This dealership is 45 minutes away. - deltabravo
This dealership is 45 minutes away. Had to custom order F350 Tremor due to shortages. The price on a custom was MSRP, no deals. Standard fare at almost every dealership due to vehicle/material shortages. Two dealerships closest to me, worked on my previous F150 8 times before I had to lemon it, so not going there.
I worked with Maria Ferro since Oct, ’22 (she’s nice) and got the truck in late July, ‘23. Maria knows the product! This is important. I need someone that knows how/what to order, how to work through the Ford ordering systems. The long time was because I was ordering a config where options were not available until Spring ‘23 (J2). Maria knew what to do to put my order in, but hold it for j2 availability, maintaining priority.
In Feb, ‘23, J2 options became available. I called Maria, but she was out until May. I spoke to another person who said I couldn’t order a vehicle and that I had no order. I kept trying to tell him that I had already ordered one, and that it was status 99 (order hold). After some back and forth, he finally listened and acknowledged that I had an order, that I was good (thanks to Maria), and the truck had been submitted for production. I did have some configuration questions, but this guy couldn’t answer them. He complained that he spent 45 mins on hold with Ford already trying to get answers.
Maria returned in May. She addressed my concerns about options and helped investigate and explain that what I ordered was what I wanted. She confirmed status, gave me the VIN, and estimated delivery in late July/early Aug. I think Maria came in on her day off to complete the sale. She had lots of knowledge about the F350 (even towing limits). The vehicle was washed. The black trim between the front/rear doors were all swirls. She said this was normal on all the Ford vehicles with plastic trim. Checked 2 brand new Explorers on the lot. They had the same. Did they come this way, or was it from washing?
Finance. Worked with A.J. First thing I noticed was that the paperwork mileage was incorrect. I asked for it to be changed. It was 2 miles difference, so I don’t think that was well received. After that, A.J. seemed was annoyed with our presence. He wasn’t rude, just cold feeling, less than interested in our business, not even congratulations or thanks for your business. Okay, I’m not buying lip service, just not the most friendly of experiences. Finance couldn’t meet pricing I found on warranty/maintenance Ford contracts, and were too highly priced on other options so ended up not buying addons from the them and brought in my own financing. It was sign here, initial here, here’s your copy, see ya.
Not the dealership’s fault, but I was approved for Ford student $750 discount, but didn’t see the fine print that didn’t mention inclusion of F350s. It didn’t exclude them, just mentioned which ones were included. Maria said she was sorry, couldn’t help us. I guess I’d liked to have seen, hey, feeling bad for you here, here’s a couple of bucks off, but it was MSRP and that was that. I didn’t ask for anything either except meeting pricing on option add-ons which they couldn’t do.
My custom order had 64.9 miles. I knew Ford randomly test drives for quality audits/checks, but I only knew about taking 20-30 miles. Contacted Ford corporate who confirmed that the vehicle left the factory with 54 miles. That still doesn’t explain how 10+ miles got on the vehicle between the factory and the dealership, and there was no explanation. It should have had a sticker noting the factory testing and mileage, but that sticker was missing. I also noticed my car was listed on their website. I secretly called posing as a new customer and the dealership said it was on the website by mistake, that it was already sold. Maria confirmed the same to me shortly after. When I arrived to buy the truck, it now had 68.x miles on it.
The dealership was clean, inside and out. Bathrooms were clean.
If not for Maria, I’d mark this 3 stars.
Read More