[Rev.Hammer]

Post your Negative Dealership Experience here:

I am starting this thread so that we can post our Negative dealership experiences. If you feel that your dealership has been less than satisfactory in their dealings with you, and has treated you like the ugly girl at prom, Please list their name, City and State and a VALID REASON for your disgruntlement. This will encourage other dealers to be more professional and current when they see THEIR MONEY MARCHING OUT THE DOOR TO THE GOOD GUYS!!


Rate them with this system:
Level of Satisfaction – Pick one
1 – Irredeemably dissatisfied
2 – Thoroughly dissatisfied
3 – Somewhat dissatisfied
4 – neither satisfied or dissatisfied or Meh...Whatev
5 – Barely satisfied
6 – Sorta satisfied
7 – Good enough

Happiness Level of your Quality of Experience at the dealership –Pick one
1 – Disgusted
2 – Annoyed
3 – Non-plussed
4 – Indifferent
5 – Not too bad

Then give a specific example as to WHY you chose that number. All dealerships that merit 2's and lower will be added to The REDLIST:
This is the list of those dealerships that you approach with declared risk.


YOU MUST LIST VALID REASONS FOR YOUR CHOICES!

 

[Chad]

I'll allow this but... Please change the vocabulary and word usage. You must use a likert scale and use constructive comments when describing your experience. Please no names of individuals that work there.

Chad

 

[Americarsftw]

Might I suggest you edit the first post to also contain a dealer blacklist. We have one of these on the FT86 forums that has worked successfully.

Of course based on what people report on the dealership they had problems with you will have to determine if it was a violation that warrants being placed on the list.

These blacklists are highly effective. I had a terrible experience with a Subaru dealership and they called me in and had a printout of the forum posts regarding their highly deceptive and unprofessional practices.

As a result, I and others that went to the dealership were refunded our deposits. Prior to the blacklist we were told we would not be receiving our deposits back although there were incidents of price gouging, bullying, trying to sell our cars that we preordered to the highest bidder.

This also helped others locate dealerships where others had positive buying experiences.

Shady practices are not rewarded and dealerships that carry themselves professionally benefit.

Hopefully, these experiences will be minimal in a worst case scenerio.

Post your Negative Dealership Experience here:

I am starting this thread so that we can post our Negative dealership experiences. If you feel that your dealership has NOT done very well by you, and has treated you like the fat kid in gym class, Please list their name, City and State and why you think they SUCK. This will encourage other dealers to be more professional and current when they see THEIR MONEY MARCHING OUT THE DOOR TO THE GOOD GUYS!!


POST AWAY DANGIT!

 

[oaxa]

It would be nice to get a corresponding thread started for "post your good dealer experience
"

 

[whtchocla7e]

I'll allow this but... Please change the vocabulary and word usage. You must use a likert scale and use constructive comments when describing your experience. Please no names of individuals that work there.

Chad

Shouldn't the same rules be applied to posting about positive buying experience?

 

[Americarsftw]

Balise Ford - Wilbraham/Springfield, MA. Boston Rd.

Sales staff did not know there was a Focus ST. Sales Manager told me the ST will be sold over MSRP. If I preorder it would be at MSRP.

 

[Rev.Hammer]

Hows that, Chad?

 

[Frankenbike]

Buerge Ford, West Los Angeles, CA

Salesman didn't know anything about the car.

Salesman said his manager couldn't take a pre-order until they settled their allocated stock.

Salesman kept asking how much over MSRP other dealers were asking (the other two dealers are talking about price over invoice).

Not one thing the salesman did or said made me feel inclined to buy a car from Buerge. I think they want to just have dealer stock and sell over MSRP to stupid UCLA students, as if no one has ever heard of the Internet.

None of the three dealers I've talked to know anything about the Go-Pro deal. Or even how to find out about it. Or they were lying and just couldn't be bothered to check it out.

If anyone knows of an LA County dealer that has their act together, please post it. I'm not super frustrated yet, but I'd really like a fallback position in case I tell the local dealers to shove it. I'll go wherever if there's a salesman I can talk to who will make a decent deal (I'm not talking about a total grind) and knows exactly what to do so I can just write a friggin' check.

 

[oaxa]

Try this. Use the ford site, send a request for quote and have the sales guys chase you.
Internet (or fleet) depts for dealers operate differently.
Besides it saves you having to drive around.
Are you on an x-plan?

 

[Rev.Hammer]

WELL said Frankie, I am glad to see this posted without vehemence and dispassionately..

 

[Frankenbike]

Try this. Use the ford site, send a request for quote and have the sales guys chase you.
Internet (or fleet) depts for dealers operate differently.
Besides it saves you having to drive around.
Are you on an x-plan?

Nope, just an ordinary civilian with no auto industry connections

I think if I don't hear what I want to hear from the last dealer I went to on Monday or Tuesday, internet is next.

WELL said Frankie, I am glad to see this posted without vehemence and dispassionately..

Yeah, not emotionally vested. In probably the most wired part of the city, it's bizarre stepping into a dealership that is just so...old school. A customer walks in excited to buy a car, and not only does no one get excited, they essentially mock the very idea that an actual order trumps "dealer stock". Like what on earth are they ordering stock for if they don't want to sell a car? They didn't want to pull one out of their "allocation", because they want to gamble on getting MORE than MSRP with their "allocation"?

 

[oaxa]

Nope, just an ordinary civilian with no auto industry connections

I think if I don't hear what I want to hear from the last dealer I went to on Monday or Tuesday, internet is next.

Join svtoa for $45 you'll be xplan eligible.

 

[Frankenbike]

Join svtoa for $45 you'll be xplan eligible.

ORLY?

Is there a waiting period?

 

[Frankenbike]

So, a summary of experiences thus far, and copied from the other thread I started (sorry):

So...the third dealer in my area has wasted my drive and talk time saying that Ford is not taking pre-orders for the Focus ST yet. Of course this is crap. I'm trying the Internet route, and I have to trick the Focus ST web site into giving me dealers besides the ones I've contacted with different zip codes.

The three dealers are Santa Monica Ford, Buerge Ford and Airport Marina Ford.

If anyone from Ford Marketing is reading this or anyone has a contact with them, can you please contact them so that they can contact the dealers and tell them that you're not pleased with them turning away customers for this car who have their checkbook in hand?

Thanks.

Just heard back from Galpin Ford in Van Nuys. The salesman says they're "only getting 5 of them, so there will be a premium". "How much over MSRP?" I asked. He said, "$5000 over".

I told him I was going to post this on the internet, would he like to rethink that price and call me back? If not, I will post it all over the Focus ST forums, so everyone interested in an ST will avoid them. He said he'd call me back. He did. He's sticking with the allocation story and I said, "Then the people have to know. Thank you for your time." or something like that.

So there you are. Galpin Ford of Van Nuys California, $5000 over MSRP.

 

[SVTRondogg]

Galpin Ford - Van Nuys, CA.


Internet Department confirmed via e-mail that X-Plan would be honored. Went down in person the following day with check in hand for deposit and ended up wasting a good hour of my time. First was told that X-Plan was not available on the ST until I corrected them. Then they stated that X-Plan was available but would not be honored for the Focus ST. They were 'only getting 2 or 3' and were probably going to charge about $5k markup.

Thanks but no thanks. Promptly found another dealer more than willing to deal on X-Plan.

 

[Rev.Hammer]

Thanks, guys!

 

[ButtDyno]

Ourisman Ford - Alexandria VA

Rating: "meh". They plan on asking for a "market adjustment."

In regards to pricing for the Focus STs, we are going to do some kind of market adjustment, but it won't be anything outrageous.

 

[Jared Ross]

spradley barr ford in northern Colorado. To be fair, they did give me a full refund on my deposit but it took some work and help from this community (thanks guys! :yay: )

I canceled my order with them because I found out the $1,000 markup they were going to charge me "because it is a imited production vehicle" was unwarranted and they were lying to me about it being limited. I guess if you want to pay $1,000 extra on MSRP then they maybe just fine. When I took a Focus SE out on a test drive the salesman was super cheesy and annoying.

 

[Rev.Hammer]

I HATE salesdorks.
SALES PERSONNELL pay heed:
Once you are in the car with the customer; shut yer pie hole and LET the customer experience the car. The customer generally wants to like the car but your mouth is a turn off.

 

[BugsBunny27]

Miracle Ford in Poughkeepsie, New York.

I went in there two times. Once back in May after I had been talking to a few other dealers about price. I gave them the best price I had offered to me at the time and they wouldn't budge off sticker. That's their choice but what annoyed me was the salesman telling me that the dealer who had offered me the lower price could not guarantee me that price. I hate being lied to like that.

I went in a few weeks ago because I figured it was finally time to place the order with x-plan. I tell the salesman right away that I have x-plan and want to order the car using that. He says he doesn't know if they are taking it on the ST and that his sales manager isn't around to confirm or deny it. After a little back and forth we move forward with the deal and after he gets my deposit check he assures me he will get his manager to honor x-plan for me.

I get a call the next morning from him saying they can't do x-plan but it's really not a big deal because the 1,000 dollar difference (it's more than that) only amounts to a 25 dollar or so change in my monthly payment. I'm not buying that so he starts going on about how x-plan is a bad deal for them and they can't afford to lose the larger profit on this car because they are only going to get 2-3 this year. I tell him I know that isn't true because a customer pre-order is being handled differently from dealer stock. He insists that isn't true and when I don't budge he says "oh yeah buddy? how many years have you been in the car business?" at that point I hang up on him and go get my check.

I have emailed them links from FB two times that show I was right and they were wrong. Not surprisingly, they haven't gotten back to me on that little issue yet.