Please indulge me, I tried to post this on the FoMoCo web site e-mail comments, but when I clicked on send I was informed that I had exceeded the limit of 2000 characters, so I am posting here because I do think that people from Ford do read this.
In 1979 I purchased a VW pickup truck (yes, they made them then). It was a decent vehicle, so in 1980, when I wanted a sporty car, too, I tried to buy a VW Sirocco. They were in limited supply, and all the dealers were adding floor mats and jacking up the price $4K, so I vowed never to buy another VW and bought a Mustang, instead. The Mustang was a POS, it was slow, the gas milage stank, and, worst of all, it was dangerous - the brake bias was so bad that under hard braking the rears would lock up and send you into a spin. After someone cut me off on the 405 and I did a 360, fortunately without hitting anything, I sold the 'stang and just drove the VW. After that I was leery of Ford products, and later, in 1992, I bought a Honda Civic Si, which was the best car I ever owned. By last year I was thinking of something more sporty, though, so I put a deposit down on a Honda S2000, which the dealer said he would sell at list. When the car arrived, though, he backed out of the deal and sold it to someone who paid him well over sticker. So I added Honda to my list of vendors I would not do business with again. Instead, I bought the Lightning from my local dealer, who had a policy of not selling above MSRP, even SVT stuff. About the same time I bought my kid a Ranger with the trailhead package. This year I decided to buy one of the new T-birds. My dealer initially said that they would stick with their policy of not kiting the price. The other day they called me and said my name had come up, come in and put down a deposit and pick out a color. When I went in, though, they told me they had reneged on their policy and were going to add $5000 to the MSRP. I told them no thanks. I might have felt differently if they hadn't told me from the get-go that they would sell the car at list, but I refuse to be gouged, and I have added Ford to the list of vendors that I refuse to do business with. I spent close to $50,000 on Fords last year, and not only was I thinking of the T-bird but also a ZX3 to replace my wife's Civic, but after this stunt they won't see another nickel from me.

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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

'84 Alan Record Carbonio, Aerospoke wheels, Campy brakes.
'00 SVT Lightning, silver, built 2/9/00, #133 of 4966, G-tech Pro, JBA headers, 4.10 gears, Swanson chip, Pro-M, NGK plugs, carbon drive shaft, Roadmaster suspension kit
13.39 @ 102.5
2001 Kevlacat 2400, twin 115 Evinrude FICHT, Raytheon VHF, radar, autopilot and GPS chartplotter/fishfinder.

gmvye@pacbell.net

[This message has been edited by alphadoggy (edited 01-29-2001).]

 

I hear you buddy
But it's not Ford that's jacking you around
It's the dealer, I think I would let the Dealer know they just lost a good customer. they might make a couple of bucks on that T-bird
but they are going to sell a few less cars & trucks in the future.

 

The Dealer that does service work on my Lightning said I could get a T-Bird. I went home and told my wife I'd like to buy her the new Bird. She said NO...I can't wait 3 mo if something goes wrong, like you have been doing for them to fix your intercooler.

Her additional comment: What good is a warranty if they don't fix it?

 

Point taken, Manx, except I truly believe that Ford (and every other manufacturer) could control this kind of price gouging if they wanted to. I am an Macaholic, and I know that when Apple comes out with a hot new product that is in short supply, like the Titanium Power Book, you might have to wait to get one but you're not going to have to pay an Apple authorized dealer more than MSRP. If a dealer started gouging he knows his allocation would be cut off. (Apple also manages to control the discount, but that is another issue). When Ford finds out a dealer is kiting prices they could cure it immediately by cutting his allocation of desireable vehicles. Last year Ford reaped the benefit of the ill will Honda price gouging generated, I guess next time it comes to buy a car some other manufacturer will reap the same benefit.

 

Geo...I think you can put all automotive dealers on your list. We went to buy a PT Cruiser and said F-U to there markup's. There's a sucker born everyday and dealers love when they have a "hot"new product that they can really gouge someone on. If you wait awhile you can buy anything for the right price, got to clear out all the first on the blocks , then come in make your deal.

 

IMHO, it's the buyers that pay over sticker that are stupid, but hey, it's their money! You can't blame a dealer for getting what he can...A dealer that backs out of a deal? Now that's another story- I'd find a new dealer, too!

One more reason it's called a "free-market" economy.

Tim

 

I would definitely take my business to another Ford dealer as I have when I was turned down for Z-plan on my first L. They have a right to do this, they are privately owned. It may not be right or good but it's a free enterprise sytem, the alternative to that sucks worse.

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[This message has been edited by 4D THNDR (edited 01-28-2001).]

 

You guys are absolutely right, this is the way the free market system works, the dealers can charge whatever the market will bear, but as a consumer I am certainly not obliged to make the greedy bast**ds any richer than they already are, and I only posted this in hopes of letting FoMoCo know how this price gouging impacts brand loyalty. I'm not sure I will ever purchase a new vehicle again; its too easy to find one that someone else has absorbed the big first year depreciation on. End of rant.

 

Doggy Dog
That sucks, sorry to hear it.
Start a new topic and post it in 1/3s
CA