Are we to assume that dealers primarily want to screw you?

[Matt13]

I love the Bronco that I have on order, but I'm absolutely ready to walk away should if they want to ignore our agreed terms.

They will make more money if you do.

Car salesman, Cellphone salesman, Internet salesman, PC repair service... they all fall under the same category to me

I sell insurance and didnt make your list!

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[kevin.gt]

Yes.
All dealers are out to screw you. Many people here (a lot of salesmen too) will say “my dealer is great” or “they aren’t all bad”. For those people, you are either a liar or have been severely misled.
While it is law that dealers exist for the sale of cars/trucks (electric cars are different, see Tesla), it is the dealer (independent from Ford and a private business of their own) whose job it is to take as much money from you as possible. Your job is to keep as much as you can while still purchasing what you want. Knowing this, the dealers will do every shady thing they can think of to take as much as they can especially in this market. We all know that if you turn down your Bronco, they will sell it for more $$ to the next guy.
My advice to anyone is to take emotion out of it. It’s business for them and it should be for you as well. Your salesman might be nice to your face but make no mistake, everyone that works at a dealership is there to screw you.

Man this is rough and what a shitty perspective to have on life. Yes dealerships are businesses. Yes they need profit to stay in business. Yes you as the consumer are paying for the livelihood of those working at the dealer.

That does not mean they are all out to screw you. Some people run a business squeezing every drop they can out of each customer, hoping it goes unnoticed without damaging their reputation too much. Other businesses prioritize customer satisfaction on hopes of more volume. Stop doing business with the former. Granger, for example, is a dealership and aligns with the latter.

 

[Jawbox]

They will make more money if you do.

I completely get that there may not be consequences for them for shitty business processes. All I can do is look out for my own interests here. I've got a fair price in my head, we agreed on that price, and if that isn't upheld, walking away is more about the principal of that thing.

I'm not looking to avenge them, or punish them, I just wont' do business with someone who chooses that route. in a perfect world, that would be enough to get dealers to do the right thing but we just don't live in that world.

As long as there is FOMO, emotional attachment, fear, or whatever it is that drives people to pay ADM it will be a thing as long as supply is constrained.

My advice is just to make the choices that work for you, but know what you are getting into. Go in with your eyes open and know what you will and won't accept.

 

[Montague19??]

Not all snakes are venomous, but some are. How does the average person treat all snakes. I understand a salesperson getting perturbed about other opinions on their profession, because you're "one of the good ones" which you may be. I encourage you to look around the facility you work at, the insults behind customer's backs, how the elderly get taken advantage of, lack of give a shit about a customer once the ink is dry. There is a reason a car salesperson is rated to be on par with a politician for trustworthiness. As long as there is unscrupulous people in your industry, you'll get comments that are unfavorable.

 

[SuperFord]

He didn’t care at all. So the whole process is predicated that they are there to make and as a consumer we are a prey. That is abhorrent.

all people are NOT inherently good. add in commission based pay and the lines of ethical and moral behavior become blurry quickly for a some.

Yes.
All dealers are out to screw you. Many people here will say “my dealer is great” or “they aren’t all bad”. For those people, you are either a liar or have been severely misled...

...but make no mistake, everyone that works at a dealership is there to screw you.

The phone receptionist is the worst. She is pure evil. Even worse than those sons of bitches in the detail shop. and don't get me started on the lot attendants! Vultures every last one of them! /s

 

[indio22]

I get it! I walked into a Ford dealer they talked about how Ford will take any issues if I purchase an extended warranty, only to find out that they were deceptive and i didn’t purchase a Ford brand extended warranty, but a substandard product. I should had prepared by studying a guide in how car dealers are by default deceptive. I’m glad I don’t have to that with many other products or services. I don’t have to carry around a lab kit to check if my food has harmful bacteria.

Well actually, you should have prepped and studied.

I spent a number of hours watching car buying advice videos and reading up, before buying my first new car in 2020. And the issue of extended warranty, including 3rd party situations, was covered.

I agree with you, in a perfect and nice world, you shouldn't have to prepare like that. But until that utopia arrives, caveat emptor.

 

[fazer8]

Well actually, you should have prepped and studied.

I spent a number of hours watching car buying advice videos and reading up, before buying my first new car in 2020. And the issue of extended warranty, including 3rd party situations, was covered.

I agree with you, in a perfect and nice world, you shouldn't have to prepare like that. But until that utopia arrives, caveat emptor.

I’m with you on doing the research myself and preparing, but for those that don’t, maybe a car buyer’s agent is the answer?

 

[Marsalad]

Every single entity in the world that you buy anything from is selling their product for one reason - to make a profit. In that respect the car dealership is no different than your local grocery store, gas station, utilities provider, etc. I think the main difference is the ability for the customer to negotiate the final price, which gives the dealer the opportunity to “outwit” the customer in order to maximize their bottom line. You can’t walk up to a $295 television in Walmart and say to an employee “I’ll give ya $85 for this here TV“ and expect to walk out with it for that price. The existing negotiable price model in car dealerships invites shady tactics and results in unprepared customers being taken advantage of. The reality is that this system has been in place for as long as any of us has been alive. At this point if you don’t know what you’re getting into or you don’t do your homework before walking into a dealership is it really their fault if you get hosed?
Disclosure: I have worked in several dealerships as a Service Advisor and left the business because I wasn’t comfortable with the the fact that in order to feed my family I had to utilize questionable sales techniques. I believe in Capitalism and feel that it is up to the free market to determine the appropriate level of profit for any business. In other words, it’s worth what people will pay for it.

 

[JeffL]

i've always found the finance guys at the dealerships to be the worst of the worst. i will always finance through my own credit union, hell i'll even pay a higher interest rate to use my bank and avoid all conversations with them.

 

[77Ford]

I found a dealer (thru a thread started here) that sold me a dealer stock bronco with no ADM. So no not EVERY dealer wants to screw us.

 

[jon]

Despite all our efforts to protect ourselves, getting pre-approved by Ford and our local credit union, it didn't matter, The financing manager went ahead and pushed another lender. He also talked to us about getting an extended warranty while mentioning over and over again that "Ford" will take of any issues. Later we found out that the extended warranty contract was with a company that has a really bad reputation. So, why does Ford need dealers if they will not sell Ford's financial services and extended warranty? We did end up getting a loan with our credit union and we canceled the crappy overpriced extended warranty. But it took a lot of work, frustration, and the horrible financing manager told my wife that he would sue me for slander. For me that is laughable and at the same time pathetic that Ford has a clown-like that involved with their products and services.

What is the dealer?

 

[jon]

I found a dealer (thru a thread started here) that sold me a dealer stock bronco with no ADM. So no not EVERY dealer wants to screw us.

I would buy one today if that was true!!!

 

[Scott R Nelson]

I found a dealer (thru a thread started here) that sold me a dealer stock bronco with no ADM. So no not EVERY dealer wants to screw us.

There are good dealers around. Kendall Ford in Meridian Idaho has been an excellent dealer and I would highly recommend them to anybody. Folsom Lake Ford in California was also an excellent dealer. That's where I bought my Escape.

Not all dealers are bad.

 

[30snack]

Despite all our efforts to protect ourselves, getting pre-approved by Ford and our local credit union, it didn't matter, The financing manager went ahead and pushed another lender. He also talked to us about getting an extended warranty while mentioning over and over again that "Ford" will take of any issues. Later we found out that the extended warranty contract was with a company that has a really bad reputation. So, why does Ford need dealers if they will not sell Ford's financial services and extended warranty? We did end up getting a loan with our credit union and we canceled the crappy overpriced extended warranty. But it took a lot of work, frustration, and the horrible financing manager told my wife that he would sue me for slander. For me that is laughable and at the same time pathetic that Ford has a clown-like that involved with their products and services.

If you spent as much time researching before your purchase as you have spent complaining after your purchase you wouldn’t be here.

 

[jon]

If you spent as much time researching before your purchase as you have spent complaining after your purchase you wouldn’t be here.

??? are you sure about that?

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