Great experience at Autonation Ford in Bellevue

[ElJeffe]

I posted a few weeks back that I had a good experience with Josh, the sales manager at Autonation Ford in Bellevue. I moved my reservation there based upon that experience and on them offering the best price that I could find.

On Saturday, I got an email and a phone call from the salesman who was ready to convert my reservation to an factory order . We set up a time (10:00 am) today to do it. I got an email confirmation of the appointment and a calendar invitation, which was nice. They have their act together when it comes to customer service and using technology.

I arrived this morning and met Chris, my sales guy (pictured). Chris and I built out my Badlands on the same Build & Price tool that we've all used. I had a few questions about tire sizes and practical driving with them. Chris asked one of the other staff, Mike, to join us because Mike has a lot of experience in building out custom rigs, off-roading, and more. He was super knowledgeable and had the info I needed. These guys also have their own Bronco orders in, so everyone is pretty excited to chat about what they're building and why.

Next step was for Chris to map the options for the build to Ford's order codes, which took only a minute. The code-based build spec was then handed off to be entered into Ford's build management system and scheduler.

Because of the options I chose, including the 2.7 + Lux + Sasquatch, it was likely to be a later build anyway. Plus, my reservation is a very late one. One particular option, however -- dual top with black soft top and black painted modular hard top -- is out so far in late availability that it forces a '22 model year and prevents the build from even being entered.

This was not a problem, as I am happy with a '22 model for many reasons, including potential color options. Fortunately, dealerships can keep the orders active and front-load them when the 22 build orders open up late this year. In fact, Autonation has a file with a few 22 builds queued already. Technically, you do lose your place in line because they will continue to populate MY21 builds ahead of yours, but you will be first in line for MY22 which is perfect for me.

NOTE: They are not requiring any additional deposit. Just the initial $100 refundable deposit.

The experience continues to be great and I'm glad I moved my reservation here. Thanks for sharing your build conversion stories, and I hope this sheds some light on what the process is like.

Jeff

UPDATED 1/29/21:

After leaving the dealership expecting to wait until MY22 orders open up, I received an email from Ford confirming that my order had been placed. That was a surprise given my original post!

I called the sales guy and got some news: The confusing codes that they were getting back when trying to order late-availability items were figured out. It was happening to a lot of customers, so they called Ford directly to resolve. Ford apparently explained how to push the order through as a MY21 order despite the entry form giving them problems on L-A items.

They succeeded in doing that, so my order is placed. Out of an abundance of caution, I asked to get an email copy of the complete build sheet. I received it shortly after, with a request to sign it and send it back, which I did.

The build sheet has no commitment to buy. It shows MSRP, but I'm signing a form without even a signature field. They confirm that it's just an acknowledgement that the order is accurate; there is no language committing to anything on it.

So I'm happy. I have a MY21 order in, the build I want, no additional deposit required ($100 refundable remains in) and a written confirmation of my discounted price. This'll still be a MY22 because I'm a late reservation and a popular configuration, but at least we know that the dealer figured out how to submit and wan't being nefarious. At least not in any obvious way.

Jeff

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[Judge Rufus]

Any surprises on pricing with AutoNation?

 

[ElJeffe]

Any surprises on pricing with AutoNation?

No surprises. I got my offer in writing from the GM, which is part of why this has been so easy. At order placement time, you're signing off on MSRP as there is no purchase price adjustments that can be made in Ford's systems. They also can't talk about lease or finance rates, as they don't exist yet for the delivery timeframe.

I did ask about this and they said to just bring the GMs price in on delivery/purchase day. Same applies to trade-ins... nothing can be done yet, so bring them in a week ahead of delivery for a 7-day trade offer.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Broncodave]

Fortunately, dealerships can keep the orders active and front-load them when the 22 build orders open up late this year. In fact, Autonation has a file with a few 22 builds queued already. Technically, you do lose your place in line because they will continue to populate MY21 builds ahead of yours, but you will be first in line for MY22 which is perfect for me.

This is interesting as it seems to go against what Ford put out:

• If a customer wants options that are not available until 22MY, should they still convert their reservation to an order between 1/20/2021 – 3/19/2021?
• We recommend you capture their decision and let them know their reservation timestamp carries over to 22MY and you will contact them when the 22MY order bank opens. Details on 22MY ordering will be available this summer.
• Will deferring a reservation to 22MY negatively impact a customer’s timestamp?
• No. We will continue to utilize timestamps as a factor to determine when units will be built. Other factors include dealership allocation and order/package availability.

 

[EvlNvrDys]

No surprises. I got my offer in writing from the GM, which is part of why this has been so easy. At order placement time, you're signing off on MSRP as there is no purchase price adjustments that can be made in Ford's systems. They also can't talk about lease or finance rates, as they don't exist yet for the delivery timeframe.

I did ask about this and they said to just bring the GMs price in on delivery/purchase day. Same applies to trade-ins... nothing can be done yet, so bring them in a week ahead of delivery for a 7-day trade offer.

Thanks,
Jeff

So I'm confused. They told you there is nothing that can be done on pricing? It's just MSRP? Seems a bit odd.

But hey if you are fine with it then that's cool.

 

[ElJeffe]

This is interesting as it seems to go against what Ford put out:

• If a customer wants options that are not available until 22MY, should they still convert their reservation to an order between 1/20/2021 – 3/19/2021?
• We recommend you capture their decision and let them know their reservation timestamp carries over to 22MY and you will contact them when the 22MY order bank opens. Details on 22MY ordering will be available this summer.
• Will deferring a reservation to 22MY negatively impact a customer’s timestamp?
• No. We will continue to utilize timestamps as a factor to determine when units will be built. Other factors include dealership allocation and order/package availability.

I don't think this differs from what Ford says; as least it wasn't intended to. Timestamps will still be use as a factor (not the only factor). If a later timestamp selects options that work for a MY21 build, they will get their vehicle before I get my MY22 even if I have an earlier timestamp. "Order/package availability" is the other factor. The dealer will execute MY22 orders based upon timestamps, but they are not going to tell later timestamps that they have to wait IF they can be accommodated with MY21 builds and dealer allocations.

 

[Squatch]

I'm glad you had a good experience, but,...

I am curious how it pushed it to a MY22 via WBDO.

 

[ElJeffe]

So I'm confused. They told you there is nothing that can be done on pricing? It's just MSRP? Seems a bit odd.

But hey if you are fine with it then that's cool.

I'm sorry you're confused. Let me clarify:

• I have a written pricing offer from the General Manager.
• When they submit the build, it shows MSRP. You're signing off on the build.
• They cannot change the MSRP that the Ford-factory-generated build order shows. Dealers do not have that ability.
• When I come in to take delivery, I am to bring the written quote and the deal will be transacted. My offer is a "percent off of MSRP" offer.

Hope that clears things up. And yes, I'm fine with that. The dealer has been fantastic to work with, and it's not in their best interest to refuse to honor an in-writing deal of this nature.

Jeff

 

[ElJeffe]

I'm glad you had a good experience, but,...

I am curious how it pushed it to a MY22 via WBDO.

As they tried to enter it, WBDO reportedly would not let the dual-top with painted black hard top be entered as a MY21 build. It has to be entered later as a MY22 once that opens up. One other customer at the dealership at the same time had the same experience.

I don't know the inner workings of WBDO so I can't comment on the exact flow it used -- just what was described to me as it happened.

 

[Broncodave]

My offer is a "percent off of MSRP" offer.

There's another interesting thing. I was with that dealership until moving recently. Josh had told me they were sticking with MSRP. Also I got a call from a salesman the other day (may have been Chris) and he said the same thing. MSRP.

 

[ElJeffe]

There's another interesting thing. I was with that dealership until moving recently. Josh had told me they were sticking with MSRP. Also I got a call from a salesman the other day (may have been Chris) and he said the same thing. MSRP.

Perhaps they are no longer offering them. I shared Josh's email this morning and they said it'd of course be honored. I have no reason to suspect otherwise.

 

[EvlNvrDys]

I'm sorry you're confused. Let me clarify:

• I have a written pricing offer from the General Manager.
• When they submit the build, it shows MSRP. You're signing off on the build.
• They cannot change the MSRP that the Ford-factory-generated build order shows. Dealers do not have that ability.
• When I come in to take delivery, I am to bring the written quote and the deal will be transacted. My offer is a "percent off of MSRP" offer.

Hope that clears things up. And yes, I'm fine with that. The dealer has been fantastic to work with, and it's not in their best interest to refuse to honor an in-writing deal of this nature.

Jeff

Gotcha.. So you have an offer that isn't MSRP. but the build obviously shows MSRP. Crystal clear now ?

 

[ElJeffe]

Gotcha.. So you have an offer that isn't MSRP. but the build obviously shows MSRP. Crystal clear now ?

Build sheets from Ford will never show anything other than MSRP. Dealers don't impact build sheet pricing. They enter the option codes, and get a build confirmation back out.

If the dealer discounts a vehicle, that discount would be written into their sale agreement with the customer. Had my build gone in today, I would have signed off on the accuracy of the build.

If they had asked for a purchase commitment to a price, I would have insisted that the discount be reflected in that purchase agreement.

If people are expecting build sheets to reflect discounts, they are going to be disappointed.

 

[Used2jeep]

I'm glad you had a good experience, but,...

I am curious how it pushed it to a MY22 via WBDO.

Maybe Ford dealers have already covered 70k reservations to orders? I know, I know - NCIH but in theory it could be possible.

 

[Used2jeep]

Build sheets from Ford will never show anything other than MSRP. Dealers don't impact build sheet pricing. They enter the option codes, and get a build confirmation back out.

If the dealer discounts a vehicle, that discount would be written into their sale agreement with the customer. Had my build gone in today, I would have signed off on the accuracy of the build.

If they had asked for a purchase commitment to a price, I would have insisted that the discount be reflected in that purchase agreement.

If people are expecting build sheets to reflect discounts, they are going to be disappointed.

Is that pricing agreement documentation called a DORA?

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