Can a Dealership do this??? (I didn't see this coming)

dc3655

Tremor Buff
Joined
Mar 11, 2021
Messages
60
Reaction Points
75
Location
Mesa, AZ
Military
USN and Army Reserve
Current Ride
'22 F350 Lariat Tremor
Current Ride #2
Prev '05 F250 PSD
I just found out today that the F-250 Tremor that I had ordered on 9/15/21 was sold to another customer this week. When I ordered the truck, they required a $2000 deposit to secure the order. I've been waiting patiently and it was finally built at the end of April. I called Ford marketing twice after the build and they kept telling me that it would arrive on/around June 8th. Since the dealership is out of state (this is not Granger or Chapman), I was trying to figure out when the truck would arrive so that I could sell my Ram Mega Cab and get my flight to pick up the truck. As it turns out, the truck ended up arriving 2.5 weeks early. I had two Army Reserve drill weekends scheduled during that time and I had previously volunteered to help at a youth camp, so I couldn't get up there during those first 3 weeks. I let my salesman know that I wanted the truck and he immediately let me know that I could ask for my deposit back because he would be glad to sell it to another customer for MSRP plus ADM. I had been promised X-plan pricing when I ordered the truck and he kept repeating that the dealership no longer honors X-plan (but they would on my truck). Anyways, I received an email on Thursday stating that my $2000 deposit had been returned. I was shocked! I tried emailing the finance manager (who had returned the deposit) and calling the fleet manager to see why they had returned my deposit when I hadn't asked them to do so. I had emailed my salesman earlier this week asking if they ultimately wanted my Mega Cab on trade because I had found someone wanting to buy it for a good price locally, but he never responded. In that email, I said that I would be flying up Friday night if they didn't want my Ram on trade, otherwise, I'd be driving it up to trade it in. After I didn't hear back from anybody, I stayed home this weekend. Finally, today I received a text today stating that my deposit had been returned because my truck had already been sold earlier this week. I was shocked! I asked a lot of questions and my salesman would only say that his sales manager would be calling me on Monday.

I can't believe it!! I've been thrilled to finally have a 22 F250 Tremor and all the goodies that come with it! The Ram was a holdover truck as my previous truck was a 2005 F-250 that I had owned for all 17 years since new. Now, I can't order another truck due to order banks being closed and after waiting 9 months for my truck, I will have to wait until 2023 to get a new truck. I'm sick! Is there anything that I can do?? Is it worth trying to contact Ford to file a complaint? No matter what, my truck has been sold and is gone......and I'm beside myself!
 
I am sorry you have had to go through this, its shitty all the way around. The short answer is no, but the repercussions are small. The dealer is supposed to under the customer order verification program (COVP) deliver and sell the vehicle to you at the agreed upon order price. Their allocation is adjusted to account for the orders. If a dealership doesn't deliver the vehicle the customer that ordered, in theory they get penalized on future allocations numbers. Sadly, depending on the dealership's priorities and bottom line they can take some hits in this area.
 
In reality there’s not much you can do but I for sure would open a complaint case with ford and blast the shit out of them wherever and whenever possible, that is a complete scumbag move to sell something out from under somebody especially with the deposit down and the insane wait times. The only thing that is confusing me is did you let that truck sit there for 3 weeks and were they communicating with you was there any reason that they would think you were backing out
 
Every dealership is different in their approach but... in all my years in buying vehicles I've never had a document from a dealer that stated it was legally binding between said parties when it comes to ordering.

When I ordered my 222 truck I put zero down, no way I'm giving them money to make interest on it while my truck takes months to be built lol. Their a multi million dollar dealer... they need my 1 or 2 grand to show good faith? LOL ok.

Sorry to hear this scumbag dealer did this to you, all you can really do is move on. This situation is why you see a lot of people buy trucks from out of state, because every dealer around them does this type of shit.
 
Sorry to hear... I would call Ford and express my discontent without an expectation that something would come of it - other than going on record with how you were treated by that particular dealer. You can also submit a complaint with the BBB.

I would also wait until after you hear from the Sales Manager Monday. Chance there was an honest mistake, but probably not likely...

There are folks on here that have found a vehicle pretty close to what they wanted so all hope isn't lost until the 23MY, but it will take some diligence (and a healthy dose of good fortune) to find one. Lord knows you have it coming though!
 
Texting you about this instead of calling you is a dead giveaway the salesman is going to have his sales manager give you a good bullshit story I would turn their asses in to Ford they wouldn’t have had that truck if it wasn’t for you putting a deposit and building it
 
Texting you about this instead of calling you is a dead giveaway the salesman is going to have his sales manager give you a good bullshit story I would turn their asses in to Ford they wouldn’t have had that truck if it wasn’t for you putting a deposit and building it
Exactly - they would not have had that truck to sell unless you had ordered it. Ford actually took many steps to curb fake orders being made by dealerships as an attempt to bolster their inventory.

It's just ridiculously disrespectful and unprofessional.
 
All you can really do is name them here so we can all collectively shame them.

And on the flip side, we need to send praise and business to dealerships that deliver on their side of the deals.
 
Do not think it is correct to call out the dealer at this point. If there was no contract just a 2k deposit handshake agreement the OP may not like it but waiting that long is too bad for him. No recourse really because he was duly notified and has even admitted it in writing here.

Have to be careful about libel to the emotional ones posting. Yes, it sucks but the OP just has himself to blame. Should have thought ahead to make a contingency plan should this situation arise.

Remember we are only getting one side of the story.
 
I have ordered 3 vehicles, from the same dealer, and the paperwork has always read that I had 7 days to close the deal, after the vehicle arrives. Obviously, that is still something up to their discretion but I wouldn't be surprised if your dealer has a similar policy.
 
Do not think it is correct to call out the dealer at this point. If there was no contract just a 2k deposit handshake agreement the OP may not like it but waiting that long is too bad for him. No recourse really because he was duly notified and has even admitted it in writing here.

Have to be careful about libel to the emotional ones posting. Yes, it sucks but the OP just has himself to blame. Should have thought ahead to make a contingency plan should this situation arise.

Remember we are only getting one side of the story.
Handshake deals don't get deposits. Don't give a deposit without paperwork ever.
 
I just found out today that the F-250 Tremor that I had ordered on 9/15/21 was sold to another customer this week. When I ordered the truck, they required a $2000 deposit to secure the order. I've been waiting patiently and it was finally built at the end of April. I called Ford marketing twice after the build and they kept telling me that it would arrive on/around June 8th. Since the dealership is out of state (this is not Granger or Chapman), I was trying to figure out when the truck would arrive so that I could sell my Ram Mega Cab and get my flight to pick up the truck. As it turns out, the truck ended up arriving 2.5 weeks early. I had two Army Reserve drill weekends scheduled during that time and I had previously volunteered to help at a youth camp, so I couldn't get up there during those first 3 weeks. I let my salesman know that I wanted the truck and he immediately let me know that I could ask for my deposit back because he would be glad to sell it to another customer for MSRP plus ADM. I had been promised X-plan pricing when I ordered the truck and he kept repeating that the dealership no longer honors X-plan (but they would on my truck). Anyways, I received an email on Thursday stating that my $2000 deposit had been returned. I was shocked! I tried emailing the finance manager (who had returned the deposit) and calling the fleet manager to see why they had returned my deposit when I hadn't asked them to do so. I had emailed my salesman earlier this week asking if they ultimately wanted my Mega Cab on trade because I had found someone wanting to buy it for a good price locally, but he never responded. In that email, I said that I would be flying up Friday night if they didn't want my Ram on trade, otherwise, I'd be driving it up to trade it in. After I didn't hear back from anybody, I stayed home this weekend. Finally, today I received a text today stating that my deposit had been returned because my truck had already been sold earlier this week. I was shocked! I asked a lot of questions and my salesman would only say that his sales manager would be calling me on Monday.

I can't believe it!! I've been thrilled to finally have a 22 F250 Tremor and all the goodies that come with it! The Ram was a holdover truck as my previous truck was a 2005 F-250 that I had owned for all 17 years since new. Now, I can't order another truck due to order banks being closed and after waiting 9 months for my truck, I will have to wait until 2023 to get a new truck. I'm sick! Is there anything that I can do?? Is it worth trying to contact Ford to file a complaint? No matter what, my truck has been sold and is gone......and I'm beside myself!
what dealership, spill the beans
 
Sorry to hear... I would call Ford and express my discontent without an expectation that something would come of it - other than going on record with how you were treated by that particular dealer. You can also submit a complaint with the BBB.

I would also wait until after you hear from the Sales Manager Monday. Chance there was an honest mistake, but probably not likely...

There are folks on here that have found a vehicle pretty close to what they wanted so all hope isn't lost until the 23MY, but it will take some diligence (and a healthy dose of good fortune) to find one. Lord knows you have it coming though!
That's a great response! This is my plan moving forward. 1st: talk to the sales manager on Monday to see if they even have any remorse for selling the truck. 2nd: take this to BBB. 3rd: Contact Ford to file a complaint. 4th: decide on whether I will name the dealership here to warn others.

The reality is that the truck is already gone, so I'm not expecting much out of this situation. The frustrating part is that I had already emailed the salesman last Monday informing him that I had sold the Ram and so I was planning on flying up on that Friday, but then when he ghosted me all week, I knew that something was up so I held onto the Ram. Then on Thursday night, I get an email telling me that my deposit was returned. I knew I was screwed at that point. He did mention many times that he wanted me to put it in writing that I was allowing them to sell my truck because the dealership was no longer accepting X-plan orders and he felt that he could get $10k over sticker by selling it on their lot (up to $15k more than what I would be paying for the truck with the X-plan).

I went with this out-of-state dealership because they offer a Lifetime Powertrain Warranty for free through CNA (they are a reputable 3rd party warranty company). Given that I kept my 2005 F250 6L PSD for 17 years, I had spent a lot of money on repairs over the years (>$10k) and so the warranty was very appealing as I was planning on keeping this truck for at least that many years.

I'll call Ford marketing to look for a truck, but I only want a Tremor in certain colors. I do need a 40/20/40 front seat that is quite rare and I'm not willing to pay $10k ADM when I had a truck at an X-plan price that I had already waited 9 months for it to arrive. It's looking like I'll have to keep the Cummins Mega Cab since I'll have to wait to order a MY23, but I'm truly a Ford guy and was super stoked for my Tremor this summer!!
 
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