[Mightius]

It's getting to be about time for me to head down and start talking to a dealer about placing an order for an ST. Does anyone have any good experiences with dealers in the area? I didn't see any New England area dealers listed in the main positive/negative dealer experience threads, so I thought I might go to the source.


Thanks!

 

[Durp]

yeah, I meant to once my deal was done, which it is now. I went to Drum Hill Ford in Lowell, worked with Paul Santiago, and had a good experience. first car salesman that I didn't not like afterwards. great guy, easy to work with, decent understanding of the ST.

Compared to Wilmington and Manchester, NH dealers I spoke to, [email protected] Hill was awesome.

Placed my Red ST2 order on 7/29! (I believe another woman there sold an ST too, and they are ordering one for dealer stock as well)

 

[dgc333]

I bought our 2012 Focus from Jannell in Hanover. Walked in and told them I wanted order a Focus and had X-plan. No problem we worked up the car I wanted the price matched the price from the ford partner site so I gave them the go ahead and had my car in 5 weeks.

 

[dem778]

I went through Putnam Ford, in Putnam, CT. They were the only dealership that wasn't trying to screw and had a clue about the ST. So far, everything has gone very well, and I can't really complain.

 

[dem778]

yeah, I meant to once my deal was done, which it is now. I went to Drum Hill Ford in Lowell, worked with Paul Santiago, and had a good experience. first car salesman that I didn't not like afterwards. great guy, easy to work with, decent understanding of the ST.

Compared to Wilmington and Manchester, NH dealers I spoke to, [email protected] Hill was awesome.

Placed my Red ST2 order on 7/29! (I believe another woman there sold an ST too, and they are ordering one for dealer stock as well)

What dealer's did you speak to in Manchester? Just curious.

Full disclosure: I am originally from Derry, NH. Moved down to CT 2 years ago. Man, I miss the 0% sales tax...

 

[Durp]

What dealer's did you speak to in Manchester? Just curious.

Full disclosure: I am originally from Derry, NH. Moved down to CT 2 years ago. Man, I miss the 0% sales tax...

Yeah, I'm originally from Merrimack, live in MA now so I still try to get up there when possible. Salesperson was alright, but was more upset with the pretense of getting me in the door (offering something, getting me in then saying that it isn't available for x-plan or retail orders)

 

[eyes4eveST]

If your near the Upstate NY area. Matt At Warren Ford is the man. Not only will he hep you out, but fill you in on every step, and be honest about it.

 

[wylekoodard]

I went to Quirk Ford in Quincy, MA.

This has been my first car buying experience. I've tagged along with my dad over the years during his negotiations, and I've seen what a pain in the butt a car purchase can be.

The whole transaction for me buying the car took literally 30 minutes. I told them what packages and options I wanted, they took a few minutes to get the pricing back from their ordering system. They gave me a price about $500 over invoice. I was tempted to take it, but "wanted to sleep on the decision". The salesman went back to the sales manager, and came back with an offer at invoice. I was stunned that they would drop that low. All in all, looking up the pricing and signing the paperwork took longer than negotiations.

They are a high volume dealership, so it seems to be they don't mind taking a hit on the price, if it means that they get a sale quick.

 

[DAC17]

They're still making decent money at invoice; they wouldn't order it otherwise. BUT, how much "dealer conveyance fee" did they charge??

 

[Bagdasar]

I went through Putnam Ford, in Putnam, CT. They were the only dealership that wasn't trying to screw and had a clue about the ST. So far, everything has gone very well, and I can't really complain.

Dem778 - did you use x plan? If not where did you end up relative to invoice at Putnam ford?

I'm in CT as well. Haven't ordered yet as I really want to test drive the car first before pulling the trigger.

What other dealers did you go to that gave you the run around? Just trying to save some time and aggravation when it comes time to order. Thanks.

 

[Mightius]

Thanks for all the feedback! I actually decided to try my local dealer first. I figure I'd give them a shot to earn my business since they're likely where I will be servicing the car under warranty, but I had the list from here as my backup plan if they annoyed me.

And well, they didn't. Ordered an ST3 from Watertown Ford yesterday. So far they've been great, really good at scheduling, good at keeping up on emails, honored X-plan, really on top of things. I will say that for the most part the sales guys don't know too much about the car yet.

But hey... they have three ST2s in stock right now.

 

[zulujams]

For anyone interested, Imperial in Mendon, MA has three ST2s, all with NAV and moonroof from what I saw (silver, red, perf blue). They said to me that they would process X plan pricing, likley on orders and current inventory. I can't speak to purchasing through Imperial yet but they are definitely in the running for something. The primary goal is a Superduty for my better half, and, if new, then possibly an ST for me as a DD. Loved the ST test drive :thumb:

 

[bartonian]

I picked up my car from Lamoureux Ford in East Brookfield, MA (central MA) last week and they were GREAT. I had a downpayment on an ST with Jack Madden Ford in Norwood, MA but that was 2.5 months ago and they still have no clue when it's coming. They SUCK to deal with but they should have a black st1 coming in shortly.

DealerRater - Car Dealer Reviews, Car Dealer Directory, Vehicles For Sale, Vehicle Recalls is a pretty good guide

 

[zulujams]

DealerRater - Car Dealer Reviews, Car Dealer Directory, Vehicles For Sale, Vehicle Recalls is a pretty good guide

Thanks for that link! I found it helpful versus using Google maps to find dealers around the area. Not every dealership listed has an external link but at least you get a dealer name to search on. Of course, one caution is that often people will go out of their way to complain of an issue versus the many satisfied customers who don't put in the effort to provide good ratings in contrast. Take online ratings with a grain of salt but if you see quite a few complaints it would be good to proceed cautiously! Using the link, I still couldn't find an ST3, but that's ok as I would want to order one I think to delete the moonroof. I did find a possible Superduty though lol!

 

[zulujams]

Update to my previous post: thanks to bartonian again for providing that list. I went down the DealerRated Certified list first and then jumped into the general listings based mainly on locations I'd willingly travel to if they had what I wanted in stock. I found that Acton (MA) Ford had a SuperDuty that will work well for my wife, so we signed papers today on it! I found the staff there to be knowledgeable and helpul and so far everything has gone well. They have a black ST2 with moonroof and NAV but the moonroof makes headroom really tight for me. I've asked for pricing and estimated delivery timing if I was to order an ST3 w/o the moonroof and asked about their black ST2 as well. We didn't have time to go through that after finishing up on the Superduty though, so I'll chat more with the sales team in the coming days on ST options.

 

[Bagdasar]

Update to my previous post: thanks to bartonian again for providing that list. I went down the DealerRated Certified list first and then jumped into the general listings based mainly on locations I'd willingly travel to if they had what I wanted in stock. I found that Acton (MA) Ford had a SuperDuty that will work well for my wife, so we signed papers today on it! I found the staff there to be knowledgeable and helpul and so far everything has gone well. They have a black ST2 with moonroof and NAV but the moonroof makes headroom really tight for me. I've asked for pricing and estimated delivery timing if I was to order an ST3 w/o the moonroof and asked about their black ST2 as well. We didn't have time to go through that after finishing up on the Superduty though, so I'll chat more with the sales team in the coming days on ST options.

As far as estimated delivery times on an order, I would take anything they say with a big grain of salt. They have no idea how long it will take. I ordered an ST3 on 9/22. There are some on this forum who ordered their cars only a week or so before me who have vins, build dates and are probably going to be taking delivery in the not too distant future (congrats!). They got their build dates weeks ago, yet I still have an unscheduled order and the dealer has no idea when it will be scheduled. At this rate, by the time I get assigned a future build date and the wait for delivery, in a best case scenario it would be mid to late December. Ford is not scheduling ST orders for build dates in the order that they were received. So if you do order, be prepared to be very patient.

I've also started looking at ST3 orders on dealer lots as there are a few being advertised. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that all the retail customer orders say special order on the window sticker. Three of the four ST3's I saw advertised showed special order on the window sticker. However one of them did not say special order so I'm assuming that this is one of the first dealer stock orders. This does not make me happy as I ordered my ST3 back when all dealer orders had been cancelled and only retail customers could order the ST. So how is it that it appears that a dealer order is on its way to a dealer lot (I believe it is in transit based on the build date) and I don't even have a vin/build date yet?! I'm sure Ford has a very complicated allocation and scheduling system, but from the outside looking in, it doesn't seem to make much sense.

 

[zulujams]

Thanks for the input Bagdasar. I saw in another thread elsewhere on the forum that a VT person is over 6 months and waiting. That seems crazy to me. These aren't hand built AMG type engines! I did read of a possible material shortage in the past though which may have been a big part of the waiting. I may have to reconsider ordering versus buying what I want from further away on a lot but that adds cost and logistical challenges.

 

[Bahnfire]

I have to believe in the cases of these extremely long waits that the dealership must have dropped the ball at some point.
- I ordered my ST3 on 9/21.
- I got a confirmation email from Ford the next week.
- In the past few weeks I've gotten my VIN, build date, and now delivery date.
- Car is supposed to be at the dealership on Thursday (11/15).

If that is accurate it will be 7 weeks from order to delivery which is well ahead of the 10-12 weeks I was told when placing the order. Based on my experience I would guess that these folks who have been waiting months with no info is that the dealer didn't place the order right or something. And if not, then Ford's ordering system is crap if I get my car before someone who ordered in July.

 

[Mightius]

I'm one of those ST3's you're seeing with the special order listed on the window sticker... HANDS OFF!

I ordered 9/15 but then had to provide a signed P&S for retail verification. Did that on 9/28. Got my order confirmation four days later and then got my VIN from Natasha on 10/19. Dealer is estimating 11/26 for delivery... of course, we'll see. Though I have watched this dealer for a while. They put estimated arrivals on their inventory and they've been accurate with all the STs they've gotten so far.

When there's a big supply issue delay, it hits a lot of people and you see it on here pretty fast. When it comes down to random delays, I have to agree with Bahnfire, the dealers really seem to be the weak link. I nudged my dealer a couple of times to make sure they stayed on the ball. There's just too many stories of Ford coming back to them with a question and that is just sitting in someone's inbox somewhere being ignored.

In my case, Ford wanted retail verification. That message went to the guy who places the orders. So I call my salesguy, he's gotta get hold of the order guy, the order guy was out of the office... blah blah blah. I feel like if I hadn't called or if my salesguy sucked (he doesn't, thankfully!) it probably would have pushed this out a few weeks.

 

[zulujams]

Just curious Mightius, did your dealer have an allocation already and they used this for your retail order? If I understand things right, dealers get x amount of allocations of which they can submit retail orders for customers as well as stock orders to put cars on their lot. My dealer is out of allocations but submitted an order through the retail order verification program with a signed P&S which the dealer thinks is all that should be needed to get Ford to build and ship the car I want to them for final purchase. I'm just wondering if the fast turnaround on your confirmation and then VIN number is what I might expect (other than some delays with the holiday maybe). If you don't know if your dealer had an allocation, don't sweat it--just curiosity. I'll check in with my dealer in a week or so if I don't hear anything.