I had been dealing with the internet service for my car purchase, and i thought I was getting a decent deal. Now that the car will be here in a couple of days, things are falling apart... I got a price of $23871 from the internet lady. I have the emails to confirm it. i was under the impression that this would also entail 0% financing.I went in today toask about a couple detailsand was greeted with the " and do we have a great suprise for you" thing when they said I could get a $4000 rebate if I took the 6.9% FoMoCo financing. i was sceptical , because I knew they would try something eventually. So after dicsussing my questions, we discuss the financing. The sales guy puuls out my car order sheet and starts with the price of the car at $26,179. I stopped him and told him the numbers I had and he told me that they must have included some previous rebate and blah blal blah. this was the price of the car. So now my dillemma is that if they stick me with the "new" price of the car, i can't afford it anymore. I can make the extra payment, but it makes my budget a lot tighter, and me angry for getting bait and switched! I want the car, but I feel like I was a deceived about the price when I ordered it (plus I gave them a $500 deposit that was suppsoed to be refundable, but I bet they will try to keep it if I back out of it..) and they should stick to the original numbers. Any comments or advice will be appreciated...

 

1) They can't hold you to a standard contract that has a change in price (the change nullifies the first contract), so they MUST refund your deposit if you ask for it. If they want to sell you the vehicle, they have to honor the price they quoted, UNLESS: the contract specifically states they have the right to adjust the price at delivery, or it's an estimated price based on rebate fluctuation. In other words, if they have the right to change the numbers around, it must be in writing somewhere. But ANY changes to the original agreement would prevent them from holding on to your deposit.

Now, that's all based on my knowledge of contract law. I'M NOT A LAWYER, so don't hire one and sue me for "misinformation." Let us know how this works out, and you know where to reach me, either here or by phone.

 

Thanks Jeff. I will be ok as long as I can get my money back. The internet lady told me by phone it was refundable, so i don't have that in writing. I will go down on Monday and ask them to make the deal more acceptable, but must retain the willpower to walk away from it ( but I WANT it!). I really can't justify spending over 25% of my monthly income on car and insurance for said car. The price they gave me originally was at the top of my price range. I'll try to give you a call on Monday and let you know what happened. I don't want to keep you from your saturday evening, even if you ARE still at work =) I'm kinda worried it will come in on Monday and I'll see it and give in to temptation. I'm like that, you see...

 

Get your $500.00 back and go to another dealer, sounds like a bunch of crooks to me. The car you want, I guarantee Ford made many more just like it and you can get the same car from another dealer. They know you want this car and are going to see if you will pay there price, I wouldn't buy from a dealer like this even if they came down to your price because it just shows what kind of people you are dealing with in the first place. Good luck and hope you find the car you want and get a good deal on it that you happy with!

 

I agree with Jeff and I am a lawyer; albeit in MD not MA. Therefore, I profess no expertise in MA law. However, your State Attorney General's Office may have a Consumer Protection Division that will assist you for free. Check the MA OAG website.
My feeling is that if you insist on your contract price, you will get it. However, why buy from a dealership that is so blatantly trying to cheat you?
It seems that everyone on FTE has had very good experiences with Jeff. MA isn't very far from Upstate NY.
Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

I've ordered several Fords. Never had one delivered at quoted price. That's why I use the Z-plan now. Now hassle. Price is .84 or so of MSRP, less rebates. Ford dealers around me love to bait and switch.

 

I agree 1000% here. If they are deceitful enough to change the price like this, WALK AWAY!!! There are honest car dealers out there. Use one of them and not this dealer you're talking to now.

1st rule of car buying: DO NOT "FALL IN LOVE" with a particular vehicle. Be willing to walk away at any time. Just like with women - fall in love with a woman and she lies and cheats on you. Gonna take her home and marry her? NO!!!

I don't know if it's acceptable to name dealers that lie and deceive. Perhaps a "wall of shame" of dishonest dealers.

 

I understand the "wall of shame" idea. However, working as a salesman at a dealership I have other thoughts about that too. I have seen deals cut down to absolutly nothing and customers still believe they are getting screwed. The problem with a "wall of shame" is that it is all based on perception and not on actual numbers. The dealer in question may have tried to bait and switch or it could be an honest mistake coming from having different people working on different parts of the deal who are not communicating properly. I have even had customers get into the finance office and swear that the numbers have been changed when I quoted them the exact numbers that are on every sheet. I just worry about letting a customer with a bad perception give a dealer a bad reputation. Some customers just seem impossible to please no matter what you do for them. just my .02 from my point of view

edit: sorry, didnt mean to hijack your thread

 

I understand the "wall of shame" idea. The problem with a "wall of shame" is that it is all based on perception and not on actual numbers. I just worry about letting a customer with a bad perception give a dealer a bad reputation.

Good point, need some objective criteria to be usefull.

 

well than we could name the dealers that gave us a good deal like JEFF and stuck to the price. Also make sure you get everything in black and white when you order because if you assume anything you'll be wrong
Just my $.02

Ron W

 

just go in and ask for a refund. 1 of 2 things will happen:

1) (most likely) the deal will suddenly get much more attractive when you walk
2) they'll give you back your money but likely with a fight/negotiation.

either way you win....just stand your ground

 

Thnaks gang. I think it's a 50/50 chance bait and switch or screwed up numbers, but either way, I lose, because I ordered the car as close to exactly how I wanted it as possible. If I had known I couldn't afford it as such, I would have ordered less options, because I really ordered it for the color, which NO dealer has on the lot in New England. So I can go to another dealer and take what they have on the lot, or wait another 3 months for a more striiped down car from another dealer. And we'll see about the money. They aren't out anything if they give me my cash back, someone will but it within a month. And for the record, I would have ordered the car from Jeff, But I thought the Mazda Tribute was a better car for me, and Jeff just don't have 'em! If I could get someone to trade out those really distracting white gauges on Escape for a song, there may be some reconsideration.... I'll let you know what happened tomorrow.

 

If the dealer you are dealing with still ends up screwing you, just walk away and go to another dealer and have them do a search for the car you want in the national data base and guess what your car you ordered will be in it. Or tell them you saw the exact car you want at that dealer but couldn't make a deal with them on the car. Make a deal with them and have them get it from the dealer that you ordered from. You get the car you want and the deal you want with hopefully a honest dealer. Good luck hope it works out for you!

 

Make your own deals and leave the internet go between wannabees alone. Internet Lady? Sounds pretty scary to me.

Always get the final selling price, including any rebates, discounts, etc, plus TTL and how many months of financing you want and at what APR before any deposit money is given or agreements are signed.

Get your money back and run!!!!! As fast as you can from this internet lady! Check out and try to by the same truck from three different dealers and then go with the best deal.

I tried to buy an 05 Mercury Montego for the last SIX WEEKS! Both parties agreed on a price. FOUR DEALERS COULD NOT come up with the car the way I wanted it equipped, even though we agreed on a price. The four dealers that I have dealt with in the Dallas area, have had the worst customer service that I have ever seen. Got my deposit back today! We are going to wait several months to see if inventories pick up and if any rebates are offered. We will also look at a BRAND NEW BUICK and for much cheaper than I originally thought I could with their incentives. That is why I looked at the new Merc's in the first place, but I was wrong.

The days of me being loyal to FORD ARE OVER!!!! I am not spending 28 thousand dollars to be treated like dirt.

 

I tried to do just that the other day, and the thread was pulled. I guess we need to be more careful about naming good salespeople at other dealers on this site.