'09 FEHL On A Lot

[akirby]

Any time a vehicle is in short supply and high demand people will be unhappy. But it's only a few people.

 

Why did you agree to a non-refundable deposit? Are you sure it's really non-refundable? Did you ask or consult an attorney? There is no reason for a dealer to request a non-refundable deposit on a vehicle that can be easily sold off the lot within a few days. If they gave you a timeframe for the order and it's past that then you can get your money back - they can't keep it forever if they can't deliver the vehicle when it was promised.

 

I just don't see where Ford could do anything differently - legally that is. You have a dealer problem. Deal with it.

[09feh]

Any time a vehicle is in short supply and high demand people will be unhappy. But it's only a few people.

 

Why did you agree to a non-refundable deposit? Are you sure it's really non-refundable? Did you ask or consult an attorney? There is no reason for a dealer to request a non-refundable deposit on a vehicle that can be easily sold off the lot within a few days. If they gave you a timeframe for the order and it's past that then you can get your money back - they can't keep it forever if they can't deliver the vehicle when it was promised.

 

I just don't see where Ford could do anything differently - legally that is. You have a dealer problem. Deal with it.

 

 

I didn't leave a deposit, but you are right.... it's only a few people.

Edited August 13, 2008 by 09feh

[akirby]

I didn't leave a deposit, but you are right.... it's only a few people.

 

So you're not losing $2K per se. And I didn't mean to imply that Ford shouldn't worry about having a few unhappy customers - just that in situations like this you will inevitably piss off a few people no matter what you do.

[09feh]

So you're not losing $2K per se. And I didn't mean to imply that Ford shouldn't worry about having a few unhappy customers - just that in situations like this you will inevitably piss off a few people no matter what you do.

 

 

Yep, if I buy from the delaer that has the 09 in stock, I lose over 2k...

 

 

So I understand your position,,,

 

You are saying it's a smart business practice to sell vehicles to dealers for STOCK, while other customers have been waiting over three months for the same vehicle?

[09feh]

So you're not losing $2K per se. And I didn't mean to imply that Ford shouldn't worry about having a few unhappy customers - just that in situations like this you will inevitably piss off a few people no matter what you do.

 

 

Yep, if I buy from the delaer that has the 09 in stock, I lose over 2k...

 

 

So I understand your position,,,

 

You are saying it's a smart business practice to sell vehicles to dealers for STOCK, while other customers have been waiting over three months for the same vehicle?

[tazjedi]

Yep, if I buy from the delaer that has the 09 in stock, I lose over 2k...

 

 

So I understand your position,,,

 

You are saying it's a smart business practice to sell vehicles to dealers for STOCK, while other customers have been waiting over three months for the same vehicle?

Why would you loose over 2k for buying one in stock?

[09feh]

Why would you loose over 2k for buying one in stock?

 

Between the contracted sell price (33070) and my trade (sales tax savings), I am forced to wait on this dealer.

 

At any other dealer, I would be paying sticker and would pay sales tax on the full sales price.

 

 

As we all know, I also need to get this truck prior to December, when the 3k tax benefit ends.

 

I wonder if it will be delivered in time at this rate...

[tazjedi]

Between the contracted sell price (33070) and my trade (sales tax savings), I am forced to wait on this dealer.

 

At any other dealer, I would be paying sticker and would pay sales tax on the full sales price.

 

 

As we all know, I also need to get this truck prior to December, when the 3k tax benefit ends.

 

I wonder if it will be delivered in time at this rate...

It seems like production times are going quicker now. December should not be an issue. If it is I would really think about going with another dealer. You could still get a deal somewhere else.

[akirby]

Yep, if I buy from the delaer that has the 09 in stock, I lose over 2k...

 

 

So I understand your position,,,

 

You are saying it's a smart business practice to sell vehicles to dealers for STOCK, while other customers have been waiting over three months for the same vehicle?

 

You can't lose money you never had. If I order a universal remote from a website that has them on sale in limited supply for $200 but it turns out they run out of stock before my order can be filled and I have to buy it for $250 somewhere else - I didn't lose $50. I just lost the opportunity to save $50.

 

If you were the dealer getting the STOCK vehicles, then you'd say that was very fair. In fact, if you were a dealer and you had no vehicles to sell while the dealer down the street sold 5 customer orders - wouldn't you be pissed?

 

I'm not saying that it makes the customer happy, but in the end the customers don't buy from Ford and Ford has to keep the dealers happy and on a relatively level playing field. Ideally there would be enough vehicles for all dealers to sell customer orders within a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes supply exceeds demand.

 

You also have other issues such as a dealer who hasn't paid their bills or some other reason that affects their ability to order vehicles. I've had that happen to me several times for non-automotive products.

 

 

I'll say it again - Ford would love to build customer ordered vehicles first but there are far too many issues relative to dealer allocations to allow them to do that without getting sued by the dealers.

[09feh]

You can't lose money you never had. If I order a universal remote from a website that has them on sale in limited supply for $200 but it turns out they run out of stock before my order can be filled and I have to buy it for $250 somewhere else - I didn't lose $50. I just lost the opportunity to save $50.

 

If you were the dealer getting the STOCK vehicles, then you'd say that was very fair. In fact, if you were a dealer and you had no vehicles to sell while the dealer down the street sold 5 customer orders - wouldn't you be pissed?

 

I'm not saying that it makes the customer happy, but in the end the customers don't buy from Ford and Ford has to keep the dealers happy and on a relatively level playing field. Ideally there would be enough vehicles for all dealers to sell customer orders within a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes supply exceeds demand.

 

You also have other issues such as a dealer who hasn't paid their bills or some other reason that affects their ability to order vehicles. I've had that happen to me several times for non-automotive products.

 

 

I'll say it again - Ford would love to build customer ordered vehicles first but there are far too many issues relative to dealer allocations to allow them to do that without getting sued by the dealers.

 

And I'll repeat that your (and Ford's) style of thinking has cost them this customer. I have to wonder how many more..

 

If they can afford to lose any customers, good for them! They certainly aren't going to make enough on their last vehicle sale to me to sustain them for very long! lol...

[FEH2009]

And I'll repeat that your (and Ford's) style of thinking has cost them this customer. I have to wonder how many more..

 

If they can afford to lose any customers, good for them! They certainly aren't going to make enough on their last vehicle sale to me to sustain them for very long! lol...

While i agree that an improvement could be in order, you somehow think this is any different than any other car manufacturer? You think those that are on a 6 month waiting list for a Toyota Prius are in any different situation than those that are on a 3 month waiting list for an 2009 FEH????

[09feh]

While i agree that an improvement could be in order, you somehow think this is any different than any other car manufacturer? You think those that are on a 6 month waiting list for a Toyota Prius are in any different situation than those that are on a 3 month waiting list for an 2009 FEH????

 

I'm not a Toyota fan, but I don't think that Toyota is shipping units for stock while orders have waited four months. I also don't think that Toyota orders take one month if you order from a California high volume dealer and 8 months if you order from a Florida low volume dealer.

 

Look at the vin tracking page. Even if you take the orders for stock out of the picture, why do some people who ordered in June already have their feh, while others that ordered in April don't?

 

I'm not sure how anyone can defend Ford on this??

[twolostminds]

I'm not a Toyota fan, but I don't think that Toyota is shipping units for stock while orders have waited four months. I also don't think that Toyota orders take one month if you order from a California high volume dealer and 8 months if you order from a Florida low volume dealer.

 

Look at the vin tracking page. Even if you take the orders for stock out of the picture, why do some people who ordered in June already have their feh, while others that ordered in April don't?

 

I'm not sure how anyone can defend Ford on this??

 

 

Ford doesnt have a perfect system. Heck, no one has a perfect system. Take into account that to keep dealerships in business they have to ship dealer stock, build the ordered vehicles and the fleet agreement vehicles. Then think about the logistics of shipping vehicles are the lowest cost possible. Throw that wrench into the mix and you have to start juggling orders and that really messes with F.I.F.O. Its a system with way too many variables to handle and sometimes orders get unecessarily delayed in the process, Taz's order is a good example. As for the guy who filed a BBB complaint.... unless your vehicle was not delivered in the time frame promised you went way overboard.

[tazjedi]

Ford doesnt have a perfect system. Heck, no one has a perfect system. Take into account that to keep dealerships in business they have to ship dealer stock, build the ordered vehicles and the fleet agreement vehicles. Then think about the logistics of shipping vehicles are the lowest cost possible. Throw that wrench into the mix and you have to start juggling orders and that really messes with F.I.F.O. Its a system with way too many variables to handle and sometimes orders get unecessarily delayed in the process, Taz's order is a good example. As for the guy who filed a BBB complaint.... unless your vehicle was not delivered in the time frame promised you went way overboard.

It really sounds like that guy who filed the complaint should have just went to another dealer or another company for his purchase. After all what kind of customer is one who puts in a complaint before what they ordered is delivered or in this case even made.

Edited August 16, 2008 by tazjedi

[GopherM]

I'm not a Toyota fan, but I don't think that Toyota is shipping units for stock while orders have waited four months. I also don't think that Toyota orders take one month if you order from a California high volume dealer and 8 months if you order from a Florida low volume dealer.

 

Look at the vin tracking page. Even if you take the orders for stock out of the picture, why do some people who ordered in June already have their feh, while others that ordered in April don't?

 

I'm not sure how anyone can defend Ford on this??

Toyota is absolutly shipping units for stock to dealers while those that have ordered their Prius sit and wait. I work with someone that had a Prius on order for over two months after he paid a cash deposit of $2000 and found the dealership had sold several they had received as inventory stock without ever offering him the option to take one from stock instead of waiting for his order to arrive.

 

Hybrids are got items and each of these two major manufacturers are providing their dealerships inventory while still trying to meet the demand from special orders as fast as they can.