5.0H
Senior Member
hey guys so yesterday my friend went to around to a few dealerships looking for a good trade in deal on his 2012 GT premium for the 2013 boss. Well shit went down and here's his story. He has asked me to spread the word and get everyone's opinions on the matter.
I drove around to quite a few Ford dealerships this weekend to talk about a trade-in. Unfortunately- the last one I visited Sunday afternoon I have a serious issue with.
I started talking to a salesman about trade-in value on my Mustang GT. He took my registration and started copying down information. He asked for my keys, and I handed them over, assuming he was going to turn the dash on and jot down the mileage, like the other dealerships. I told him as I handed them over, "It has around 13,100, by the way," and he replied, "Just gotta check it anyways." He walked away and I turned to discuss things with my friend, who came along with me.
A minute later I hear a car fire up and immediately stall. I don't think much of it, until the sound registers with me. Then it fires up again, and by this time I'm up and heading for the door. By the time I'm outside, my car has been stalled 3 times just backing out of a parking spot and it is already pulling out of the dealership, being driven by a man I've never met before with the salesman in the passenger seat. I sit there fuming for 10 minutes until they pull back in. To add insult to injury, the guy thwacks the car next to mine with my door when he opens it up. Luckily no damage done. I immediately tell the salesman that I would have appreciated he tell me if he was going to take my car. He apologizes several times, but the older gentleman who actually took my car says nothing and walks back inside. I am very polite, use "sir" a lot, and keep my voice at normal talking levels.
I am upset at this point, but not to the point where I want to leave the dealership. (This is the place I originally bought the car last year!) So I wait inside for another half hour talking to the salesman and finally get my appraisal. It seems like a lowball offer compared to two that I have already gotten, and I decide it is time to leave. I thank them and head out to the car.
My friend and I get into the car for the first time since they test-drove it, and the first thing that hits me when I sit down is it REEKS of burnt clutch. Like, I have never smelt smoked clutch like that before in my life. My friend looks at me and just says "Dude....." I got out of the car, almost shaking mad, and headed immediately back into the dealership. I walked into the older gentleman's office and told him in a calm, even tone, "Excuse me sir, my car outside stinks of burnt clutch." The guy responds that he did not burn my clutch. I point out that he stalled it three times getting it out of the parking space, and that he did not even tell me he was taking the car. He became instantly defensive and very loud, and replied, "Well would you buy a car without driving it? I'm not gonna buy something unless I've driven it for any problems!" I responded that I would certainly tell the owner before I went driving around burning the clutch in it. At that point another gentleman was at the door who assured me that "____ would never hurt your clutch." I responded with "Well he stalled it backing out." The guy looked surprised.."He stalled it?" "Yes, 3 times!"
I was so upset at this point I had to leave before I started raising my voice. We left the dealership and drove around for 15 minutes with the windows down to get the smell out of the car. Attempting to play devil's advocate with myself, I even tossed the keys to my friend, who drives standard only occasionally, and told him to drive it back to the dealership off of some back roads. He didn't stall it once, and he sure didn't come close to smoking the clutch/making it smell. We stopped and started on hills a half-dozen times, something the test-drive shoudn't have even encompassed with the direction those guys went when they took off with the car.
We got back to the dealership and it was about closing time, and there a few salesmen gathered outside. I told them politely that they could forget the trade and, "The gentleman that drove my car was someone I had never even seen before, who never even asked permission to drive it, and who not ONCE apologized for taking it out without permission." What also really dug at me, but I didn't mention, is that this person raised his voice much more than me in the dealership about this! I don't know how I made it through that without a swear (or 30) towards him.
NONE of the other dealerships I went to actually drove the car. One place wanted to hear it start up, which I gladly did FOR him. The fact that the dealership I originally bought the car from was the only one that wanted to drive it to appraise trade-in was enough to gall me in and of itself, WITHOUT the guy taking off out of the lot with my car before even meeting me/asking my permission to drive it. Isn't that an insurance issue as well if he drives it, since my insurance only covers myself?!
I was ready to leave it at that, having had enough of these extremely unprofessional actions, but now I have a strange, very noticeable clunking sound coming from my pressure plate/throwout bearing. I plan on taking it immediately to a different ford dealer tomorrow morning and asking if they can pull up a log or something similar of how the car was driven this afternoon. I have no idea if this is even possible, or is reserved for such things as crash investigations, etc....but I am very concerned that they have damaged the drivetrain.
I am not naming this dealership because I do not want to turn this into mud-slinging. I'm kind of looking for constructive ways to move forwards. What can I even ask for? The damage is done. I plan on contacting the BBB and Ford at the very least depending on how this issue is handled tomorrow. Any suggestions would be appreciated guys, thank you. I am just trying to keep a level head and work through this reasonably.
Kind of a horrible way to end the weekend
I drove around to quite a few Ford dealerships this weekend to talk about a trade-in. Unfortunately- the last one I visited Sunday afternoon I have a serious issue with.
I started talking to a salesman about trade-in value on my Mustang GT. He took my registration and started copying down information. He asked for my keys, and I handed them over, assuming he was going to turn the dash on and jot down the mileage, like the other dealerships. I told him as I handed them over, "It has around 13,100, by the way," and he replied, "Just gotta check it anyways." He walked away and I turned to discuss things with my friend, who came along with me.
A minute later I hear a car fire up and immediately stall. I don't think much of it, until the sound registers with me. Then it fires up again, and by this time I'm up and heading for the door. By the time I'm outside, my car has been stalled 3 times just backing out of a parking spot and it is already pulling out of the dealership, being driven by a man I've never met before with the salesman in the passenger seat. I sit there fuming for 10 minutes until they pull back in. To add insult to injury, the guy thwacks the car next to mine with my door when he opens it up. Luckily no damage done. I immediately tell the salesman that I would have appreciated he tell me if he was going to take my car. He apologizes several times, but the older gentleman who actually took my car says nothing and walks back inside. I am very polite, use "sir" a lot, and keep my voice at normal talking levels.
I am upset at this point, but not to the point where I want to leave the dealership. (This is the place I originally bought the car last year!) So I wait inside for another half hour talking to the salesman and finally get my appraisal. It seems like a lowball offer compared to two that I have already gotten, and I decide it is time to leave. I thank them and head out to the car.
My friend and I get into the car for the first time since they test-drove it, and the first thing that hits me when I sit down is it REEKS of burnt clutch. Like, I have never smelt smoked clutch like that before in my life. My friend looks at me and just says "Dude....." I got out of the car, almost shaking mad, and headed immediately back into the dealership. I walked into the older gentleman's office and told him in a calm, even tone, "Excuse me sir, my car outside stinks of burnt clutch." The guy responds that he did not burn my clutch. I point out that he stalled it three times getting it out of the parking space, and that he did not even tell me he was taking the car. He became instantly defensive and very loud, and replied, "Well would you buy a car without driving it? I'm not gonna buy something unless I've driven it for any problems!" I responded that I would certainly tell the owner before I went driving around burning the clutch in it. At that point another gentleman was at the door who assured me that "____ would never hurt your clutch." I responded with "Well he stalled it backing out." The guy looked surprised.."He stalled it?" "Yes, 3 times!"
I was so upset at this point I had to leave before I started raising my voice. We left the dealership and drove around for 15 minutes with the windows down to get the smell out of the car. Attempting to play devil's advocate with myself, I even tossed the keys to my friend, who drives standard only occasionally, and told him to drive it back to the dealership off of some back roads. He didn't stall it once, and he sure didn't come close to smoking the clutch/making it smell. We stopped and started on hills a half-dozen times, something the test-drive shoudn't have even encompassed with the direction those guys went when they took off with the car.
We got back to the dealership and it was about closing time, and there a few salesmen gathered outside. I told them politely that they could forget the trade and, "The gentleman that drove my car was someone I had never even seen before, who never even asked permission to drive it, and who not ONCE apologized for taking it out without permission." What also really dug at me, but I didn't mention, is that this person raised his voice much more than me in the dealership about this! I don't know how I made it through that without a swear (or 30) towards him.
NONE of the other dealerships I went to actually drove the car. One place wanted to hear it start up, which I gladly did FOR him. The fact that the dealership I originally bought the car from was the only one that wanted to drive it to appraise trade-in was enough to gall me in and of itself, WITHOUT the guy taking off out of the lot with my car before even meeting me/asking my permission to drive it. Isn't that an insurance issue as well if he drives it, since my insurance only covers myself?!
I was ready to leave it at that, having had enough of these extremely unprofessional actions, but now I have a strange, very noticeable clunking sound coming from my pressure plate/throwout bearing. I plan on taking it immediately to a different ford dealer tomorrow morning and asking if they can pull up a log or something similar of how the car was driven this afternoon. I have no idea if this is even possible, or is reserved for such things as crash investigations, etc....but I am very concerned that they have damaged the drivetrain.
I am not naming this dealership because I do not want to turn this into mud-slinging. I'm kind of looking for constructive ways to move forwards. What can I even ask for? The damage is done. I plan on contacting the BBB and Ford at the very least depending on how this issue is handled tomorrow. Any suggestions would be appreciated guys, thank you. I am just trying to keep a level head and work through this reasonably.
Kind of a horrible way to end the weekend
