Dealers With Integrity

[Cobra Boy]

I wanted to take time to let everyone know that there are still a few dealers that don't have to make a killing in huge over sticker markups. The dealer that sold me my GT500 called me initially and said that they thought they could get one and wanted me to have it since they knew I would keep it and appreciate it. They didn't want to sell it to someone that would turn it to make a quick buck.

 

I purchased the car for sticker price and agreed of course to not share their identity with the general public. I have purchased all of my new Fords from this dealer and they have always treated me like a member of their family. Maybe the key is to find a small town dealer that cares more about the customer than they do making a killing.

 

I understand the need to make a profit and sometimes you have to make it where you can but I applaud my dealer for foregoing that in lieu of helping someone create a lasting memory.

 

Just though I would share.

[Paleoc]

what dealer did you get it from i have only had bad luck with my dealers my 06 leaks water through the firewall and this will be the third time it has been returned and i handed the keys back on my 05 focus because they couldnt fix it :huh: :angry:

 

This came off http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/show...?t=67167&page=2

 

"My car had a very similar issue with an unsealed seam that was causing water to leak in over the passenger footwell, soaking the junction box and the carpet everytime it rained hard.

 

Six separate trips to the dealers, leaving the car there for days did nothing to fix the issue. Finally I took the cowl apart myself, finding a stretch of seam where they'd missed applying body sealer, as well as a retaining plug for the cowl trim which was totally missing allowing a 1" x1/2" hole into the interior. While the car was at the dealers, the dealer techs, replaced uneeded parts, damaged the dash trim, left tools in the car TWICE (including a potentially very dangerous (and sharp) 8" scratch awl all in the process of not resolving the problem in any way.

 

I sealed up the seam, and bought and installed the retainer, and the car has been fine since. I love my Mustang as much as anyone here, but I can't say as much for Ford's dealer network, and I can relate to this person's frustration."

 

It seems this is a fairly common problem. I would insist on bringing in the Ford district representative in on the problem on your next visit. Tell him that this problem has been mentioned multiple times on forums (I have seen at least 3) and that it is giving Ford and the mustang a bad rep. The dealer maintenance people don't seem to know what the problem is and how to fix it. The problem is occurring at the factory and they need to take action not only at the factory but at the dealers. In fact because the problem affects the electrical system, it can be considered a safety issue. In Virginia failure to fix a problem in 3 visits or failure to fix a safety problem in 1 visit allows you to invoke the lemon law.

[07shelbygt109]

I thought our local dealer was honest but found out rather quickly that he was not. Our family has done business with the same dealer, Sharp Motor Company in Pulaski TN, for close to 50 years. If I had to guess I would say that we have bought over 30 vehicles from the family that owns the dealership. I myself have bought 6 from them.

I had the owner of the dealership, Preston Murrey, stand in my store on the night the first 500 was sold at Barrett and tell me the first one he got would be mine. On the day Ford started taking orders I went to the dealership and ordered a black GT500 with tungsten stripes and the shaker 1000. A few weeks later my salesman started hinting around about an ADM and I told him I wouldn't pay one but we would take it up when the car came in. As time rolled on I had several more conversations with the last one being rather heated and decided to start looking elsewhere. Several weeks later I drove past the showroom and saw a red convertable GT500 sitting in the window. Being curious I went the next day to look at it. When I got there I thought I would explode when I saw the window sticker.

This dealer was only getting one car and since I placed the order I figured the conv was one they had bought from another dealer. Boy was I wrong. The owner had changed my order after I left the office. As it turns out he never intended to sell me the car! I confronted him in his office and got the standard market value speech. I had to leave before I made a scene.

Since all of this has transpired I have purchased a new truck, $37000, my brother has purchased a new truck, $40,000, my employee purchased a suv, $20,000, and I purchased a SGT, $40,000. None of which came from his dealership. His greed has cost him $137,000, and if he had been honorable that money plus another $10,000 for the price difference of the GT500 and the SGT would have been in his pocket.

I did however find a good dealership to do business with, Steve Williams Ford in Lawrenceburg TN, they treated me great when I bought my 94 Cobra 10 years ago and again last week when I bought the SGT. I would highly reccomend them to anyone.

[MattInDetroit]

I thought our local dealer was honest but found out rather quickly that he was not. Our family has done business with the same dealer, Sharp Motor Company in Pulaski TN, for close to 50 years. If I had to guess I would say that we have bought over 30 vehicles from the family that owns the dealership. I myself have bought 6 from them.....

 

 

Wow. I can see a slimy salesperson being penny wise and pound foolish but not the owner. At least you would hope not! Perhaps this was the result of some bad things going on behind the scenes? Low sales overall the guy takes chances for $$$$ today, etc. Cars, especially Fords, are a bad business to be in these days it seems. Hence a lot of people desperate to make as much as they can how ever they can. Maybe a had few extra $$$$ but he's obviously lost a lot more, including his integrity.

[ShelbyDude]

""Since all of this has transpired I have purchased a new truck, $37000, my brother has purchased a new truck, $40,000, my employee purchased a suv, $20,000, and I purchased a SGT, $40,000. None of which came from his dealership. His greed has cost him $137,000, and if he had been honorable that money plus another $10,000 for the price difference of the GT500 and the SGT would have been in his pocket."""

 

I'm in no way defending this dealer here, but your numbers are flawed.

 

Assuming those vehicles purchased totaling the $137k were all purchased at MSRP then that dealer would have made approx. 8% of that as a gross profit. That is assuming each one was purchased for MSRP. And that would be on the high side.

 

So of that $137k that dealer would have had a gross profit of approx. $10,960. Deduct any amounts that were paid below MSRP from that figure and that is what the gross profit to the dealer would have been.

 

The rest of that $137k is what would have been paid to Ford Motor Company, not the dealer. The dealer has to buy the vehicles in order to sell them. So the $137k is NOT what the dealer would have made.

 

When you first were told you could buy the car did they tell you a price? Did they say they would sell it to you for MSRP where they later told you otherwise? If so, then I agree with you about being upset.

 

Or did they tell you you would be first but they don't know what the price will be and would determine that later?

 

I know there were a lot of people promised this car at MSRP or even $5k over MSRP and in many cases had deposits on them as well. Then later the dealers went back on their word and told the buyers they would have to pay more after seeing what they were bringing. That is bad business. Those dealers should have honored what they said they would do and sell them at the prices they agreed to sell them at.

 

Our first one our dealer sold for MSRP. The owner sold it to a customer of his. He asked for it long before they came out. The car came in just this Jan. They had no contract, no deposit, just his word! The owner honored it! The customer even tried to get a couple thousand more for his trade if you can believe that! The owner said no. I told you I would sell you the car for MSRP and that is what I am doing. I could easily get $20k more! If you want to trade then that is it. Otherwise don't trade and buy the car out right. I'm not going to get into horse trading on this. He traded and bought the car.

 

This was after seeing all of his buddies around him that own Ford dealerships getting $20k over MSRP. He gave his word and stuck to it. Although I think he regrets it, he stood behind his word. That is good business!

 

But for $20k over MSRP that is a LOT of pure profit for a dealership. Considering most new vehicles are sold at an average of about $100 over invoice, that would take 200 new vehicle sales to make up for ONE of these Shelbys as far as gross profit is concerned. At an average MSRP of $25k per vehicle that would be $5 Million in gross sales, but only $20k in gross profit to the dealer. The other $4,980,000 goes to Ford Motor Company to pay the dealer's cost on those 200 vehicles.

 

Out of that $20k gross profit the dealer pays all their expenses. On ONE car where the dealer gets $20k over MSRP that entire $20k is pure profit to the dealer plus the difference from MSRP to invoice.

 

So if you were a dealer what would you do? Give away $20k of pure profit and wait to make it all up in the future in hopes your customer will buy another 200 new vehicles from you or make the $20k on ONE sale? Of course if you gave your word to sell it at a specified price then you should honor it.

[07shelbygt109]

""Since all of this has transpired I have purchased a new truck, $37000, my brother has purchased a new truck, $40,000, my employee purchased a suv, $20,000, and I purchased a SGT, $40,000. None of which came from his dealership. His greed has cost him $137,000, and if he had been honorable that money plus another $10,000 for the price difference of the GT500 and the SGT would have been in his pocket."""

 

I'm in no way defending this dealer here, but your numbers are flawed.

 

Assuming those vehicles purchased totaling the $137k were all purchased at MSRP then that dealer would have made approx. 8% of that as a gross profit. That is assuming each one was purchased for MSRP. And that would be on the high side.

 

So of that $137k that dealer would have had a gross profit of approx. $10,960. Deduct any amounts that were paid below MSRP from that figure and that is what the gross profit to the dealer would have been.

 

The rest of that $137k is what would have been paid to Ford Motor Company, not the dealer. The dealer has to buy the vehicles in order to sell them. So the $137k is NOT what the dealer would have made.

 

When you first were told you could buy the car did they tell you a price? Did they say they would sell it to you for MSRP where they later told you otherwise? If so, then I agree with you about being upset.

 

Or did they tell you you would be first but they don't know what the price will be and would determine that later?

 

I know there were a lot of people promised this car at MSRP or even $5k over MSRP and in many cases had deposits on them as well. Then later the dealers went back on their word and told the buyers they would have to pay more after seeing what they were bringing. That is bad business. Those dealers should have honored what they said they would do and sell them at the prices they agreed to sell them at.

 

Our first one our dealer sold for MSRP. The owner sold it to a customer of his. He asked for it long before they came out. The car came in just this Jan. They had no contract, no deposit, just his word! The owner honored it! The customer even tried to get a couple thousand more for his trade if you can believe that! The owner said no. I told you I would sell you the car for MSRP and that is what I am doing. I could easily get $20k more! If you want to trade then that is it. Otherwise don't trade and buy the car out right. I'm not going to get into horse trading on this. He traded and bought the car.

 

This was after seeing all of his buddies around him that own Ford dealerships getting $20k over MSRP. He gave his word and stuck to it. Although I think he regrets it, he stood behind his word. That is good business!

 

But for $20k over MSRP that is a LOT of pure profit for a dealership. Considering most new vehicles are sold at an average of about $100 over invoice, that would take 200 new vehicle sales to make up for ONE of these Shelbys as far as gross profit is concerned. At an average MSRP of $25k per vehicle that would be $5 Million in gross sales, but only $20k in gross profit to the dealer. The other $4,980,000 goes to Ford Motor Company to pay the dealer's cost on those 200 vehicles.

 

Out of that $20k gross profit the dealer pays all their expenses. On ONE car where the dealer gets $20k over MSRP that entire $20k is pure profit to the dealer plus the difference from MSRP to invoice.

 

So if you were a dealer what would you do? Give away $20k of pure profit and wait to make it all up in the future in hopes your customer will buy another 200 new vehicles from you or make the $20k on ONE sale? Of course if you gave your word to sell it at a specified price then you should honor it.

 

My numbers are not flawed. He would have shown $147,000 in gross sales not net profit. I guess I should have chosen my terminology more carefully.

 

At first I was promised the vehicle at MSRP. After the ADMs started flying up was when he started wanting more money, but that is not really the point here. The point is he changed my order! He flat out lied to me about the whole deal. Imagine sitting down with your dealer, ordering the car of your dreams, and then having something completely different show up. He ordered a completely different car! I turned in an order for a black coupe, the car that showed up was a red convertable. I don't think that was a factory mix up.

 

I can understand these guys wanting to make money while they can but you don't screw loyal customers. Especially not in this small of a town.

[Michael Morris]

I thought our local dealer was honest but found out rather quickly that he was not. Our family has done business with the same dealer, Sharp Motor Company in Pulaski TN, for close to 50 years. If I had to guess I would say that we have bought over 30 vehicles from the family that owns the dealership. I myself have bought 6 from them.

I had the owner of the dealership, Preston Murrey, stand in my store on the night the first 500 was sold at Barrett and tell me the first one he got would be mine. On the day Ford started taking orders I went to the dealership and ordered a black GT500 with tungsten stripes and the shaker 1000. A few weeks later my salesman started hinting around about an ADM and I told him I wouldn't pay one but we would take it up when the car came in. As time rolled on I had several more conversations with the last one being rather heated and decided to start looking elsewhere. Several weeks later I drove past the showroom and saw a red convertable GT500 sitting in the window. Being curious I went the next day to look at it. When I got there I thought I would explode when I saw the window sticker.

This dealer was only getting one car and since I placed the order I figured the conv was one they had bought from another dealer. Boy was I wrong. The owner had changed my order after I left the office. As it turns out he never intended to sell me the car! I confronted him in his office and got the standard market value speech. I had to leave before I made a scene.

Since all of this has transpired I have purchased a new truck, $37000, my brother has purchased a new truck, $40,000, my employee purchased a suv, $20,000, and I purchased a SGT, $40,000. None of which came from his dealership. His greed has cost him $137,000, and if he had been honorable that money plus another $10,000 for the price difference of the GT500 and the SGT would have been in his pocket.

I did however find a good dealership to do business with, Steve Williams Ford in Lawrenceburg TN, they treated me great when I bought my 94 Cobra 10 years ago and again last week when I bought the SGT. I would highly reccomend them to anyone.

 

first im sorry a fellow dealer would do you that way. my dad back when the new Tbird came out promised his friend one when we could order them. of course dad doesnt know the car are bringing big money over MSRP, but since he agreed to sale his friend the car he sold it for MSRP and held up his end of the deal.

 

the only thing i disagree with in your post is the total of money that the dealer cost himself. your numbers add up, but if, and this is a big if, he avg 1k per deal he cost himself aroudn 4k. now this does not include holdback, money on the backend and so on. but like it said he proably didnt make a 1k profit per unit either.

with that said. it is very tough to lose a customer and try to get them back. im not saying what he did is right, but i also dont know what he did is wrong

michael

 

sorry i repeated someone else, i should learn to type faster

michael

[ShelbyDude]

My numbers are not flawed. He would have shown $147,000 in gross sales not net profit. I guess I should have chosen my terminology more carefully.

 

At first I was promised the vehicle at MSRP. After the ADMs started flying up was when he started wanting more money, but that is not really the point here. The point is he changed my order! He flat out lied to me about the whole deal. Imagine sitting down with your dealer, ordering the car of your dreams, and then having something completely different show up. He ordered a completely different car! I turned in an order for a black coupe, the car that showed up was a red convertable. I don't think that was a factory mix up.

 

I can understand these guys wanting to make money while they can but you don't screw loyal customers. Especially not in this small of a town.

 

 

 

The fact he went back on his word about selling it for MSRP was a bad move on his part!

 

I suspect the reason he changed the order (based on what you said in your post) was because after he said he was going to want more money later and you said you were not going to pay it he changed the order assuming your deal was over with. So if you were having issues before the car was ordered then what reason would he have had to leave the order the same? Not saying he is right on not honoring the MSRP deal he promised. That was a bad move on his part. But if the deal was going south over price then that is why he likely changed the order.

[07shelbygt109]

The fact he went back on his word about selling it for MSRP was a bad move on his part!

 

I suspect the reason he changed the order (based on what you said in your post) was because after he said he was going to want more money later and you said you were not going to pay it he changed the order assuming your deal was over with. So if you were having issues before the car was ordered then what reason would he have had to leave the order the same? Not saying he is right on not honoring the MSRP deal he promised. That was a bad move on his part. But if the deal was going south over price then that is why he likely changed the order.

 

The deal was not completely off until after the car arrived and I found out he changed the order. I had held out hope that the car would be built late enough in the run that the ADMs would be gone. At the time the order was placed an ADM had never been discussed. That subject only came up after the order had been placed for a couple of months.

[hotwheels]

Sorry to hear about that 07shelbygt109, and i am glad you were able to purchase from an honest dealer.

 

I think in the end of reading your post, i feel your pain. The owner went back on his word, and i too would never do business with a company like that. I don't really care what the numbers come out to be, 1,000 bucks or a 100,000 bucks profit. A loss customer is a loss customer. This first customer tell's his friends, say 10 people, they tell 10 people, etc.....eventually, the dealership will start feeling a pinch, i sure hope so anyways.

 

I too had a similar situation happen to me when i went to buy my 2004 mach 1. Because of the price the car's were selling for on ebay, the dealer felt he could charge that and called it fair market value, which i gladly told him is a crock of sh**. I even went as far as contacting the ford motor company whom told me they are not responsible for how much is charged over msrp, since the dealership make's that call, not ford. They also told me since the dealership is not owned by ford, ford cannot make them sell a car at a set price. Therefore, fair market value is a practice that ford endorses, which they shouldn't since they own the franchise name, if you ask me.........I too will not buy from this ford dealer here in cheyenne wyoming for the same reason.

[ShelbyDude]

Sorry to hear about that 07shelbygt109, and i am glad you were able to purchase from an honest dealer.

 

I think in the end of reading your post, i feel your pain. The owner went back on his word, and i too would never do business with a company like that. I don't really care what the numbers come out to be, 1,000 bucks or a 100,000 bucks profit. A loss customer is a loss customer. This first customer tell's his friends, say 10 people, they tell 10 people, etc.....eventually, the dealership will start feeling a pinch, i sure hope so anyways.

 

I too had a similar situation happen to me when i went to buy my 2004 mach 1. Because of the price the car's were selling for on ebay, the dealer felt he could charge that and called it fair market value, which i gladly told him is a crock of sh**. I even went as far as contacting the ford motor company whom told me they are not responsible for how much is charged over msrp, since the dealership make's that call, not ford. They also told me since the dealership is not owned by ford, ford cannot make them sell a car at a set price. Therefore, fair market value is a practice that ford endorses, which they shouldn't since they own the franchise name, if you ask me.........I too will not buy from this ford dealer here in cheyenne wyoming for the same reason.

 

 

 

What a crock! Amazing what dealrs do. We sold several Mach 1's and never marked them up. In fact, we sold them for X-Plan as well to customers that qualified for it.

 

I have even heard of dealers selling the Fusion for $3k over when those came out and $5k over for the Escape Hybrids!

 

I am amazed people pay it!

[Cobra Boy]

I bought my car from California Ford Mercury in California MO. Brian Cox was my salesperson. He is also the general manager but the whole dealership has alwats treated me like family. I have bought several cars from them and they treated me like gold before I even bought my first one.

 

 

CB

[hotwheels]

That is awesome cobra boy, good to know there are still some honest dealerships out there.

[freedom777]

Hi, I am wondering if anyone can answer my questions regarding the

quote below and my questions about the GT350H and supercharger.

Thanks

 

(QUOTE) I own a 1968 GT350 #01067 sunlite gold with white strips Hertz car, a 1969 GT350 #02303 candy apple red with gold strips Hertz car & I just purchased a 2007 GT500 torch red with white strips #0109. Carol Shelby has autographed the dash of the 68 & 69 and I hope to get the 07 done this summer.

 

 

Hi, saw your post on this car, GT350H Was wondering if you can supply me with the engine specs and the paxton supercharger specs, both total psi it was capable of making and what was run from the factory Shelby etc. Also max H.P. application the supercharger could be used for, and max c.f.m.

 

Also, engine H.P. & Torque. I am assuming this was a 350 c.i.d. give or take.

 

Thanks

Corey

[BillH_merged]

Finding a dealership with integrity is extremely rare. Most of them are more concerned with profit, and it's difficult to have both. (Not that profit is a bad thing, after all, it's what keeps this country going). You just have to understand that their goal is to extract as much money from you as they can. A lot of them will do just about anything to reach that goal.

I talked to a guy at a car show with a new GT-500. He bought the car shortly after they were released and he told me that the dealer was a close personal friend and only charged him $7000.00 over sticker for his car. He offered to trade me straight across for my car, but I told him that since my car was 40+ years older, made so much noise, didn't have an am radio, power steering or air conditioning, I wouldn't feel right about sticking him with such an uncomfortable car.

[Glenn Greenwell]

I guess the moral of this story is the cars are worth whatever people will pay and some dealers occassionally go back on their word after writing up a deal, but overall I believe there are many more good car dealers than bad ones.

 

You simply find one you like if your not treated fairly or appropriately. MM has established himself as a credible car dealer on this forum and is well liked and has been straight forward in his support of the car pricing system.

 

The GT 500 and SGT ADMs are falling as the market get saturated as many of us have predicted. Many people apparently had the extra disposable cash to pay for the priviledge of having the latest/greatest from Ford. I just couldn't do it.

 

This happened with the T-Birds and many other models in short supply with high demand.......

 

Just my toughts..........

 

GG

[hertzworld]

Everytime I sell myself a car I am honest with myself. Good thing or id have to have a long hard talk with myself.