ddrapeau Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 I am in Minneapolis and have had my eye on the Fusion energi for quite awhile. We have alot of Ford dealers in the area and figured that since I had to order the car that the price was going to be the same pretty much anywhere that I went. But I sooned discovered that not all dealers/salesstaff are the same. The first dealer I visited was an electric certified, but told me that incentives on the car amounted to $10K if I ordered before April 15th (tax day). I asked him to substantiate that information because it was the best kept secret from Google if that was the case. Needless to say, I walked from that dealership. Next up was a non electric dealer salesman that told me his sales manager said the car was not available yet. Third was a dealer that wouldn't even talk to me about a trade in on my Honda. Finally, I found a salesman who didn't lie, told me if he didn't have an answer but promised to check and get back to me and actually helped me complete the purchase. Even though they are not the closest dealer, they will also get all of my service work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transitman Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 This morning I stopped by Midway Ford to pick up a cabin filter and noticed they had a 220v charging station installed on the side of the building. By any chance was that the Electric Certified dealership you visited? When I purchased my first "new" Ford, they gave me the best deal and three cars later they still beat everyone else. If you want to PM me, I'll give the details for my salesman's name etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybridbear Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I am in Minneapolis and have had my eye on the Fusion energi for quite awhile. We have alot of Ford dealers in the area and figured that since I had to order the car that the price was going to be the same pretty much anywhere that I went. But I sooned discovered that not all dealers/salesstaff are the same. The first dealer I visited was an electric certified, but told me that incentives on the car amounted to $10K if I ordered before April 15th (tax day). I asked him to substantiate that information because it was the best kept secret from Google if that was the case. Needless to say, I walked from that dealership. Next up was a non electric dealer salesman that told me his sales manager said the car was not available yet. Third was a dealer that wouldn't even talk to me about a trade in on my Honda. Finally, I found a salesman who didn't lie, told me if he didn't have an answer but promised to check and get back to me and actually helped me complete the purchase. Even though they are not the closest dealer, they will also get all of my service work. Which dealer was the best to work with? We had a great experience buying our Fusion Hybrid from Apple Valley Ford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme4x4 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I hate do nothing dealerships. I guess the premise of customer service is still virtually unknown at many dealerships. I have had great experiences (my small local dealership), and horrible ones (the one we were forced to buy the Sport from). It sure would be nice if Franchise agreements weren't so dealership centric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I know someone who was sick of dealer BS so he worked out which vehicle he wanted, color, options, the whole ball of wax. He then sent out an email to six dealerships and made sure they all knew who they were quoting against. the answers cam back and he picked the lowest quote..needless to say that dealer's staff actually followed through with everything they promised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I know someone who was sick of dealer BS so he worked out which vehicle he wanted, color, options, the whole ball of wax. He then sent out an email to six dealerships and made sure they all knew who they were quoting against. the answers cam back and he picked the lowest quote..needless to say that dealer's staff actually followed through with everything they promised. This is normally how I also do it, however I don't identify the other dealers to one another (if I am interested in car X on a lot and the salesman says that another guy is also interested in it, he/she sure doesn't provide me with the other guy's contact info)... but I make it clear that I am ready to order/purchase right away, and the responses are normally pretty prompt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 (edited) This is normally how I also do it, however I don't identify the other dealers to one another (if I am interested in car X on a lot and the salesman says that another guy is also interested in it, he/she sure doesn't provide me with the other guy's contact info)... but I make it clear that I am ready to order/purchase right away, and the responses are normally pretty prompt. personally I find that a very cold transaction and a majority of the time theres no response back from the customer, so now Im even less likely to respond to an e-mail.....I dont get paid for wasting my time, if someone takes the time to make a phone call and make an effort, then im far more likely to reciprocate....dare I say a LOT of e-mail requests are round filed...after all, it could be a school kid writing a paper.... Edited April 1, 2013 by Deanh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 personally I find that a very cold transaction and a majority of the time theres no response back from the customer, so now Im even less likely to respond to an e-mail.....I dont get paid for wasting my time, if someone takes the time to make a phone call and make an effort, then im far more likely to reciprocate....dare I say a LOT of e-mail requests are round filed...after all, it could be a school kid writing a paper.... Sounds like the transaction depends on a conscientious person on both ends of the deal. Personally I have always replied to every 'number' quote I've received (responses of c'mon down let's talk about it are ignored), with either something like "thanks for the reply, but I have another dealer that's $500 lower", or maybe "thanks for the reply, this is close to another quote I have, can you confirm that this is an OTD price and that A, B, C are included?" and then go from there. If the online quote mechanism equates to getting paid to waste one's time, that's unfortunate as it seems to now be a central part of most dealers' web sites. If I ask for a quote from dealer X and get no reply, I just go elsewhere and note the experience for my next purchase, or pass to other forum users that I didn't get any reply from dealer X. But again if there are conscientious parties on both sides (asking a lot these days, sadly) then the info is exchanged and might turn into a sale, might not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Sounds like the transaction depends on a conscientious person on both ends of the deal. Personally I have always replied to every 'number' quote I've received (responses of c'mon down let's talk about it are ignored), with either something like "thanks for the reply, but I have another dealer that's $500 lower", or maybe "thanks for the reply, this is close to another quote I have, can you confirm that this is an OTD price and that A, B, C are included?" and then go from there. If the online quote mechanism equates to getting paid to waste one's time, that's unfortunate as it seems to now be a central part of most dealers' web sites. If I ask for a quote from dealer X and get no reply, I just go elsewhere and note the experience for my next purchase, or pass to other forum users that I didn't get any reply from dealer X. But again if there are conscientious parties on both sides (asking a lot these days, sadly) then the info is exchanged and might turn into a sale, might not. it is a big part of business now Jeff, something I find unfortunate. Ive also found that by solely making it a case of ultimately "whomever is lowest wins (( is it a win????? )) puts the customer in a position to be "low balled" with a net price based on programs he is NOT elegible for, but gives THAT dealer an advantage...commonly referred to as low-balling, and I'll be damned explaining that to every e-mail I receive...so in that light I take a phone inquiry a lot more serious than an e-mail thats sent in bulk form to several dealers.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 it is a big part of business now Jeff, something I find unfortunate. Ive also found that by solely making it a case of ultimately "whomever is lowest wins (( is it a win????? )) puts the customer in a position to be "low balled" with a net price based on programs he is NOT elegible for, but gives THAT dealer an advantage...commonly referred to as low-balling, and I'll be damned explaining that to every e-mail I receive...so in that light I take a phone inquiry a lot more serious than an e-mail thats sent in bulk form to several dealers.... Well in a case like that then the customer would have to have the sense to qualify the number and not blindly go ga-ga over it without realizing that "if it sounds too good to be true" by being much better than others. A good example of this was for an Escape Hybrid we purchased several years ago, MSRP was somewhere around $30k... I requested quotes from 7 dealers, got actual numbers from 4 and went with the best after checking the details. One of those that did not initially provide me a number sent me an email a week later saying "hey I never heard back from you", and I replied that "hey I asked for a NUMBER and you didn't provide a number so I did not consider it a legitimate response" so he wrote back "well how about $18,995".... yeah OK on the $30k FEH that has just been rolled out you're offering $18,995, yeah I'm sure that's not a teaser number for a base 4-cylinder with no options. So yes you're right some dealers will play that lowball game to get someone in the door. In my latest purchase the dealer beat the next best by $400, so of course I asked if freight was included and if all other normal charges etc, so I wouldn't get to a dealer and be in for a surprise that sorry program #12345 for $500 really doesn't apply for this purchase when the quoted price assumed it did and they 'just wanted to offer the best price possible' (like you said). Those are the kind of numbers I often see on front pages of dealer web sites to offer a 2013 Fusion for $16,995 or similar... so of course the customer should have all the proper details before settling on a dealer, and if they don't well the he or she could be in for a big surprise - however they also shouldn't throw out all of the other quotes and be ready to move on to another one if something was improper with the one that was thought to be best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Well in a case like that then the customer would have to have the sense to qualify the number and not blindly go ga-ga over it without realizing that "if it sounds too good to be true" by being much better than others. A good example of this was for an Escape Hybrid we purchased several years ago, MSRP was somewhere around $30k... I requested quotes from 7 dealers, got actual numbers from 4 and went with the best after checking the details. One of those that did not initially provide me a number sent me an email a week later saying "hey I never heard back from you", and I replied that "hey I asked for a NUMBER and you didn't provide a number so I did not consider it a legitimate response" so he wrote back "well how about $18,995".... yeah OK on the $30k FEH that has just been rolled out you're offering $18,995, yeah I'm sure that's not a teaser number for a base 4-cylinder with no options. So yes you're right some dealers will play that lowball game to get someone in the door. In my latest purchase the dealer beat the next best by $400, so of course I asked if freight was included and if all other normal charges etc, so I wouldn't get to a dealer and be in for a surprise that sorry program #12345 for $500 really doesn't apply for this purchase when the quoted price assumed it did and they 'just wanted to offer the best price possible' (like you said). Those are the kind of numbers I often see on front pages of dealer web sites to offer a 2013 Fusion for $16,995 or similar... so of course the customer should have all the proper details before settling on a dealer, and if they don't well the he or she could be in for a big surprise - however they also shouldn't throw out all of the other quotes and be ready to move on to another one if something was improper with the one that was thought to be best. unfortunately Jeff, all most customers see is the lowest price, to which I say, theres a LOT more to a transaction than merely the aquisition price.....people have a tendency to see and hear what they want and get "tunnel vision"..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jniffen Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 I've purcashed four Fords from a Ford deal on 35W just north of the Minnesota bridge. They screwed me on an 03 and I've haven't gone back since. Not sure where I'll be headed next, I do most of my service from White Bear Lincoln, but they are 30 miles from my house and where I work now isn't as flexible for time etc. If all goes well, my LS will be around for a few more years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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