A deal gone bad!!

jt14894

Member
Apr 6, 2005
66
3
9
Florida
I was THIS close to becoming a proud owner of a new Redfire Metallic GT (Premium w/ Interior upgrade package), but the dealer tried to pull a fast one.
Here's the story, in a nutshell.
Since we knew we weren't going to get anything less than sticker, our only option was to negotiate the trade-in.
At first, the dealer wasn't going to give me jack @#$% for my trade, but after haggling for almost 2 hours we finally settled on a reasonable value, which was very close to Kelly Blue Book.
So here's where the deal fell through. As we were doing the final paper work and about to issue the check, we noticed that the price we agreed on had changed. What the salesman did, right before we went to the finance manager, was sneakingly add $500+ in additional fees. And what that could have done was pretty much reduce my trade-in value to their original jack @#$% price they quoted.
When we looked at the sticker, there was a dealer prep and administrative fees ($995) that was already included. We were ok with that, but then they added this $500+ in additional processing fees.
The finance manager tried to BS his way saying that these fees are mandatory, but we told him that we've bought several cars before and have never paid these additional profit-only-for-the-dealer processing or administrative fees.
The car was parked and ready to go, had a full tank of gas, all I had to do was sign the check and do the walk around, but they got busted and so we walked out. No deal!! :spot:
Oh well, I'll just have to wait a little bit longer, but as a word of advice, always be cautious of the sneaky things these leeches do. Always make sure that the price you agree with doesn't change and that you question anything that doesn't look right because they'll pull a fast one when you're not looking.
They didn't fool us, but I'm sure they'll find their sucker.
Those bastages!! :fuss: :damnit:

JT
 
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"Dealer prep and administration fee of $995"? For real? Is that fee normal in Florida? In CA, there's just the Destination fee like you see when you book it on KBB.

Pat yourself on the back - you dodged a bad deal :)
 
CaptainSaveAHoe said:
Good looking out... Bet you would've liked to drive that new stang home though...

spectre30075 said:
Shop around...go to Ford.com and do a dealer search in your area, then surrounding areas. There must be a pantload of Ford dealers in the Tampa area..


Mark05GTVert said:
"Dealer prep and administration fee of $995"? For real? Is that fee normal in Florida? In CA, there's just the Destination fee like you see when you book it on KBB.

Pat yourself on the back - you dodged a bad deal :)

PolkThug said:
I had one try to sneak on a $1495 extended warranty without talking to me about it. mothereffers.

Thanks guys! It sure would've been nice to join you bretheren.
Actually, I was vacationing in Roanoke, Virginia when I stopped by the local Ford in a city called Salem.
Boy, that Mustang really caught my eye and I was hooked.
In Florida, there are no such fees and when dealer tries to tack that on, we always refuse to pay it and have never done so.
We couldn't believe that they were going to add another $500+ to the $995 so it was good that we caught it, but it sure wouldn've been nice to drive that thing home to Florida. :(
Oh well!
 
PolkThug said:
I had one try to sneak on a $1495 extended warranty without talking to me about it. mothereffers.


GAWD I hate that, and they try that trick everytime... I ALWAYS refuse the tack on warranty... You can always decide to add one later from the bazillion mails you'll get on buying one when it runs out... Sheesh...

Good choice on the walkout... When I read the $995 fee, I was already skeptical of the deal, but the additional $500 magical "mandatory" fee... That was definitely the last straw... There are other dealers, shop... It would have always been a sore spot in the back of your mind that you paid too much for it, good thing you didnt... Who knows what other shady crap they were going to pull AFTER you bought the car...
 
You did the right thing, not because you cannot afford an extra $500, but because they changed their agreement. They lied, and yes they will sell the car easily, but at least you took the commission away from the original salesman who made the deal w/ you.

Order a tungsten silver 06 w/ the white stripes.
 
sounds like bait-and-switch to me.
The $995 whatever fee is basically a $1000 car wash. And the $500 is what is known as a "the Mustang is so hot right now that you'll pay it or not get the car" fee.
I'd talk to the owner and let them know what happened, and that you are thinking of reporting them as using bait-and-switch. Then request a Mustang at MSRP. Probably won't do any good, but it's worth a shot.
 
jt14894 said:
I was THIS close to becoming a proud owner of a new Redfire Metallic GT (Premium w/ Interior upgrade package), but the dealer tried to pull a fast one.
Here's the story, in a nutshell.
Since we knew we weren't going to get anything less than sticker, our only option was to negotiate the trade-in.
At first, the dealer wasn't going to give me jack @#$% for my trade, but after haggling for almost 2 hours we finally settled on a reasonable value, which was very close to Kelly Blue Book.
So here's where the deal fell through. As we were doing the final paper work and about to issue the check, we noticed that the price we agreed on had changed. What the salesman did, right before we went to the finance manager, was sneakingly add $500+ in additional fees. And what that could have done was pretty much reduce my trade-in value to their original jack @#$% price they quoted.
When we looked at the sticker, there was a dealer prep and administrative fees ($995) that was already included. We were ok with that, but then they added this $500+ in additional processing fees.
The finance manager tried to BS his way saying that these fees are mandatory, but we told him that we've bought several cars before and have never paid these additional profit-only-for-the-dealer processing or administrative fees.
The car was parked and ready to go, had a full tank of gas, all I had to do was sign the check and do the walk around, but they got busted and so we walked out. No deal!! :spot:
Oh well, I'll just have to wait a little bit longer, but as a word of advice, always be cautious of the sneaky things these leeches do. Always make sure that the price you agree with doesn't change and that you question anything that doesn't look right because they'll pull a fast one when you're not looking.
They didn't fool us, but I'm sure they'll find their sucker.
Those bastages!! :fuss: :damnit:

JT

I encourage everyone to post their comments whethere good or bad here:

http://www.chrislies.com/ratings/
 
jt14894 said:
When we looked at the sticker, there was a dealer prep and administrative fees ($995) that was already included. We were ok with that, but then they added this $500+ in additional processing fees.

Jesus, does that come with a Costco-sized bottle of Vaseline?

I thought dealers here adding $399 for D&H was outrageous, but $995 (or $1,495) is absolutely outrageous. And no, it's NOT mandatory - it's just their way of padding every deal.

I have negotiated my way out of the D&H many times in the past, but on a new Mustang that's not as easy to do. But there's no way in hell I'd pay an extra $1,000 for extra dealer profit on top of a car at MSRP. No way.

Dealer prep and admin fees are a cost of doing business - not something you tack on to the price of every car. Bastiches!
 
I picked up my Redfire GT on Thursday at Freedom Ford in Edmonton Alta.
I ordered on an X-Plan and with all the horror stories here about X-Plans etc I expected I may have some problems when I went to pick it up... but to my surprise when I when to finalize the paperwork they discovered that I had a charge for Finacing that they should not have added to the Price, That I had agreed to pay when I had ordered (I had a signed Agreement of the Price of the car) so they took like 125 bucks off WOW! I will be getting all my future cars From them. good job Freedom Ford.... :banana:
 
Hey guys!
I appreciate the kind words of support.
I'll keep searching my local area and if getting the best price means that I have to place an order, then I will.
I'll post a follow up once I get my new GT!
Hope to catch you guys on the road real soon!
:nice: