Cheese302

i am in no way saying the behavior is excuseable, but the story at the end of the day is the person should have a proper finished and working car. The dealer is only a small step in the entire proccess. The car is what the person should be worried about.

i have a 2007 mustang on order... My salesman was horrible, horendous at best. But whatever, i have x plan so there is no price haggling, and i understood what i was getting into. IMHO all salesmen stink, they treat me like i dont know anything, even though i usually know and understand the car better than them when i walk into the building. The good guys are few and far between. And these days salesman are usually there (in my area anyway) because they have failed at everything else they have tried.

but whtaever, the new vette is a nice car, however it is still made by the general, and for that it should burn.

i PRAY that gm gets bought out by toyota, it would just be amazing

Imatk

The dealer is a small step in the process of buying a car???

Are you serious?

The dealer IS the person, unfortunately, that you have to deal with.
For lack of a better phrase he is "the man," when it comes to purchasing your car. Manufacturers in the States have handcuffed the consumer in this way.

Beleive me I'm sure that ANYONE here would much rather order their car directly from the factory and pick it up at a railyard before having to mess around with ANY dealer.

So if they (manufacturers) are going to require that a dealer sell you the car then shouldn't those very same manufacturers make sure their dealers and dealerships represent their company the way they would LIKE to be represented?

I mean it's great that you don't care that your dealer was "horrible, horrendous at best." But should this be acceptible in any way from any company?

And the comment about "the general" and the fact that you would like them to be bought out or burn etc. etc.

Look I realize this is a Mustang board and there are those here that would never say a critical word about Ford for ANYTHING.

But I truly don't understand this attitude of jamming your head in the sand just because it's a Ford... or a Mustang. I'm beginning to think THIS is precisely why Ford dealers are pulling this stuff.

I didn't post the incident because I wanted to show how great GM is! As I said I've only owned a Ford for the past 14 years so I can't comment about how great or bad or whatever GM or anyone else is.

I posted because I thought it was unfortunate that Ford screwed themselves out of a customer... probably for life. And the fact that it seems this is happening to a lot of people regarding the Cobra... including many who frequent this board.

I posted because I WANT Ford to do well. I would love for someone that works at a Ford dealership or at Ford who frequents these boards to see this and perhaps pass it along... let others know that consumers will not put up with this.

Becuase honestly... I think many Ford dealers are under the impression that customers WILL put up with it for the privelage of owning a Shelby... or any other Ford perhaps??

I wouldn't... she wouldn't... and I'm sure there are many others who wouldn't. And I think Ford would care about that... I hope they would anyway.

Lalo

Thats horrible!
I hate stories like these... I have become weary of sales people now, and when I go to buy a new car, stories like these will be in the back of my mind. But then again, it is good to read about them, because I will have more knowledge of how salesman can be, and what to do if they *****

I think I would make a good salesman also! So if anyone is looking

Mike McRann

Regarding the way dealers and their employees (salespeople) treat the potential buyers of the cars they sell-
Before I ordered my car in the fall of 2004 I had been in contact with several dealers, and had a hard time finding a dealer to honor x-plan and one that would give me a good order to delivery time.
During my search I met rude salespeople at dealerships and simply walked away from them.
In one case I stopped by a dealership to ask about buying a Mustang GT at x-plan, and was told NO, so I asked about ordering one at x-plan. The salesman went to his manager across the room to ask about accepting plans on orders and the manager yelled "I'm not taking plans on the Mustang at all'...and after seeing that behaviour I walked out.
On the day I ordered my car I called one dealer and was told 'Ford is so backed up with orders for Mustangs you're not going to see yours for one year', so I called another dealer and told him about the backlog and a year wait for a factory order Mustang, he put me on hold for a minute, and when he came back on the line he said 'order today and it will be here in 6 weeks' so I placed the order over the phone, and went in a few days later to pick up my DORA and give them a small deposit. Car ordered 10/20/04 and delivered 12/28/04.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this-
If you're being treated badly by your dealer (even though they say they will accept x-plan), walk out and try another dealer.
If you're being treated bad by the sales department I'd hate to think how the service department will be.

We read stories like this about how dealers treat the customer (and how many dealers add $5000 if not more to MSRP on Mustangs, and all Ford is concerned about is people using their names (Ford, Mustang, Pony...) in their business names and advertising and plan to sue them for damages...maybe Ford should look at the real problems they have...their dealerships.

hi5.0

Yeah, what he said. (MMR's post) IMO Ford could be putting out awesome cars but if the dealership experience stinks even before you bought the car, it would not make it a car worth owning. Dealerships and salespeople are pretty much the only thing standing between the product and the buyer (other than the buyer's ability to pay, that is). I've had a better reception at an exotic car dealer (Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Audi, and Lotus cars on the sales floor) than at the local Ford dealerships. Did I mention I just walked in off the street? They even offered to let me sit in one of the cars.
The Ford dealerships here were very influential in my decision to give up on them. Trying one last attempt to either go with a Fleet Sales/Commercial Account Manager or courtesy delivery for a Mustang. If not, too bad - for Ford.

Knight Rider

I think Dealers should only be there to keep cars that have been delivered from an order. Let the sales be directly from Ford, and cars should be delivered to the dealers to be picked up by the owners.

Anybody confused? I confused myself.

Cheese302

well i am sorry, just a little gm hatred shining through. However, i just try to remove myself from being affected by the dealer. Because to me the dealer is the place where my car will be at the absolute least. TSB's, Recalls, Maybe warranty work if i deem it worth it. If the part is less than $100 or so i would just buy it.

but

My car will never be touched by a ford tech unless absolutely neccassary.. Just not worth the time when i can do everything myself. I just try to not let the dealer bother me. I told them i had x plan, i was getting a loan thru a seperate bank, and the options i want. I couldnt care less when it got here just because the longer i waited the more money i had to put down on it.

so thats me. The dealer fills out a few pieces of paperwork, i drive away to hopefully never have the car there again. So thats why moron salesman dont bother me. I would rather have an awesome product than an awesome buying experience for an audi or something. And to be honest, the mustang is the only american car i would buy. There are a lot of customers driven off by the dealer, but there is a different type of buyer that walks into a ford dealer than a lambo dealer and i think that has a lot to do with the attitude of the ford salesman. THe whole cobra being an "no touchie " car is dumb in anyones book, its still jsut a mustang. And yes ford should force the dealers to sell at MSRP at all times. Hell VW does that. Even the new gti, they are impossible to find, but you will never be charged a dime more than msrp because VW doesnt allow it. and look at them, they had a few of their best ever years in recent times. (granted i am a bit biased due to me currently being an avid VW owner and enthusiest) but there is a lot to be learned from that, i also recomend everyone starts paying attention to that new bold moves video series ford is putting together, looks to me like there might be a lot for us to learn from it.

i am happy for her purchase of a new vette. totally not my thing, cant wait for gm to hit the floor, but yeah fords dealer system stinks, but instead of getting upset by it i just work the dealer my way and let it flow. There are many more important things to be worried about in life. like getting enough sleep at night.

lodom

GM and Ford won't survive if they can't get provide a great buying experience, quality products, and excellent service. I wonder how many folks have switched brands because one of these aspects was missing from their previous purchase, and will never come back. If GM and Ford don't provide all three, then the competition has on open invitation to take their business away, and it is evident in the junk bond ratings of their debt. The sales reps couldn't be more professional in the BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Infiniti dealerships I've been in the past few years. I haven't seen any pretentious attitudes from any of them

Mike McRann

I have bought/leased 6 new vehicles, 5 of them from the same dealer.
(the only car I didn't get from them was a 94 Mustang as my local dealer didn't have any in stock so I went to another dealership).
I have always been treated well at my local dealership starting with sales through service.
My 05 was the 1st car that I did a factory order, and I went through the Internet Sales Manager to order/contact during the time between order and delivery. (all the others were either off the lot or the dealer traded for the car).
No other salespeople were involved in the order/delivery process.
I did have kind of a funny experience one day when I went to talk to the Internet Manager about my car...I met a salesperson when I walked in the showroom and told the guy that I ordered the car and was getting it at x-plan and he replied 'it's not going to happen as we're not accepting plans on the 05 Mustang', I told him that '(managers name) accepted my order at x-plan' and the salesman just walked away.
The dealership where I bought my car was charging $5000 over MSRP on Mustangs at the time, but they did accept x-plan on my car.
Back to the salesman that said 'not accepting x-plan'...if others at the dealer treated me that way I probably would have bought someplace else.

Hollywood_North GT

OK, I give up - what are we supposed to learn from them?

Hollywood_North GT

Well, if not, they should be. There should be a single, unifying policy for this company, PARTICULARLY now when Ford is slowly dying.

And of course it can be done, as this poster points out >>

It's a question of will. All this tells me is that Ford corporate doesn't perceive things to be bad enough yet. When things get bad ENOUGH, they'll have no choice but to make changes.

TomServo92

I agree. However huge corporations have difficulty implementing change even in the most adverse conditions. There is a pervasive "business as usual" attitude that can hard to overcome. I work for one of the worlds largest corporations and part of my job is to reduce the amount of paper we generate (i.e. "digital documentation"). It's amazing how much resentment I get when people find out they'll no longer have that piece of paper in their files even though the same information is available online.

This "Change or Die" mantra needs to be ingrained at every level of the corporation or it will fail.

Cheese302

from watching the film, and i will be watchin every episode, it seems to me that ford has realized.. and is working towards making change. And in a fashion that no other company has yet to do. actually allow the customers to watch the proceedings of these changes. What can we learn? the proccesses and issues that go along with making these changes. For cant just have a light bulb one day and decide that the way things are running with their dealers are horrible, and make changes instantly. It takes time, and i am willing to bet that this series, and statement that ford is trying to mke is "we are messed up and we want to change, watch how we are doing it?
thats what i meant


only three more weeks till my stang is here cant wait to hand over the check and drive away

97svtgoin05gt

I honestly feel Ford (and possibly other dealerships) should institute a "3 strikes and you're out" policy on this kind of behavior. People treated this way should be reported to Ford corporate and if 3 incidents like this are reported regarding that same dealer, Ford should sieze command of said dealer and either sell it to someone else or shut it down. There is no excuse at this stage in our country's or the automobile business' existance that warrants anyone putting up with this kind of treatment. You are talking about spending $40,000+ on a vehicle, think about that. Not that long ago, people were regularly buying HOMES for this money. If someone (potential customer) asks a dealership sales representative about a $40,000 or even a $25,000 vehicle for that matter a question, they should be treated with the utmost respect. To be told the things she was told was not only arrogent, but just a total disregard for the customer and flat out completely void of any customer relation training whatsoever.
I say one instance like that reported to the dealership gets the guy fired on the spot and 3 instances causes loss of dealership rights. Buy them out and shut them down.

BTW, people told stupid things in the service department should also receive the same treatment. "It's your fault this or that happened to the car". Unless you can provide absolute proof and document it with pics and evidence of an abuse situation, that statement should never be used.

When is Ford going to get their heads screwed on straight about this dealership BS!? I swear that 80% of their problems deal directly with the dealership experiences. We've seen and read and in many cases LIVED the horror stories. Someone just has to put the hammer down on these clowns. People aren't DUMB anymore when it comes to cars etc. You can't just BS people at the dealership and get away with it. BE HONEST FORD. People will respect you more for it and that really goes a long way with regard to repeat business.

Cheese302

thats a good idea.

yeah it seems to me that service departments at dealers have a hard time understanding that some customers know more about the car that the tech is working on than the tech him/herself. "Yeah the headlight fluid was low, and there were unicorns in the mufflers, s*****g all over the filters." but we got it together for you, would you like to spend $250 to replace the rear brakes that 15000 miles left on them?