FORD BUILDS LEMONS 🍋 **BOUGHT FROM LEIF JOHNSON BRAND NEW** LJ did all mods prior to purchase claiming Saleen did them

[lakesinai]

I work in car sales and I have some serious questions about the OP, but the second part isn't ridiculous. If it was $80k, and he had a $15-20k down payment, that puts him in about the $1200 range depending on credit rating and length of term. I see that payment range often when dealing with high-end F-150s.

I'm surprised loan companies even allow that large a monthly payment. The Broncos I bought when I was younger, I couldn't afford new, would wait for them to come off a 24mo lease, and then buy at a discount. Maybe in today's world, there isn't much of a used car discount for some prized vehicles. Carfax says that my 2021 OBX with 31,000 miles is worth what I paid for it!

Sponsored

 

[Yukon65006]

Suspect the dealer is handling all the communication with Ford concerning the buy back. In other words ford knows nothing about the buy back and dealer is stringing OP along while waiting on parts.

 

[Machster]

Key work in statement…As-Is. This is not Ford’s issue, it’s is absolutely the dealer. You got screwed. Plain and simple. Why would anyone buy a heavily modded vehicle As-Is? If you can get another opinion on the option install, you might be able to sue the dealership to replace/repair the unit.
I’d go past the other posts saying it’s the lights and look at the winch install.
my 2c, but blaming Ford is ridiculous.
I do wish you the best of luck. It’s a nice rig. What trim level is it?

 

[Cheshire]

I work in car sales and I have some serious questions about the OP, but the second part isn't ridiculous. If it was $80k, and he had a $15-20k down payment, that puts him in about the $1200 range depending on credit rating and length of term. I see that payment range ofte
n when dealing with high-end F-150s.

I'm not saying the payment is incorrect. I am saying it is foolish to buy a vehicle where you need to finance so much that it results in paying $1200/mo.

It's obviously not a work vehicle needed for a business, but rather a toy which is a bad personal finance decision.

 

[Stu10]

I have visited Leif Johnson and checked out a couple of their "Saleen" broncos. They also have a few Saleen F150s as well. It is true that Saleen Performance Parts moved their HQ to Round Rock, TX back in late 2020 which is only 30 minutes North of this dealership. So I do believe them that this was modded by Saleen. Also, if you go to Saleen's website, the red bronco with KC lights that they have videos on is a Leif Johnson bronco that I checked out in person at their dealership. This was last year and they were trying to get $130K for that Bronco which is absolutely nuts!!!

$30K markup? I guess if you don't fully understand the cost of the upgrades on this Bronco then that may sound crazy. I would peg it at more of a $12-15K ADM markup based on all the mods I can see from the pictures. To color match the ADV fenders and hood is no joke. I am getting quotes now to get just the ADV fenders color matched and on the low end you are looking at $4-5K with high end shops wanting $6-8K. My best option is to just wrap the entire vehicle for $3,500-$4K.

Sucks that Leif Johnson has not treated you right here especially since you paid them well over what it cost them to do those upgrades.

My recommendation would be to reach directly out to Saleen in Round Rock Texas who actually did the work on your bronco and let them know what is happening and how Leif Johnson has not been treating you right. They may be able to diagnosis the issue faster and a pissed off customer with a Saleen bronco is not a good look for them and I don't think they will like that.

Good luck!

 

[Malcolm Robertson]

I'm not saying the payment is incorrect. I am saying it is foolish to buy a vehicle where you need to finance so much that it results in paying $1200/mo.

It's obviously not a work vehicle needed for a business, but rather a toy which is a bad personal finance decision.

I grabbed your post because it was the most recent when I posted. I didn't mean to call you out specifically. We don't know the OP's income, so it could be that $1200/mo is perfectly inline with his discretionary spending. If I could afford that, I'd still complain if I wasn't getting what I paid for.

This isn't to say I wholly accept his story, but that part is credible.

 

[j_marinelli]

I'm not saying the payment is incorrect. I am saying it is foolish to buy a vehicle where you need to finance so much that it results in paying $1200/mo.

It's obviously not a work vehicle needed for a business, but rather a toy which is a bad personal finance decision in my opinion.

FIFY

Remember everyone is in different financial situation than you. Seems foolish to say someone else made a bad financial decision based on your own financial status.

 

[BlueBronco]

I have visited Leif Johnson and checked out a couple of their "Saleen" broncos. They also have a few Saleen F150s as well. It is true that Saleen Performance Parts moved their HQ to Round Rock, TX back in late 2020 which is only 30 minutes North of this dealership. So I do believe them that this was modded by Saleen. Also, if you go to Saleen's website, the red bronco with KC lights that they have videos on is a Leif Johnson bronco that I checked out in person at their dealership. This was last year and they were trying to get $130K for that Bronco which is absolutely nuts!!!

$30K markup? I guess if you don't fully understand the cost of the upgrades on this Bronco then that may sound crazy. I would peg it at more of a $12-15K ADM markup based on all the mods I can see from the pictures. To color match the ADV fenders and hood is no joke. I am getting quotes now to get just the ADV fenders color matched and on the low end you are looking at $4-5K with high end shops wanting $6-8K. My best option is to just wrap the entire vehicle for $3,500-$4K.

Sucks that Leif Johnson has not treated you right here especially since you paid them well over what it cost them to do those upgrades.

My recommendation would be to reach directly out to Saleen in Round Rock Texas who actually did the work on your bronco and let them know what is happening and how Leif Johnson has not been treating you right. They may be able to diagnosis the issue faster and a pissed off customer with a Saleen bronco is not a good look for them and I don't think they will like that.

Good luck!

That is way to much rational thinking for one post here on 6g. Everybody on here bashing the dude for paying that much has no clue on actual mod costs. I had the OP's mods estimated at $20k (parts, labor, tax and had figured 5k for paint).

Good point on the Saleen shop actually installing everything while it not being a true Saleen Bronco. I can see that being the case here.

OP, I would take this guys advice and reach out to the Saleen shop and start a dialogue with them. I would think they would be more motivated to help you as the your dealer has proved to be no help at all.

 

[Malcolm Robertson]

I'm surprised loan companies even allow that large a monthly payment. The Broncos I bought when I was younger, I couldn't afford new, would wait for them to come off a 24mo lease, and then buy at a discount. Maybe in today's world, there isn't much of a used car discount for some prized vehicles. Carfax says that my 2021 OBX with 31,000 miles is worth what I paid for it!

The Used car market has been wonky ever since the pandemic. My '16 Mustang with a 6 cylinder is only worth about $1k less than I paid for it in 2018, and that's in trade-in value.

That said, loans are about risk factor. Someone with a good credit score and income can score that easily.

 

[OCNORB1974]

plus ford will probably also laugh at him for paying 30k over lol

Exactly, and if they do buy it back, which they won't, they sure as hell aren't paying you the extra $30k. Also. I like how the OP has been waiting on the buyback for 5 months, the day it dies. So he wanted his money back as soon as it died. This guy is a fraud.

 

[Brokenparts]

I just want to point out that the way they did your fenders is hot. Seriously, that should at least be a factory option.

… and regardless of who is to blame, that’s a crappy situation you are in. I truly hope things work out for you.

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

Damn y’all… Attacking financial decisions is one thing (maybe they saved up for the down payment and still owe monthly) but OP purchased the bronco will all these mods already done. OP is justified thinking it would be warranted by the dealer, and also justified being annoyed about a long repair wait. OP said the part is not available - doesn’t sound like there’s much they can do.

OP - maybe you could have it towed to a mechanic you trust and see if you get the same diagnosis + parts wait? Sorry, that really sucks.

PS yeah paying a $30k markup will not make you popular here… The dealers who did it are slimy (as you’re learning) and many times those units were sold out from under reservation holders when the dealer jacked up the price at the 11th hour.

I’m guessing the ($30k) markup was for all of the aftermarket parts the dealer had installed. I’m also guessing the dealer subletted that work out to Saleen. Just reading between the lines. I understand the OPs frustration of spending a lot of money on something you had to wait for and it being broken for 5 months with no answers in sight.

The OP could probably help themselves with being a little more clear on what the $30k markup was, if they bought it from the dealer with all the mods and not saying they saved for three years but have a $1,200 a month payment. Just my $0.02

To the OP, I hope you get your bronco back in working order soon. It is a good looking bronco and we certainly enjoy ours.

 

[Shifts And Grins Fab]

Well, you definitely got hosed on the price, and it's been through a mod shop. I'm a for Tech, and have had vehicles down for extended periods of time due to parts issues. The record so far is 14 months for an ABS module on a car with less than 1k miles. A lot of parts we look up are back ordered no eta currently, and ford cant seem to get enough parts to build cars.

To those blaming the mods on burning up the fuse box. Maybe yes, maybe no. I can't diagnose it from the picture. Recent years have seen a lot of blower motors melting them on Expeditions, Super duty's, and Econolines. Water intrusion is super duty's has also killed more than a few. Dont rule out a 1 off bad part, our electronics arent as good as they were pre pandemic.

Not sure lemon law applies here because it's only been in for service once. Check your local laws on that. Your best bet is to start a case with Ford customer service. Dont mention Lawyers at all and be mostly nice to them, but do bug them a lot. Also contact another parts department and see if the part is really non existent. In extreme cases we are aloud to obtain parts under warranty from outside sources if they don't exist from ford, so salvage maybe an option here. That would take a conversation with the service manager, but there are some totaled ones out there car-part.com is a good locator. The service department has nothing to with the sale and likely nothing to do with those mod's so be mostly nice but do contact them frequently for updates. Cars that sit out back for a while get forgotten, and repeated contacts will make them want your car to go away as fast as possible.

I think if ford does a buy back it would be at msrp so that's likely something you don't want unless you can get the selling dealer to do it. All else fails Lawyer up and sue the dealer for lying to you during the sales process and price gouging. A big dealer would probably just buy it back to make you go away.

Great info and great advice.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

If the Stealership falsely claimed that the Bronco was a “Saleen Bronco” then any Dallas Lawyer should have an easy win in court plus have a possible client in Saleen for trademark infringement.

I'm betting Saleen is whoring their name out like the other performance "BRANDS" are doing right now.
The dealer right near me does this with another performance "brand ", the name escapes me right now.

 

[Ninjak]

I have visited Leif Johnson and checked out a couple of their "Saleen" broncos. They also have a few Saleen F150s as well. It is true that Saleen Performance Parts moved their HQ to Round Rock, TX back in late 2020 which is only 30 minutes North of this dealership. So I do believe them that this was modded by Saleen. Also, if you go to Saleen's website, the red bronco with KC lights that they have videos on is a Leif Johnson bronco that I checked out in person at their dealership. This was last year and they were trying to get $130K for that Bronco which is absolutely nuts!!!

$30K markup? I guess if you don't fully understand the cost of the upgrades on this Bronco then that may sound crazy. I would peg it at more of a $12-15K ADM markup based on all the mods I can see from the pictures. To color match the ADV fenders and hood is no joke. I am getting quotes now to get just the ADV fenders color matched and on the low end you are looking at $4-5K with high end shops wanting $6-8K. My best option is to just wrap the entire vehicle for $3,500-$4K.

Sucks that Leif Johnson has not treated you right here especially since you paid them well over what it cost them to do those upgrades.

My recommendation would be to reach directly out to Saleen in Round Rock Texas who actually did the work on your bronco and let them know what is happening and how Leif Johnson has not been treating you right. They may be able to diagnosis the issue faster and a pissed off customer with a Saleen bronco is not a good look for them and I don't think they will like that.

Good luck!

Great post and to truth.

My dealer gets modded F150's from Tuscany Ford and sells them at a pretty good markup. Same from Shelby of America. So as it was said, I see a lot of modded parts and that's the mark-ups. Dealers that can do this and MOVE these vehicles get them a lot. Now that said, it should WARRENTIED as I know my dealer does that with those vehicles.

Also someone brought a good point. If Saleen moved to where this dealer is, it may be better for you to contact that shop and have them take a look since they did the mods. Earlier I said it could be the mods, but as someone else said, it could be a faulty part from Ford.

Best of luck OP. It sucks, I understand, but once it is all worked out, you will have one hell of a rig.

Sponsored