What a Butt Head.

 

Buzzzzter,

I have a question about the people down at my local Ford dealer (supposedly renouned).

Last year, when I went to look around at some of the Ford Supercrews around the lot, a salesman approached me and asked if I was serious about buying a truck there. I guess he tested if I was a serious buyer by first asking me how much of a down payment I was gonna put down. When I told him that i might put 10K down, without delay, he said: ..."lets go for a test drive!" He kindly asked for my driver's license, walked into the office, then brought it back to me. hmmmm. I was wondering if his people went ahead and ran a credit history report,without my knowledge, when we took off for test drive. Is this legal? Can they do this? ...and if they did, were they in some plot, to use my credit history info to screw me when it was time to negotiate? How?
thanks,

-Mike

 

If you went on the test drive by yourself they usually will get a photocopy of your driver licenses in case you don’t come back.

As far as a credit check, from my understanding they cannot legally do a credit check on you until you give them permission by signing the paper they have for doing a credit check. If they did do a credit check on you without your knowledge I don’t know how much you could do about it except register a complaint with the BBB. They could be fines involved with the dealership if this is a practice of theirs.

 

"You work for Ford, or a Ford dealer?, a dealer, my guess. Perhaps you could start your own thread and help more people than I was able to."

I certainly do NOT work for Ford. And what the heck are you trying to do here? I ask questions of things I don't completely understand and you say this? I never flamed anyone on this board before, but this was completely uncalled for. Where did you come up with I must be a dealer anyway?

And please note; sarcasm doesn't work well with posts and email. That maybe what you were meaning, but it didn't appear that way.

"As for verbal agreements?? You've got to be kidding. And your other questions? I could answer those, too. "

Why don't you answer the questions then? You offered to. The reason I asked about verbal agreement is because quite often a dealer might say they are going to fix a scratch, change something, promise a detail, or whatever. But these things are not in writing. And yet we all expect that the dealer will honor their word. This was a valid question.

And what does this mean?
"($4000 back-end?) "

"Ford Motor Company is dedicated to customer satisfaction like no other (CSI?) And, I believe the vast majority of dealer principals are, too. "

I don't believe Ford is dedicated like no other. Just my personal experience. I remember paying for a towing package with an upgraded radiator that took over a year to get reconciled. If you want true customer satisfaction, walk into a Mercedes dealership and check them out. When the car is in for service, you get another Mercedes as a loner. Not whatever car is available. That's service and satisfaction.

I still cannot believe that you would make such an offer to people then just back out. That is just rude. I'm in the IT industry, I offer all the time to help people out with their computers or buying process. Some take advantage, some don't. That's just the way it is. I certainly don't quit asking just because a few people don't want any advise.

Just one more thing Buzzzzter, you suck. Troll be gone!

I apologize to all the good people here on F150online. I'm sorry if I scared the troll away, with all the good information that could have been shared. But we don't need arrogance like that. We need members that will unselfishly assist others and not get upset if someone doesn't heed our advice. There are many great minds on this board.

 

Well I'm not an expert but my father (who is a pretty shrewd negotiator) always told me not to discuss down payments with the salesman and I believe that has been pretty good advice. When looking at new cars some years ago the salesman was only concerned with how much I was putting down and what I wanted my monthly payments to be, he didn't even want to discuss what the price of the vehicle would be. I think he was trying to trap me into paying as much as he could get out of me. Of course I didn't buy from that dealership. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

NEVER discuss down payments or monthly payments untill after you agree on an overall price for the vehicle. They will use that kind of info against you to screw you on the price. I was at a dealer here in northern Ca. and this guy would not quit asking me for my credit info and what I wanted my payments to be. So I just got up and left.

 

This is when the A or X Plans come in handy. There's absolutely no haggle.

 

I think Buzzzzter may have combined and confused the 2 replies to his original post. Even though he did address questions from deep6blue, I think the Email address from fordabbits may have been what set him off. If that's the case Buzzzter, you need to come back, set the record straight and admit that you over-reacted. Don't let something like this tarnish your rep. on this forum. Let's try to keep all of this on "friendly" terms.

 

How could that possibly set him off? I wasnt trying to set him off, if he really wanted to help, I was going to ask him some questions on my situation, one that I dont think everyone would like to be reading. But you know what? Never Mind. I agree with purty_2004. Set him off-thats Rediculous. "This is my last post on this thread"

 

[QUOTE

I hope this helps you out and purty I apologize, but I have been swamped at work and haven't had a chance to shoot any pics of that truck.

[/B][/QUOTE]

No problem, dude! I completely understand!

 

I think that he thought your Email address was from a ford dealership or some ford associated company, and that for some reason set him on the defense or more like the offense in this case. I and everyone else (but him) could tell that you were asking for legitimate help. I didn't mean to imply that you did anything wrong. Sorry.

 

My sincere apology to all of the members of planet F150-online, the best forum I've come across.
Yeah, I went off, I was angry, and I deserve the 'butt whippin' I've gotten. (Thanks to Webmaster for lettin me back on! And thanks to all for your blunt, uh, critique of my last post.

[too personal, not an excuse, but not ashamed - I live with a clinical depression - most days are pretty good!] What set me off is that the day before, my daughters 'new' boyfriend (20 y/o), had to take his 2003 Mitsubishi coupe back to the dealer as a voluntary repo. He went to the Mitsu store to buy a $10,000 used car 9 months ago. They slammed him into a $26,000? 2003, with payments of $488 for 72 months (he was a construction worker making $1600 a month, on AVERAGE). He paid $1500 over retail (Only one on the Lot!!). He got credit life, A/H, and a $1800, 4/100,000 mile service contract, and he drives less than 15000 miles a year. Because he lost his transportation, he lost his job. I wish I'd have met him 10 months ago, he's a good kid.

He is 20 years old, unemployed, and his future is ruined for at least 3-5 years because of that dealer's lack of compassion and integrity. I estimate his deficiency balance will be around $12,000, and he will probably have to file bankruptcy - at the age of 20. And...how does he get a job without a ride, unless its on a bus line? Geeze its so sad. As he put it, "Iknew I couldn't afford it, but they convinced me I could"...................

This guy is only one example of thousands of young buyers - and it hit just too close to home.

This is why I wish I could could influence just one ignorant (not stupid; just naive), uninformed young buyer to trust his/her judgement, and not fall prey to the dealer's trap.

I am not known as a guy who insults people, and I didn't intend to. I realize my credibility is pretty thin right now, but there is a lot of well informed people on this forum to help all the others.

Keep up the great posts, y'all - more are 'looking' than are talking, and everybody benefits fromthis forum.

I apologize to those I offended. Thanks.

 

Buzzzzter:

What a way to step up to the plate. As far as I am concerned apology accepted…

Now, any chance on some basics? I may not be young (39) well, ok that’s pretty damn young, but I can still learn some valuable lessons from someone like you that has good knowledge on the subject of “automobile financing” If your still interested then assume I am ready to go purchase a new vehicle, I am going to the dealer tomorrow so what do you recommend I do and/or be informed about?

 

Buzzzter I am willing to forgive and I probably suffer from the same thing you do.... To much stress in life some time....

When I get my truck in before I sign the paperwork I will look ya up.

We are wondering on leasing or buying. The mileage is not an issue, this truck will be driven by my wife and we do like to trade about every 3 years....

Whata ya think?

freddy

 

Buzzzter...I am just turning 21, work for the Feds and am currently paying 400 on my current truck. I truly belive I can afford to pay another 150 dollars per month. I have never missed a payment, so I think Ill be ok. My question is when I go to trade my truck in, how much can they really give me? According to KBB, my truck is only worth 11g's and I owe more than that. Is it possible that dealers could give me more? Basically Im worried about the Neg Equity. Should I sell privately? Also, will shopping around different dealers really make a difference in prices? Thanks again.