get it; but not willing to help the customer with the issue is bad customer service. My father-in-law asked the GM to just meet him in the middle where he was out $2,500 instead of the $5k because the push to trade-in was all caused by their tech that damaged the back door. GM said no.

The shadiness #2 = The pre-owned manager told me, my father-in-law, and another salesman (all of us at a table together) that his vehicle (the pre-owned manager) was in an accident and damaged by someone at the dealership in excess of $7,000. The dealership paid for the repair and swept it under the rug so that Carfax would not know. If the pre-owned manager would sell his vehicle to someone else, that new buyer would never know that there was an accident. I asked the pre-owned manager to put it in black and white about Carfax not knowing about the Bronco and sign it. He said that he would not do that.

We may have different opinions of what shadiness is, and that’s ok, but these are my 2 reasons for calling them shady.

 

[JBryant]

Isn’t it crazy that dealerships are threatening? That’s why I emailed the GM my work info for sending all legal matters to. I just wonder if he would actually have the kahunas to seek any legal action at my work since I work for the US Attorneys Office / Department of Justice.

I am sure that put the brakes on his legal intentions. Thankfully, I have had GREAT dealers. I have bought four Mavericks from four different dealers and could honestly give each of them a five star rating. They were courteous, professional and honest. It is a shame that shady dealers create so much havoc. Keep plugging and keep the heat on.

 

[catshreds]

As an owner/manager of a few businesses, I learned early on that customer conflicts were best resolved by using empathy. The CARDINAL rule was to NEVER make it personal! It was just business. It sounds like this GM violated that rule. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Montana]

As an owner/manager of a few businesses, I learned early on that customer conflicts were best resolved by using empathy. The CARDINAL rule was to NEVER make it personal! It was just business. It sounds like this GM violated that rule. Just my 2 cents.

Above all else - this.

 

[volksnuts]

I knew there was more to the story

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