Tell us about your dealer/purchase experience (positive only, no rants)

RedZilla

Tremor Aficionado
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21 F350 King Ranch Tremor 7.3 - RedZilla - Rapid Red/Stone Gray
There's been numerous horror stories about bad dealer experiences posted and discussed ad nauseam on the forum. Let's face it, in the world of auto buying those are very common and real.

I wanted to start a thread where those of us with great experiences can share for the rest of us, and especially potential new buyers, so that as many as possible can try to also have one of the good experiences and stories to share.

This week I received a text message from the salesman that handled my order and purchase process exactly a year ago. His name is Craig Bowes and he's been a salesman at Pearson Ford in Zionsville, Indiana for nearly 20 years, and a friend of mine for nearly as long. This was my second purchase through Craig at Pearson in 17 years. He sent the text to let me know he remembered our transaction a year ago and wanted to wish me well and congratulate me on one year in the new truck. Nothing was said about any possible next purchase, just well wishes.

Ours was a perfect experience with Craig and Pearson, a single family owned dealership. Craig knew for several years that I was planning to make a new purchase but wanted to make sure the timing was right. A year before I ordered I went in and he let me test drive one of the new 7.3 super duties, not a Tremor as none were available. I then waited a little over a year to contact Craig, and when I did I told him I had made up my mind and had a build I wanted to order. He made an appointment for us to come in the following day. When we arrived we reconnected and had a great conversation. He asked how our son was doing and even wanted to talk dogs as he remembered me bringing ours with me when I went to the dealership years before.

Shortly we got down to business and Craig formally filled out the order information without any questions except for expressing an appreciation for the level of truck we were ordering. He knew we had big plans to RV travel and that the 350 KR Tremor would do great. It took about 20 minutes total to place the order including all X-plan pricing information and sending it through their system. I had a printout in hand with total cost out the door with a $500 deposit check, and an ETA of 12 weeks. After leaving the dealership Craig contacted me on about three occasions to give updates.

The eleventh week post order Craig contacted me a said the truck was built and would soon be in route. Two days later it was at the dealership. Granted we are only 1.5 hours north of the plant but the schedule was almost spot on with the original estimation. A few days later after they had time to detail and install the winch, we went in to finalize the paperwork and take delivery. Craig spent about an hour with us familiarizing us with the truck, getting us programmed into the systems on board and setting things up to our preferences. We drove the truck and made sure we were both comfortable with everything. The business manager provided us with information for all the choice "add-ons" but no pressure one way or the other to buy in. A few signatures and some copies provided and we were the proud owners of our dream retirement truck. Lastly Pictures were taken with a big bow on the hood with my wife and I before we headed home. A few days later I got a call from the owner wanting to make sure my experience was good and that I was satisfied with our purchase.

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I know this is an exception to the car buying experience for most these days, but it still happens at the good dealerships with genuine folks working the sales order processes. I knew years ago they were a cut above most other dealerships I had dealt with in the past and was not disappointed this time around as well. It was worth driving past two closer dealerships to work with Pearson for this purchase.

Come on folks, jump in and share stories, names and great experiences. We all need a little positive in our lives these days. 🍻;)
 
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I was recommended right here on the forum to reach out to Steve Cunnington at Kirkland Ford in Washington State to purchase my truck. He's the fleet manager there and I had a great experience with him.

Overall he was pretty hands-off. If you're looking to have your hand held through the process (nothing wrong with that!) he might not be the right match for you. But for me, I knew exactly what I wanted and how to track it. Him being hands-off worked out great. If I had questions he answered them, but it was me reaching out to him unless he explicitly needed something from me. Which again, is exactly what I wanted.

There were no hiccups in my ordering process, either. Everything I read here, he did without me asking. Priority 10 (I asked and he had already done it). Got an order into the system the day I spoke with him so I was into the queue as early as possible, then updated it with all the details once I sent them over. Promptly asking me for a copy of my driver's license when that became a requirement from Ford. Etc. Now, I also don't believe he was thrown any curve-balls by Ford or the supply chain in general, but I certainly didn't feel like I had to babysit my order.

Whether it was because Steve is a fleet manager, I was purchasing with X-Plan, or both, the day I paid for the truck and took it home was super easy. I never even spoke to the finance person, don't mind going into the finance office. Steve handled the entire purchase, having me on my way quickly and efficiently.

(I have a mild case of ironic disappointment of not having to go through the finance person as I had mentally prepared myself to have to shut them down. I never got to use that mental preparation. :ROFLMAO:)

Since the purchase I saw Steve briefly when I went back to get my license plates and other than that haven't heard from him. This is great for me. I don't need a salesperson checking in to see if I'm happy with my purchase, interested in another vehicle, or how my personal life is going. If I have an issue, I'll reach out. When I'm ready to buy again, I'll reach out.
 
I went to a TINY dealer called Hamilton Ford in Crane MO. The entire deal was done on a handshake with 0 down. I got on here and heard the horror stories over and over again. I started to get paranoid about getting screwed. Ultimately, when my truck came in I had talked to my salesman(Rocky) and he took pics of it coming off the transport and had it ready that afternoon. I got to the dealership and they honored the deal(with a $2k PCO) with only a $6 state registration fee added even without a signed anything and 2 price increases after ordering. I would HIGHLY recommend them and have!
 
Jan 25th 2021 I ordered my 250 7.3 tremor Lariat from Future Ford in Clovis Ca. I received the truck April 4th 2021 with X-Plan pricing no markups, no trying to get me to back out nothing. Overall a positive experience.

I showed up at another dealer in Fresno with an appointment to order my truck. I previously expressed X-Plan and everything, brought my check book for the deposit and everything. Over the phone earlier in the week I was told everything would be good to go. I show up in person and the salesman asks for all my specs prints them out (not an actual order) He then states we probably can’t take X Plan trucks are too hard to obtain right now blah blah blah. I’ll have to talk to the manager. I say ok go ask them. I was then informed they have NO managers present on a Saturday and they would not be able to get back to me until Monday on accepting X plan. So I want happy when I was told all would be good prior to my appointment. Never offered to look at trucks or anything, whatever glad I wasn’t wasting more time.

I walked out the door and called Future, I explained I wanted to order a superduty that I had X-Plan and the situation that I just encountered which made me call them. I was told no problem at all with X Plan and ordering should be no problem I went in that same day.

Upon arrival I kind of got shuffled between a few salesman just due to them having appointments already. I stated I wanted to order they had me test drive a 6.7 350 lariat tremor since their only gas trucks were 6.2 work trucks. It helped me decide what I wanted the salesman who I test drive with actually knew his stuff on the SD trucks including the heavier leaf pack on the 250 tremors and ect. He also wanted to make sure I was driving the trim I wanted instead of a platinum or xlt.

I’m pleased with the pre sale experience and go inside to talk to the Sales Manager. He says they can’t order at this time. I said I thought otherwise and he said due to model change over for 2022 the factory was closing early ect. But give him some time to finish a few things and he would confirm with the Fleet manager. I hung around for awhile scoped the lot and came back to check in.

In the mean time the initial salesman got freed up and he went scouring dealers In neighboring states to see if I could have a truck sooner that fit my needs. The only ones with a 7.3 had options and specs that either I didn’t care for and raised the price, or they were very basic XLT. So I said no thanks I’ll continue with the order process if possible worst case I’ll wait for 22 banks to open.

Sales manager came over after calling the Fleet manager and confirmed I could order the truck. Said we can complete it all by phone and email no need for me to come back a different day. But he wanted to wait until Monday to order when the fleet manager was present so it would be done correctly. Stated to email my specs to them then they would shoot me a call Monday when it was being placed to get it all perfect.

Monday comes they got the order placed perfectly no issues just asked me for $1000 deposit via card to hold the truck and that would act as my signed contract on the order.
This was my salesman’s first order so he kind of messed up and placed it in his name so I never got emails from ford and ect confirming my order.

I checked in once a month and just have faith as I had plenty of paper trail if they tried to pull anything. Finally got my vin, truck got built. Got shipped and then dropped off. Initially they couldn’t find the truck after drop off but It ended up in their fleet lot and my salesman shot me pictures of it right off the bat once it was located. (He physically went to find it himself)

I had to wait a week to pick up the truck due to work issues. They held on to it had a sold sign on it. They had multiple people ask to buy it but they honored our agreement.

I walked out on Easter Sunday with my new truck no mark up, nothing. Contract signing was super quick I put 55k down and financed the rest at a low rate with ford financing. Truck is now paid off and I enjoy driving it daily.

Other than the initial uncertainty and the order not being in my name. They did a great job a stuck to their word. No I will say the trucks on the lot had $10k markups on them. But they would of took them off and accepted X plan for me. I have been told since a few others were denied X plan when asked prior to ordering from future.

But I plan to order my wife’s new car through them in the coming months.
 
My experience was pretty good, despite going through three different salesman over the 10 month wait, they all acted in my best interest. When I originally placed my order, I knew what I was getting myself into as they were very upfront about the wait (add a month or two). My truck was ordered at MSRP as they would not budge on price due to the high demand. The dealer however accepted my trade in which was a 2016 F-250 platy, with 156k miles 7k over asking asking, paying off my vehicle and allowing a 7k down payment.

Over the 10 month wait I noticed the MSRP prices on these beast rose a bit and I was worried I would get screwed. When it my truck finally arrived the dealership honored their contract, accepted a second trade of my 2020 Honda Civic, 4k over asking, paying my car off and increasing my down payment to 10k. Needless to say, I drove out with a 2022 F-250 Tremor Platy, that was almost a Limited, with a price tag of 82k out the door.

Not bad!
 
Nothing but positives about my sale. Went in on a whim and asked to order a truck. Was directed to Josh (fleet/custom orders) and told him I wanted to place an order. Told me to go online and make a build, send him an email and he'd order it. Had a few back and forths over email to make sure the order was correct.

5 months later and boom, truck. Went in and did the paper work. Told them I was doing the Z plan and could they work up the number. Left to get a check from the bank. Came back and drove away. All positives as far as I'm concerned. Even stop in and chat with Josh when I take my truck in for service (or just happen to be in the area). Good guy. Will buy from him again. Although I don't know when that'll be since I plan on keeping this stupid expensive truck for a long while.
 
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West Texas we’ve got to large Ford houses to choose from (both are very high volume due to the oil field sales). Luckily I have a family member who rotates into new vehicles almost every year so I was able to ride those coat tails when ordering my truck.

Salesman was pretty seasoned and knew I had thought out exactly what I wanted so as to not push anything extra. He warned me of the accessories that were delaying other builds and I’m sure this very much had an affect on how fast my truck came in (94 days order to drive home).

He set up all the extra stuff I wanted with great shops here in town (ceramic window tints, B&W gooseneck, grill guard, etc)

They did a decent job getting the truck turned around when my NOx sensor failed at 700 miles (the part took almost two weeks to arrive but it couldn’t be found at any other dealerships anyway). Would have been nice to leave it at the dealership and get a fleet temp but there isn’t a spare vehicle on the lot.

Overall can’t complain about much of anything with my experience. If/when I buy again it’ll more than likely be with them again.
 
I wasn't really in the market, last Fall, but received a $3,500 POC in the mail so decided to contact the dealer I had previously special ordered a '15 Mustang and '17 F250 from. He said that in addition to the $3,500 POC, they could offer a $2K Special Order discount and they threw-in a token dealer discount to make it a round 10% off MSRP. Given the market conditions, even last Fall, I felt like that was about as good of a deal as I could get. Ordered the truck and got the confirmation e-mail from Ford on 11/05/21 and the truck hit their lot on 12/28...couple days shy of 8 weeks. I know I got lucky but the salesman and I went through the list of known "hold ups" and I had no special priority (code 19). Maybe the dealer had an allocation or my proximity to the KY plant (about 5 hours away) but I've never had any issues with the 3 SO's I've done with them. They are a "1 Price" store, without DOC Fee (a pet peeve of mine because DOC Fees are just profit by another name) There are likely better deals to be had, in normal times, but they've always played straight with me and I really like the SO model where I get exactly what I want and nothing I don't.
 
I'm the guy that says theres more to buying a new car than the price. We usually alternate buying a new car, then truck every year or two. We've done business with Brandon Ford in Tampa since we moved here in the early 90's. They know I'm there to buy, so haggling is rare. If there is, it's always over my trade. Brooksye Hall is the sales manager I've worked with for years. Their sales and service staff are always easy to work with and treat my wife extremely well. Living in Tampa, we have a dozen or more Ford Dealerships to choose from. The team at Brandon Ford has never given me a reason to go anywhere else.
 
Arundel Ford in Maine is the best. I think I stole my truck from them with what I got for my trade on my 2016 F150 Ecoboost. In and out the door and signed less than an hour. Got what I wanted for my old truck (maybe too much) and they dropped the sticker by 2k before the trade in. Of course this was the time when they were all looking for used F150's so I'm guessing they got 3x what they gave me when they sold it.
 
I had the perfect experience at my eventual dealer, after talking to about 25 places. Local dealers wanted between 10-15k over MSRP and wouldn’t order with xplan.

Found Josh Zockoll (fleet Mgr) at Ken Garff in St George. He agreed to xplan and got my order placed. Communicated when needed, otherwise never bothered me. I did my best to return the favor and not bug him.

Truck showed up, I was worried about the horror stories I’ve been reading about dealers not honoring prices… The price I paid was the exact price quotes many months prior.

Showed to to the dealership, signed papers with him, no high pressure upsells, just exactly what we’d agreed on. A few signatures and I was on the road.

I couldn’t be happier with his service. Nice guy, easy to communicate with 5 stars lol.
 
Based on a recommendation from this forum ordered over the phone and email March 30th 2021 from Larry H. Miller Ford in Lakewood, CO. "Internet Sales" rep was pretty hands off but dealt with my minor OCD questions promptly. First met him when picking up the truck on September 1st.

Found scratches in the bumper where dealership installed winch and paint blemish on rear quarter panel. The good part - sales manager took over, set an appointment for their preferred body shop the next week and with no discussion at all covered the cost of repainting the entire rear quarter panel and front bumper because the bodyshop owner said "a blend will never look right". First time I've ever believed a sales manager when they said "we'll make it right".
 
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