This is why dealers get a bad reputation - My delivery experience

[24hrsun]

I'd avoid the dealership (and others like it) like the plague for service if you have other options. Could you imagine that self-induced nightmare.

But that's just me thinking out loud

Cheers

Agreed, I will be steering clear of this dealer going forward. It should not have been a thing and they made it a thing... LOL

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[Cidecar2]

Well it has been a somewhat turbulent adventure getting the Maverick I wanted. I ordered in April, was scheduled in May for a first week in June build. The order tracking site will give you heart attacks as you watch dates move, change, and be wrong, and then get corrected. Truck was built on Jun 6th and shipped on Jun 7th. It then estimated delivery last week of June. Then it slipped to first week in July, then it slipped to 7 July. Then on 5 July it updated and said 28 July. I apologize for all of that swearing anyone may have heard. Then I check status the morning of 7 July and the truck was delivered on the 6th. I pinged the dealer and he confirmed they had it and that I could pick it up this afternoon... WHEW... Ok, now we are talking. But wait there is more.

So I make the arrangement to run over to get the truck yesterday afternoon on 7 July and have an appointment. I have not bought a vehicle from this particular dealer before. They were aggressive with the pricing in a little quote war I had going with a few dealers. This particular dealer won the bidding war. Dealers have a bad reputation and sometimes it is deserved. Not all are scumbags. The last few vehicles I have bought with dealers were smooth. No waiting around, no haggling, no games being played. They had the paperwork all ready to go. I walked in signed stuff, paid them money, they gave me keys and I was on my way and it was all pretty quick. TODAY was NOT one of those experiences. Since the vehicle deliveries to the dealer happened on Sunday the 6th they were scrambling to try and get everything offloaded, cleaned, prepped, and ready to go yesterday. Of course everyone is in a hurry to get what they ordered so the place as busy. My sales guy was backed up with 3 customers at a time trying to get stuff delivered and through the process. It was a zoo.

That being said I set a time with them I was going to be there. I arrive and I am waiting. He was delivering another new Maverick to another couple and there was some shipping damage. The paint on the tailgate was chipped and that extended to a couple of smaller chips to the side. They were having to build a case and document the damage and Ford/shipping company has to pay for that damage. So while I am waiting I know my truck is right next to the one they are inspecting and I looked my truck over. It seemed OK. So I keep waiting. In the mean time 2 more customers for the same sales guy show up and now we are stacked in queue waiting. So about an hour goes by and my sales guy finally gets to round up stuff for my deal. He puts the paperwork out there and informs me that the MSRP price of the truck went up after we placed the order. That I was going to have to eat an extra $2700+. Worse yet the price he had on the paperwork wasn't even the pricing info that was provided to me in our negotiations and what we agreed upon as my OTD price. Plus he was now mentioning additional dealer fees etc...

Now let me just say that I STRONGLY recommend everyone watch Long McArthur Youtube channel videos on the order process and what is happening at any particular time with Ford, orders, status, constraints etc. Especially the ordering and update videos. He explains how the order process works, the system that the orders are in, how the priority works, and what it takes to make sure your order is locked in so Ford will not pull the rug from under you. This dealer was trying to tell me that Ford raised the MSRP and there was nothing they could do about it. Now at this point I am going to give him one shot to back track on that total BS statement or I am walking. Because I KNEW from watching Tim's videos how the order process works and that we had a locked in price. You can bet serious money that they were telling everyone picking up new vehicles that the price went up, sorry... You have to eat it.

I explained to him that I understood the ordering process, and that Ford does in fact honor those prices. We had a locked in price. Sales guy got up and went over to play the sales manager game. 15 minutes later he returns and says they were just going to have to eat it... The paperwork in that quote/order listed the OTD price... Not the price+dealer fees. Trying to act all indignant and like they were taking a beating on that deal. WHAT A CROCK! If I hadn't told him I understood the order system and that I watch Tim's videos and that Ford does price lock and if they didn't lock that price it means they screwed up the order. He knew I had them pegged. Plus the price I negotiated with them was the out the door price. That included all fees, docs everything so they didn't have any wiggle room. Once he retrieved the packet showing what we negotiated the tune changed.

The rep disappears again to do more paperwork and come back with a corrected price plus they had to add the military recognition cash back offer into the deal. I could not stack Farm Bureau with the military discount, but that is fine, I took the greater of the two cash back offers and that worked.

Finally we all agree the price is correct, the additional discount has been applied. I get sent to the finance guys waiting area. Where I again am waiting for quite a while. Finally get to see the finance guy. Nice guy, no hardball or pressure tactics. Asked me if I wanted any of the other stuff they offered. I asked what their price was on the Ford Protect plan. I told him I was cross shopping with Granger. So he knew he wasn't going to be able to mark it up. I should have kept my mouth shut that I was cross shopping it just to see what the price was going to be. My sense of humor was pretty much gone at that point. Their price was in line with Granger, but I held off buying that for the moment. I need to see what the tax man wants from me to register the truck before I spend more money. Here you have to go to the motor vehicles place to pay the taxes and get all the registration paperwork and that done. At the end of the ordeal I spent half the day at the dealership. This is why dealers get a bad reputation.

I was really close to walking out. Had I not known how the order system works the ripoff attempt would have proceeded for what appeared to be over 2700 bucks. Tim the Ford Video Guy saved my bacon. Also the the fact that I had negotiated down their fees and had an OTD price I didn't give them any wiggle room, but he tried anyway. If I hadn't done that I may have been facing more add on fees. Make sure to bring your quote and paperwork with you to the dealer.

What I know for sure is that my truck won't be going back to this dealer for any of the service, support etc. I do have a good dealer here that I will likely be using for all of that.

Bud Clary Ford in Moses Lake WA. No Nonsense no foolishness. Ordered my 2024 XLT July 17th 2023 took delivery March 16 2024. Paid the exact price at the time I ordered it even though it took 8 months to get it. They are 105 miles away from me but worth it. Service dept calls from time to time about recalls and I politely tell them where I live in comparison to their shop. So no recalls done, not one problem with the truck in 14,200 miles.

 

[ScottyC]

Well the goal for the post was to just give people a heads up and to understand what they might run into. I knew the price was locked once it went on the order board with Ford as a retail order with my name on it. So I didn't see any risk to going with better deal. Had I not known those specifics this dealer would have ripped me off. I am sure others are walking in the door now and getting ripped off if they ordered and the price went up since they placed that order. I thought it was pretty bold of them to try so I felt it was worth posting out here for others about to take delivery of their trucks.

Still self-induced and most everyone here already bought their Mav...but, hey...thanks for the heads up....the horses are gone so I will go lock the gate now.

In my case, the dealer I bought my 2023 Explorer Timberline could have been 2,000 cheaper on the Mav....still would not buy it from them as their service department sucks ass. No thanks. Too bad too since the salesman I dealt with there is a decent enough guy but even that could not overcome the crappy service department.

 

[Silly Willy]

Still self-induced and most everyone here already bought their Mav...but, hey...thanks for the heads up....the horses are gone so I will go lock the gate now.

In my case, the dealer I bought my 2023 Explorer Timberline could have been 2,000 cheaper on the Mav....still would not buy it from them as their service department sucks ass. No thanks. Too bad too since the salesman I dealt with there is a decent enough guy but even that could not overcome the crappy service department.

If you want to get SCREWED buy one off the dealer in Huntington WV.

 

[24hrsun]

If you want to get SCREWED buy one off the dealer in Huntington WV.

The closest Ford dealer to my location doesn't hide he is going to screw you over. They add a "mandatory" dealer prep package where you get nitrogen filled tires, door edge trim, and a host of other "high value" things in this package and you can't tell them you don't want it. It is "mandatory". I didn't even give them an opportunity to give me a quote on the Maverick. I tangled with them over ordering a SD and that is where I learned my lesson. Ford of course always tries to send me to them since they are the closest.

 

[sagebrushjim]

Well it has been a somewhat turbulent adventure getting the Maverick I wanted. I ordered in April, was scheduled in May for a first week in June build. The order tracking site will give you heart attacks as you watch dates move, change, and be wrong, and then get corrected. Truck was built on Jun 6th and shipped on Jun 7th. It then estimated delivery last week of June. Then it slipped to first week in July, then it slipped to 7 July. Then on 5 July it updated and said 28 July. I apologize for all of that swearing anyone may have heard. Then I check status the morning of 7 July and the truck was delivered on the 6th. I pinged the dealer and he confirmed they had it and that I could pick it up this afternoon... WHEW... Ok, now we are talking. But wait there is more.

So I make the arrangement to run over to get the truck yesterday afternoon on 7 July and have an appointment. I have not bought a vehicle from this particular dealer before. They were aggressive with the pricing in a little quote war I had going with a few dealers. This particular dealer won the bidding war. Dealers have a bad reputation and sometimes it is deserved. Not all are scumbags. The last few vehicles I have bought with dealers were smooth. No waiting around, no haggling, no games being played. They had the paperwork all ready to go. I walked in signed stuff, paid them money, they gave me keys and I was on my way and it was all pretty quick. TODAY was NOT one of those experiences. Since the vehicle deliveries to the dealer happened on Sunday the 6th they were scrambling to try and get everything offloaded, cleaned, prepped, and ready to go yesterday. Of course everyone is in a hurry to get what they ordered so the place as busy. My sales guy was backed up with 3 customers at a time trying to get stuff delivered and through the process. It was a zoo.

That being said I set a time with them I was going to be there. I arrive and I am waiting. He was delivering another new Maverick to another couple and there was some shipping damage. The paint on the tailgate was chipped and that extended to a couple of smaller chips to the side. They were having to build a case and document the damage and Ford/shipping company has to pay for that damage. So while I am waiting I know my truck is right next to the one they are inspecting and I looked my truck over. It seemed OK. So I keep waiting. In the mean time 2 more customers for the same sales guy show up and now we are stacked in queue waiting. So about an hour goes by and my sales guy finally gets to round up stuff for my deal. He puts the paperwork out there and informs me that the MSRP price of the truck went up after we placed the order. That I was going to have to eat an extra $2700+. Worse yet the price he had on the paperwork wasn't even the pricing info that was provided to me in our negotiations and what we agreed upon as my OTD price. Plus he was now mentioning additional dealer fees etc...

Now let me just say that I STRONGLY recommend everyone watch Long McArthur Youtube channel videos on the order process and what is happening at any particular time with Ford, orders, status, constraints etc. Especially the ordering and update videos. He explains how the order process works, the system that the orders are in, how the priority works, and what it takes to make sure your order is locked in so Ford will not pull the rug from under you. This dealer was trying to tell me that Ford raised the MSRP and there was nothing they could do about it. Now at this point I am going to give him one shot to back track on that total BS statement or I am walking. Because I KNEW from watching Tim's videos how the order process works and that we had a locked in price. You can bet serious money that they were telling everyone picking up new vehicles that the price went up, sorry... You have to eat it.

I explained to him that I understood the ordering process, and that Ford does in fact honor those prices. We had a locked in price. Sales guy got up and went over to play the sales manager game. 15 minutes later he returns and says they were just going to have to eat it... The paperwork in that quote/order listed the OTD price... Not the price+dealer fees. Trying to act all indignant and like they were taking a beating on that deal. WHAT A CROCK! If I hadn't told him I understood the order system and that I watch Tim's videos and that Ford does price lock and if they didn't lock that price it means they screwed up the order. He knew I had them pegged. Plus the price I negotiated with them was the out the door price. That included all fees, docs everything so they didn't have any wiggle room. Once he retrieved the packet showing what we negotiated the tune changed.

The rep disappears again to do more paperwork and come back with a corrected price plus they had to add the military recognition cash back offer into the deal. I could not stack Farm Bureau with the military discount, but that is fine, I took the greater of the two cash back offers and that worked.

Finally we all agree the price is correct, the additional discount has been applied. I get sent to the finance guys waiting area. Where I again am waiting for quite a while. Finally get to see the finance guy. Nice guy, no hardball or pressure tactics. Asked me if I wanted any of the other stuff they offered. I asked what their price was on the Ford Protect plan. I told him I was cross shopping with Granger. So he knew he wasn't going to be able to mark it up. I should have kept my mouth shut that I was cross shopping it just to see what the price was going to be. My sense of humor was pretty much gone at that point. Their price was in line with Granger, but I held off buying that for the moment. I need to see what the tax man wants from me to register the truck before I spend more money. Here you have to go to the motor vehicles place to pay the taxes and get all the registration paperwork and that done. At the end of the ordeal I spent half the day at the dealership. This is why dealers get a bad reputation.

I was really close to walking out. Had I not known how the order system works the ripoff attempt would have proceeded for what appeared to be over 2700 bucks. Tim the Ford Video Guy saved my bacon. Also the the fact that I had negotiated down their fees and had an OTD price I didn't give them any wiggle room, but he tried anyway. If I hadn't done that I may have been facing more add on fees. Make sure to bring your quote and paperwork with you to the dealer.

What I know for sure is that my truck won't be going back to this dealer for any of the service, support etc. I do have a good dealer here that I will likely be using for all of that.

 

[lajlmt]

Well it has been a somewhat turbulent adventure getting the Maverick I wanted. I ordered in April, was scheduled in May for a first week in June build. The order tracking site will give you heart attacks as you watch dates move, change, and be wrong, and then get corrected. Truck was built on Jun 6th and shipped on Jun 7th. It then estimated delivery last week of June. Then it slipped to first week in July, then it slipped to 7 July. Then on 5 July it updated and said 28 July. I apologize for all of that swearing anyone may have heard. Then I check status the morning of 7 July and the truck was delivered on the 6th. I pinged the dealer and he confirmed they had it and that I could pick it up this afternoon... WHEW... Ok, now we are talking. But wait there is more.

So I make the arrangement to run over to get the truck yesterday afternoon on 7 July and have an appointment. I have not bought a vehicle from this particular dealer before. They were aggressive with the pricing in a little quote war I had going with a few dealers. This particular dealer won the bidding war. Dealers have a bad reputation and sometimes it is deserved. Not all are scumbags. The last few vehicles I have bought with dealers were smooth. No waiting around, no haggling, no games being played. They had the paperwork all ready to go. I walked in signed stuff, paid them money, they gave me keys and I was on my way and it was all pretty quick. TODAY was NOT one of those experiences. Since the vehicle deliveries to the dealer happened on Sunday the 6th they were scrambling to try and get everything offloaded, cleaned, prepped, and ready to go yesterday. Of course everyone is in a hurry to get what they ordered so the place as busy. My sales guy was backed up with 3 customers at a time trying to get stuff delivered and through the process. It was a zoo.

That being said I set a time with them I was going to be there. I arrive and I am waiting. He was delivering another new Maverick to another couple and there was some shipping damage. The paint on the tailgate was chipped and that extended to a couple of smaller chips to the side. They were having to build a case and document the damage and Ford/shipping company has to pay for that damage. So while I am waiting I know my truck is right next to the one they are inspecting and I looked my truck over. It seemed OK. So I keep waiting. In the mean time 2 more customers for the same sales guy show up and now we are stacked in queue waiting. So about an hour goes by and my sales guy finally gets to round up stuff for my deal. He puts the paperwork out there and informs me that the MSRP price of the truck went up after we placed the order. That I was going to have to eat an extra $2700+. Worse yet the price he had on the paperwork wasn't even the pricing info that was provided to me in our negotiations and what we agreed upon as my OTD price. Plus he was now mentioning additional dealer fees etc...

Now let me just say that I STRONGLY recommend everyone watch Long McArthur Youtube channel videos on the order process and what is happening at any particular time with Ford, orders, status, constraints etc. Especially the ordering and update videos. He explains how the order process works, the system that the orders are in, how the priority works, and what it takes to make sure your order is locked in so Ford will not pull the rug from under you. This dealer was trying to tell me that Ford raised the MSRP and there was nothing they could do about it. Now at this point I am going to give him one shot to back track on that total BS statement or I am walking. Because I KNEW from watching Tim's videos how the order process works and that we had a locked in price. You can bet serious money that they were telling everyone picking up new vehicles that the price went up, sorry... You have to eat it.

I explained to him that I understood the ordering process, and that Ford does in fact honor those prices. We had a locked in price. Sales guy got up and went over to play the sales manager game. 15 minutes later he returns and says they were just going to have to eat it... The paperwork in that quote/order listed the OTD price... Not the price+dealer fees. Trying to act all indignant and like they were taking a beating on that deal. WHAT A CROCK! If I hadn't told him I understood the order system and that I watch Tim's videos and that Ford does price lock and if they didn't lock that price it means they screwed up the order. He knew I had them pegged. Plus the price I negotiated with them was the out the door price. That included all fees, docs everything so they didn't have any wiggle room. Once he retrieved the packet showing what we negotiated the tune changed.

The rep disappears again to do more paperwork and come back with a corrected price plus they had to add the military recognition cash back offer into the deal. I could not stack Farm Bureau with the military discount, but that is fine, I took the greater of the two cash back offers and that worked.

Finally we all agree the price is correct, the additional discount has been applied. I get sent to the finance guys waiting area. Where I again am waiting for quite a while. Finally get to see the finance guy. Nice guy, no hardball or pressure tactics. Asked me if I wanted any of the other stuff they offered. I asked what their price was on the Ford Protect plan. I told him I was cross shopping with Granger. So he knew he wasn't going to be able to mark it up. I should have kept my mouth shut that I was cross shopping it just to see what the price was going to be. My sense of humor was pretty much gone at that point. Their price was in line with Granger, but I held off buying that for the moment. I need to see what the tax man wants from me to register the truck before I spend more money. Here you have to go to the motor vehicles place to pay the taxes and get all the registration paperwork and that done. At the end of the ordeal I spent half the day at the dealership. This is why dealers get a bad reputation.

I was really close to walking out. Had I not known how the order system works the ripoff attempt would have proceeded for what appeared to be over 2700 bucks. Tim the Ford Video Guy saved my bacon. Also the the fact that I had negotiated down their fees and had an OTD price I didn't give them any wiggle room, but he tried anyway. If I hadn't done that I may have been facing more add on fees. Make sure to bring your quote and paperwork with you to the dealer.

What I know for sure is that my truck won't be going back to this dealer for any of the service, support etc. I do have a good dealer here that I will likely be using for all of that.

They don’t give a hoot about buyers. There is a list here, add them! Honolulu Ford was worse.

 

[colinl]

So I bought from a dealer 25 miles away that has NO add ons and the price on the website is the price. You can try to bargain with them but it goes no where. The only thing they will negotiate is trade in value.

this method was made popular by Saturn dealerships because it was corporate policy.

it makes sense and they can still make plenty of money by offering low trades, but with the ease of selling to carvana, car max, even FB marketplace, they're less likely to be able to do this than in years past.

 

[24hrsun]

So the 1000 less price was the difference between the mandatory dealer add ons? The second closest dealership to me does that also. I bought a 2014 F150 from them, was happy with them. My late wife bought a Jeep from them and was happy with them. Then they brought in a new general manager and things changed. Now the insist you buy their dealer installed BS. So I bought from a dealer 25 miles away that has NO add ons and the price on the website is the price. You can try to bargain with them but it goes no where. The only thing they will negotiate is trade in value. So I don't blame you for not paying for "extras" that are worthless. The dealer 3 miles from me I would never let touch a vehicle again. In 2007 they repaired my Explorer Sport that someone hit in the passenger side wheel. They invoiced insurance for new OEM parts and when I looked it over before accepting it saw that the parts were from a salvage yard. I reported them to Ford and my insurance. The service manager and body shop manager were later charged with insurance fraud. But the lot since then is full of junk cars and police cruisers waiting delivery.

That nearest dealer with his "Ozarks package" is about $1500 worth of nonsense that he won't let you remove from his pricing plus his dealer handling and doc fees on top of that. He will negotiate on price, but not even close to enough to overcome the add ons and fees. I only stop by there to look when something I want to see shows up on the lot since I am by that way frequently, but I don't waste their time or mine when I stop to look. He has earned the dealer shame list in my book. Worse yet at the time I was trying to buy the SD it was COVID times and the sales guy couldn't have been more of a total Ahole if he tried. "You do it our way or you don't get the truck..." Oh yeah? ROFL No one had inventory at that point so everything had to be ordered and most things were constrained from the OEMs so it was a real mess then to get anything.

The $1000 less place that I bought this Maverick from had both a doc fee and a dealer handling fee. I got them to drop the dealer handling fee. I am fine with paying the doc fee if it is reasonable. No other add ons or anything were an issue. They ended up going below employee pricing by a good bit, plus I had the military discount on top of that. So the deal was a siren song I couldn't resist. I don't imagine they made as much money on my deal as they are accustomed to. Oh, the other thing to note is that if they ask you if you are financing tell them yes. Let them negotiate the price based on a finance deal. Then when you come in pay in cash. You will get a better price if they think you are financing.

To be fair I don't know that the $1000 less place would have tried to pull the "price went up" game if all the political stunts and price changes weren't going on at the same time as an external set of factors. But they shouldn't have attempted the price change game when they knew it was price locked with Ford. So that is why I specifically decided people should probably know to watch out. I don't know how many dealers might be pulling this stunt. This dealer really isn't that close to my home and I have a few closer, but their price was the best.

 

[710-oil-614]

Im confused, isn't employee pricing going on? You are locked into A-plan pricing.

 

[710-oil-614]

Well the goal for the post was to just give people a heads up and to understand what they might run into. I knew the price was locked once it went on the order board with Ford as a retail order with my name on it.

No, no it was never locked.

Corwin bought the Maverick and they owned it until they sold it to you. Your name being attached to the retail order offered you zero price protection.

The employee pricing on all vehicles did however, sounds like a self induced problem.

 

[24hrsun]

Im confused, isn't employee pricing going on? You are locked into A-plan pricing.

No you're not confused... The dealer is pretending to be confused! LOL Yep, at the time I ordered it was Employee Pricing, plus they negotiated the price below employee pricing by a good bit. I had that in writing, deposit placed, paperwork filled out, and Ford accepted the order. My price was locked. Since then of course Ford has raised the MSRP due to the political climate and this dealer tried to say... Here is the paperwork, just sign it. I was like back the truck up. What is this? "Well the price went up with Ford". "Here is the web site, you can see what the new price is"... That is when I informed him that I knew how this works ane I explained it to him. Thanks to Tim over at Long McArthur explaining it all. So that is how the game started and took a bit of them playing the "let me talk to my manager" game and pulling up my packet with the deal, and back and forth... Then finally the, "well I guess we are just going to eat it" resolution. It was pretty slimy and clearly well rehearsed at this point. So I think they are making hay while the sun is shinning on the deals they have going where MSRP price changes have happened since the orders were placed.

 

[24hrsun]

I have not heard of anyone ordering a 2025 for lower than employee pricing. The margins on Mavericks are very low.

Yep, go watch Tim at Long McArthur, they are below Employee Pricing right now on new 25's.

 

[Jarathen]

Hm. I am not seeing any new 25s at or below the pricing that ran for Employee Pricing. I AM seeing new/used 24s have dropped some compared to when I was shopping, though.

 

[710-oil-614]

I have not heard of anyone ordering a 2025 for lower than employee pricing. The margins on Mavericks are very low.

You could stack discounts on the employee pricing like Farm Bureau but that would have been valid at any dealership. There are a lot of holes in this story.

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