Bought a New Challenger - Sorry Ford, Rant Included

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I too have noticed Ford dealerships becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. My parents tried to lease/buy a new Taurus X a year or so back when their Freestyle lease was up and just couldn't make a deal. Even my dad being a retired employee of the dealership in question got them next to nowhere. After becoming increasingly frustrated, they decided to look for one at another dealership and they too seemed unwilling to work with the price.

They finally ended up buying an equivalent Dodge Journey R/T that was even more loaded than the Taurus X (leather, back-up camera, Navi, 19" wheels...ALL BELLS AND WHISTLES) for less than they were able to lease the Taurus X for. The final breakdown was almost an $8,000 difference. :eek:

Of course the dealership had hard feelings about this, but screw them. They didn't care about "making a deal" with them until it was no longer an option and their money was spent else ware.

I wanted to think this was an isolated incident, but about 8-months ago, I went truck shopping with a buddy of mine and the same thing happened. He was able to buy a brand new 2010 Dodge Ram for less than Ford was clearing their '09's for. I've never seen anyone care less about making a sale than Ford. They seem to have adopted a very "this is what we've got...take it, or leave it" attitude as of late and IMO it's going to sink them in the long run....I don't care how good their vehicles have gotten.

Guess what....the new Dodge Rams are every bit the truck that the New Fords are....and nicer looking/more powerful to boot. I almost wish I would have gotten one over my '06 FX4 (which I love BTW) when you consider I could have been driving a brand new truck for a few thousand dollars more than I paid for one that was 4-years-old. :(

Yes...Ford is slowly becoming the snobs of the North American Automotive industry and its going to bite them on the ass sooner or later.

Don't listen to the haters. The Challenger IMO is still the nices looking of the new muscle car era and if you're happy with it, then you made the right decision. :nice:
 
I too have noticed Ford dealerships becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. My parents tried to lease/buy a new Taurus X a year or so back when their Freestyle lease was up and just couldn't make a deal. Even my dad being a retired employee of the dealership in question got them next to nowhere. After becoming increasingly frustrated, they decided to look for one at another dealership and they too seemed unwilling to work with the price.

They finally ended up buying an equivalent Dodge Journey R/T that was even more loaded than the Taurus X (leather, back-up camera, Navi, 19" wheels...ALL BELLS AND WHISTLES) for less than they were able to lease the Taurus X for. The final breakdown was almost an $8,000 difference. :eek:

Of course the dealership had hard feelings about this, but screw them. They didn't care about "making a deal" with them until it was no longer an option and their money was spent else ware.

I wanted to think this was an isolated incident, but about 8-months ago, I went truck shopping with a buddy of mine and the same thing happened. He was able to buy a brand new 2010 Dodge Ram for less than Ford was clearing their '09's for. I've never seen anyone care less about making a sale than Ford. They seem to have adopted a very "this is what we've got...take it, or leave it" attitude as of late and IMO it's going to sink them in the long run....I don't care how good their vehicles have gotten.

Guess what....the new Dodge Rams are every bit the truck that the New Fords are....and nicer looking/more powerful to boot. I almost wish I would have gotten one over my '06 FX4 (which I love BTW) when you consider I could have been driving a brand new truck for a few thousand dollars more than I paid for one that was 4-years-old. :(

Yes...Ford is slowly becoming the snobs of the North American Automotive industry and its going to bite them on the ass sooner or later.

Don't listen to the haters. The Challenger IMO is still the nices looking of the new muscle car era and if you're happy with it, then you made the right decision. :nice:

Its not that Ford is becoming snobs, its just that no hard working person WANTS to buy a Government owned bailed out car or truck from a ****hole worthless car company. The reason you can get a fully loaded Dodge for the same price as a base model Ford is because no one wants their crap and they have to load it up with options to just be able to move it off their lots.
 
Its not that Ford is becoming snobs, its just that no hard working person WANTS to buy a Government owned bailed out car or truck from a ****hole worthless car company. The reason you can get a fully loaded Dodge for the same price as a base model Ford is because no one wants their crap and they have to load it up with options to just be able to move it off their lots.

Your opinion and you're entitled to it....but numbers don't lie. Dodge sales figures are up 53% over this time last year. New Dodge products are flying off the lots right now. Around here, you can't buy a new Ram off the lot, because they're either not there, or already spoken for. The local Ford dealership on the other hand have plenty sitting their collecting dust.

Unlike GM, Dodge has really stepped up their game in the last couple of years and are building vehicles that easily rival Ford quality and craftsmanship at quite frankly a better price. Hate them for taking the money if you wish, but to dismiss the product they're putting out now because of personal distain for the business practices of their CEO's makes you the one missing the boat.

Why shouldn't they sell for less than Fords? What better way to give back to the people after having to be bailed out, than by slashing prices? And it's not even a matter of really slashing prices, its that Fords seem to have gotten increasingly more expensive in the last few years, where GM and Dodge have not.

On no planet should a person have to pay $50,000 for a loaded gas powered 4x4 pick up. Hell, I stopped in at the local dealership the other day and a new Harley Davidson F150 was going for $5,000 more than a GT500!?!?

Chrysler is putting out a great product at a great price...PERIOD!
 
@ Gearbanger 101

Yea, that's really what it felt like trying to deal with the Ford salespeople. Almost felt like I was banging my head against the wall. There were a couple of other things they said that I didn't list that really made it sound like they didn't want to sell a vehicle to me.

So far I'm very happy with the Dodge but am still getting to used to it :nice:
 
A few pics:

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Chrysler is putting out a great product at a great price...PERIOD!

1. i've never seen a dodge that didn't have quality control issues. from neons to vipers, its all the same.
2. the challenger is the most expensive heaviest of the modern muscle cars and has about the same power as the competition.
3. dodge is selling lots of stuff because they're giving it all away because people will trade the fact that we bailed them out in exchange for a great deal on a car.

ford is tops in quality, product, and economy at the moment among the big 3. they continually set the bar that the rest of the market responds to.

ford builds better cars than chevy and dodge and doesn't need govt money to do it. thats why they get more dollars.
 
I don't feel like I got the same treatment that you did, Steedaq, when I bought my '11 GT. I actually feel like the salesman that I dealt with fought for the sale. I did the majority of the buying over the phone as I am away at school and wanted to buy from my hometown dealership. After letting them know I was interested, the salesman contacted me and threw out some numbers. In one phone call, he had dropped 2k off the sticker price of around 33k. I told him I would think about it and about 10 minutes later, he texted me saying he would drop another $500 if I bought from him. When it was all said and done, I got the car for about 4k below sticker with the haggling and finance/military rebates. Then I added about $1500 in dealer options. I don't feel like I got an amazing deal, but I don't think I paid more for the high demand. I'm just curious what the dealership was asking. I got a base GT w/ Brembos and 3.55's btw. The dealership also tinted my windows for free b/c I had to wait so long for it to come in :lol: even though a had about the average wait (10 weeks).
 
I love my 2010 Mustang GT. Got it for a great price on clearance and my Ford dealer was more than willing to make a deal. Initially I didn't like the rear as many have said, but it has grown on me, so much in fact that I now like it better than the 2007 GT I had.
The car is much nicer than the 2007 in almost every way.
I do like the looks of this car. I'm not certain about the stripes. Any interior photos? Is the dash and other panels cheap plastic, like the Mustang, which scratch easily? That's my only real complaint about my Mustang and poor gas mileage in town.
 
I ordered my 5.0 on X-plan no problems

Perhaps it is because I'm in the Detroit area, but dealerships around here don't give A-Plan or X-plan customers a hard time. I ordered my grabber blue convertible 6-speed GT Premium in early June and it arrived on July 30th

I got a decent trade-in price on my Escape.

I know there are bad experiences out there, but it is mostly the sales people's fault, not the OEM, so please place the blame where it belongs.

I love the way the Challenger looks, and that would be my second choice, but I've worked in automotive engineering, and I even designed part of the A/C system for the Challenger, and Chrysler's design practices scare me. They aren't as careful as Ford.
 
Perhaps it is because I'm in the Detroit area, but dealerships around here don't give A-Plan or X-plan customers a hard time. I ordered my grabber blue convertible 6-speed GT Premium in early June and it arrived on July 30th

I got a decent trade-in price on my Escape.

I know there are bad experiences out there, but it is mostly the sales people's fault, not the OEM, so please place the blame where it belongs.

I love the way the Challenger looks, and that would be my second choice, but I've worked in automotive engineering, and I even designed part of the A/C system for the Challenger, and Chrysler's design practices scare me. They aren't as careful as Ford.

Actually, the other three Mustangs I purchased on A-plan were all bought in Michigan. I'm in South Carolina currently, so this could definitely be a factor as buying on A-plan is less common down here.
 
I love my 2010 Mustang GT. Got it for a great price on clearance and my Ford dealer was more than willing to make a deal. Initially I didn't like the rear as many have said, but it has grown on me, so much in fact that I now like it better than the 2007 GT I had.
The car is much nicer than the 2007 in almost every way.
I do like the looks of this car. I'm not certain about the stripes. Any interior photos? Is the dash and other panels cheap plastic, like the Mustang, which scratch easily? That's my only real complaint about my Mustang and poor gas mileage in town.

I only have two pics of the interior thus far. I personally like the dash and HVAC controls, but the window buttons, hood knob, steering radio controls, and steering tilt handle are cheap plastic. Seats seem to be really nice. BTW.. catching on to the ol' 1-4 skipshift or in other words... how to avoid it :D Pics of gage cluster and shifter are shown below...

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