Any issues receiving price protection check from dealers?

[LightningLou]

Placed my order in Feb. of 2022 and purchased my Bronco from the dealer in Nov. I am eligible for the $1,750 PP from the mid year increase before order banks closed in March. My dealer told me they applied for it at the time I purchased the Bronco, but seemed kind of clueless on how it worked and how much I was eligible to receive (even after showing them the PP document from Ford and the B6G flow chart). They would not just take the PP amount off at the time of purchase, which was annoying since I paid the extra taxes on the higher MSRP and what not that I will obviously not get back.

They told me that the checks are usually mailed from Ford to the customers residence, but everything I read say the checks are sent directly to the dealers, and then it is their responsibility to write a new check out and send it to the customers. Unless this process has changed recently, is this a new thing or is it still sent to the dealer and written out to them?

Can dealers keep this check if they wanted, or are they audited yearly from Ford which prevents them from keeping customer's PP checks? Basically what I am getting at, has anyone had any issues thus far with shady dealers keeping customer's PP checks? Hoping I do not have to fight the dealer over this, but unfortunately my purchase experience was not that positive already.

Please let me know how long it took to receive your PP check after purchase, and if there were any issues receiving yours that I should be aware of. Thanks!

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[atlawson]

My dealer so far has refused to honor the price protection. Purchased 9/02/22 My salesman was no longer with the dealership. I feel like he would have taken care of it if he was still there, but especially since this was my 3rd premium ford I have ordered in 4 years from dealership.

Good Luck.

 

[66Fan]

lol... yeah, a lot of problems.

There are no 'checks' mailed to anyone. The price protection amount is applied as a credit to the dealer's monthly statement once they record delivery to the ordering customer. That process usually takes 30-60 days... 45 on average.

Yes, the dealer certainly can keep the money. I assume quite a few do. Especially the ones that do not honor the priced DORA and allow you to pay the price at which you ordered it.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

They told me that the checks are usually mailed from Ford to the customers residence, but everything I read say the checks are sent directly to the dealers, and then it is their responsibility to write a new check out and send it to the customers.

Ford does not write checks to the dealer. It's all electronic invoicing. As soon as the dealer shows Ford that it sold to a customer, Ford checks the customer name against the order name, and then automatically re-invoices the dealership.

Hope you have it in writing that the dealership is gong to reimburse you the difference. Most medium or larger dealerships just took it off the price at time of purchase. You also got screwed by paying higher sales tax (which you already know)

 

[sanford]

No problem with my dealer or @Ford Motor Company. Check came 90 days after purchase. As long as you meet the conditions laid out by Ford and fall into one of the Price Protection Groups, you will get a check back from the dealer. Contact Ford marketing department with any problem and confirm you qualify for the Price Protection.

 

[LightningLou]

My dealer so far has refused to honor the price protection. Purchased 9/02/22 My salesman was no longer with the dealership. I feel like he would have taken care of it if he was still there, but especially since this was my 3rd premium ford I have ordered in 4 years from dealership.

Good Luck.

What was their reasoning for not honoring the price protection?

lol... yeah, a lot of problems.

There are no 'checks' mailed to anyone. The price protection amount is applied as a credit to the dealer's monthly statement once they record delivery to the ordering customer. That process usually takes 30-60 days... 45 on average.

Yes, the dealer certainly can keep the money. I assume quite a few do. Especially the ones that do not honor the priced DORA and allow you to pay the price at which you ordered it.

So basically there's nothing stopping the dealer from cashing the PP check and not reimbursing the customer?! This is more of a flawed system than I thought. Unreal how there would be absolutely zero accountability for this type of stuff.

Ford does not write checks to the dealer. It's all electronic invoicing. As soon as the dealer shows Ford that it sold to a customer, Ford checks the customer name against the order name, and then automatically re-invoices the dealership.

Hope you have it in writing that the dealership is gong to reimburse you the difference. Most medium or larger dealerships just took it off the price at time of purchase. You also got screwed by paying higher sales tax (which you already know)

They gave me a printout with the price protection break down and said I would get a check in the mail after 49 days or something like that, but were still unsure on the amount. I even did the math for them and circled the $1,750 amount on the sheet, and they were like, "oh okay." Hopefully they are true to their word, but just curious on the whole process and other customer's experiences so far.

 

[atlawson]

What was their reasoning for not honoring the price protection?

The response I always get from them we are checking into it or we will talk with our general manager and he will call you, and no such call happens. I told them they will loose a loyal customer and that doesn't even matter to them and they are a small dealer.

 

[66Fan]

So basically there's nothing stopping the dealer from cashing the PP check and not reimbursing the customer?! This is more of a flawed system than I thought. Unreal how there would be absolutely zero accountability for this type of stuff.

Nothing other than morals.
That's because there is no check the dealer cashes. They have a revolving account with Ford for Invoiced vehicles and parts. So... Ford just subtracts the amount of each price protection amount from their monthly statement.
e.g.
Say the dealer you ordered/bought from owes Ford $4750 for the upcoming month (absurdly low amount for simple math example)... Once they proved you bought the vehicle you ordered and you were entitled to a $1750 price protection on that vehicle, Ford would say... cool, you only owe us $3000 now.

 

[swooshdave]

I made sure the dealer put down (less price protection) on the purchase order when we redid the MY23 order. At that time we didn't know what it would be. I am going to be very firm when I pick it up that it's discounted for the PP amount. Waiting for a check from the dealer is BS.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

just curious on the whole process and other customer's experiences so far.

My dealer charged me the Price on my DORA. So, $2100 under sticker. Price protection should have been $2000, but the dealer missed the extra $100 increase on Ford's delivery fee.

Dealer is a mid size dealer in metro Phoenix which normally sells about 300 vehicles a month (pre shortages)

 

[LightningLou]

Nothing other than morals.
That's because there is no check the dealer cashes. They have a revolving account with Ford for Invoiced vehicles and parts. So... Ford just subtracts the amount of each price protection amount from their monthly statement.
e.g.
Say the dealer you ordered/bought from owes Ford $4750 for the upcoming month (absurdly low amount for simple math example)... Once they proved you bought the vehicle you ordered and you were entitled to a $1750 price protection on that vehicle, Ford would say... cool, you only owe us $3000 now.

Ah, so there is no physical check that Ford makes out to the dealer, and this whole process of showing up on their statement as a credit takes anywhere from 30-60 days whenever the next statement rolls around? I'm tracking... Just wish this was a more transparent process, that is made to benefit the customer first instead of the dealers. Going to try and stay optimistic here.

 

[BigBendBW]

Placed my order in Feb. of 2022 and purchased my Bronco from the dealer in Nov. I am eligible for the $1,750 PP from the mid year increase before order banks closed in March. My dealer told me they applied for it at the time I purchased the Bronco, but seemed kind of clueless on how it worked and how much I was eligible to receive (even after showing them the PP document from Ford and the B6G flow chart). They would not just take the PP amount off at the time of purchase, which was annoying since I paid the extra taxes on the higher MSRP and what not that I will obviously not get back.

They told me that the checks are usually mailed from Ford to the customers residence, but everything I read say the checks are sent directly to the dealers, and then it is their responsibility to write a new check out and send it to the customers. Unless this process has changed recently, is this a new thing or is it still sent to the dealer and written out to them?

Can dealers keep this check if they wanted, or are they audited yearly from Ford which prevents them from keeping customer's PP checks? Basically what I am getting at, has anyone had any issues thus far with shady dealers keeping customer's PP checks? Hoping I do not have to fight the dealer over this, but unfortunately my purchase experience was not that positive already.

Please let me know how long it took to receive your PP check after purchase, and if there were any issues receiving yours that I should be aware of. Thanks!

Check does come from dealer and it took 90 days almost. I kept persisting and asking and I got it eventually.

 

[colbert]

Just another aggravation with trying to buy and F--- Ford.

 

[Greg2060]

Ford does not write checks to the dealer. It's all electronic invoicing. As soon as the dealer shows Ford that it sold to a customer, Ford checks the customer name against the order name, and then automatically re-invoices the dealership.

Hope you have it in writing that the dealership is gong to reimburse you the difference. Most medium or larger dealerships just took it off the price at time of purchase. You also got screwed by paying higher sales tax (which you already know)

This was my impression of how it would work. You pay the lower PP amount when you pick up the vehicle thus saving the that additional sales tax. Once my vehicle gets scheduled for production (God only knows when) I'm going to get all these details worked out prior to picking it up so I know well before hand what to expect.

 

[swooshdave]

Many customers won't know about the PP and thusly the dealer will pocket the money. Ford will just say that the final price is up to the dealer and your negotiation skills.

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