Dealership Experiences

[joshua484]

I was looking for Torch red with white full stripe package - the one I got is Torch red with ebony stripes. The car just blew me away when I saw it in person. I have to give credit to another member here that sent me a photo of his red/black GT500 otherwise I would likely not have even considered it because I had never even seen that combo before.

 

 

Red/Black looks awesome!!

 

Plus then most know it's an '08

[owenkelley]

They should have been just happy for the "ADM" profit?????????????

 

"SOUR GRAPES" Attitude.................

 

 

I don't think they had a "sour grapes" attitude, I just think they were a little insulted that they have sold all of their cars under market value ( at that time ) only to have it rubbed in their face. All of the guys they sold them to were locals, most of whom were members of our local car club. They sponsor a show for us every year and the last tiime we hosted the International Mustang Meet here they contributed $5000 to the event. They have earned alot of loyal cutomers from our club, and they sold us GT500's for less than they could have sold them to other dealers for. The least the guy could have done was take the car off their lot before selling it!

[DDT]

I don't think they had a "sour grapes" attitude, I just think they were a little insulted that they have sold all of their cars under market value ( at that time ) only to have it rubbed in their face. All of the guys they sold them to were locals, most of whom were members of our local car club. They sponsor a show for us every year and the last tiime we hosted the International Mustang Meet here they contributed $5000 to the event. They have earned alot of loyal cutomers from our club, and they sold us GT500's for less than they could have sold them to other dealers for. The least the guy could have done was take the car off their lot before selling it!

 

Its a funny thing because I was accused many times of trying to buy this car and "FLIP IT" for profit

and felt insulted as I am not in car sales and just want it to keep and enjoy for a price that I can

afford and decided because of all the BS I was getting really motivated me to contact most the

Dealers in So. Cal and it paid off.....................

[owenkelley]

Its a funny thing because I was accused many times of trying to buy this car and "FLIP IT" for profit

and felt insulted as I am not in car sales and just want it to keep and enjoy for a price that I can

afford and decided because of all the BS I was getting really motivated me to contact most the

Dealers in So. Cal and it paid off.....................

 

 

Yeah, a couple guys at the dealership I bought mine from thought I had it sold when I ordered it, because I did used to be in the retail car business, but I told them I planned on keeping it forever. A couple of them told me if I did change my mind they had buyers. There is a guy in our area who has been bringing them in from somewhere else and selling them out of the paper, he was advertising them for around $15,000 over MSRP. I have no idea how much he was actually selling them for, and this was last summer. I understand he still has a couple for sale, but I haven't seen any ads recently.

[DDT]

Yeah, a couple guys at the dealership I bought mine from thought I had it sold when I ordered it, because I did used to be in the retail car business, but I told them I planned on keeping it forever. A couple of them told me if I did change my mind they had buyers. There is a guy in our area who has been bringing them in from somewhere else and selling them out of the paper, he was advertising them for around $15,000 over MSRP. I have no idea how much he was actually selling them for, and this was last summer. I understand he still has a couple for sale, but I haven't seen any ads recently.

 

Well as stated earlier on this topic I did finally get my car and it was a very good experiance

but can not believe everything I went through to get it for a reasonable price. Your story is

interesting because I had a simular situation(FLIP FLOP) personal Factory Order with a deposit

and when my car came in the Dealer decided I would need to caugh up an extra 15G, and I

had to walk away from "MY CAR" as nothing was in writing..........Later found out it was sold

to a guy from Arizona for 18G ADM......O well I am glad because I like the 08 red/black stripes

better and the HIDheadlites and Interior lighting was not available on the 07.........

[bull]

Well as stated earlier on this topic I did finally get my car and it was a very good experiance

but can not believe everything I went through to get it for a reasonable price. Your story is

interesting because I had a simular situation(FLIP FLOP) personal Factory Order with a deposit

and when my car came in the Dealer decided I would need to caugh up an extra 15G, and I

had to walk away from "MY CAR" as nothing was in writing..........Later found out it was sold

to a guy from Arizona for 18G ADM......O well I am glad because I like the 08 red/black stripes

better and the HIDheadlites and Interior lighting was not available on the 07.........

 

 

i got ripped off once by GM...18% interest for a new car loan (learned a lesson on how dealers and sales guys work)..wrecked it after a year and bought a ford...NO GM WILL EVER BE IN MY GARAGE AGAIN..

[bull]

Well as stated earlier on this topic I did finally get my car and it was a very good experiance

but can not believe everything I went through to get it for a reasonable price. Your story is

interesting because I had a simular situation(FLIP FLOP) personal Factory Order with a deposit

and when my car came in the Dealer decided I would need to caugh up an extra 15G, and I

had to walk away from "MY CAR" as nothing was in writing..........Later found out it was sold

to a guy from Arizona for 18G ADM......O well I am glad because I like the 08 red/black stripes

better and the HIDheadlites and Interior lighting was not available on the 07.........

 

 

i got ripped off once by GM...18% interest for a new car loan (learned a lesson on how dealers and sales guys work)..wrecked it after a year and bought a ford...NO GM WILL EVER BE IN MY GARAGE AGAIN..

[SSGT500]

Ripping off people with finance charges is one of the reasons there are government standards for forms stating credit terms. This was prompted by an incident many years ago at a Ford dealer on the south side of Chicago. The salesmen screwed some guy on finances charges. He retaliated with a shotgun. A couple of people wound up dead.

[bull]

Ripping off people with finance charges is one of the reasons there are government standards for forms stating credit terms. This was prompted by an incident many years ago at a Ford dealer on the south side of Chicago. The salesmen screwed some guy on finances charges. He retaliated with a shotgun. A couple of people wound up dead.

 

funny you mention chicago...my vaseline finance reaming occured at a glen ellyn dealer....NO GM PRODUCT WILL EVER BE IN MY GARAGE AGAIN

[SSGT500]

I've had bad experiences at many Chicago area dealerships and good results with some. Some dealers seem to feel that they would rather rip you off real good once instead of creating a return customer.

[owenkelley]

Well as stated earlier on this topic I did finally get my car and it was a very good experiance

but can not believe everything I went through to get it for a reasonable price. Your story is

interesting because I had a simular situation(FLIP FLOP) personal Factory Order with a deposit

and when my car came in the Dealer decided I would need to caugh up an extra 15G, and I

had to walk away from "MY CAR" as nothing was in writing..........Later found out it was sold

to a guy from Arizona for 18G ADM......O well I am glad because I like the 08 red/black stripes

better and the HIDheadlites and Interior lighting was not available on the 07.........

 

 

Red with black is a great combination. You don't see nearly as many of them as red & white, and for those that are up on the options it definitely stands out as an '08.

[DDT]

Ripping off people with finance charges is one of the reasons there are government standards for forms stating credit terms. This was prompted by an incident many years ago at a Ford dealer on the south side of Chicago. The salesmen screwed some guy on finances charges. He retaliated with a shotgun. A couple of people wound up dead.

 

Now that makes "SLAPPING THE SNOT OUT OF THEM" kind and polite?????????

[DDT]

i got ripped off once by GM...18% interest for a new car loan (learned a lesson on how dealers and sales guys work)..wrecked it after a year and bought a ford...NO GM WILL EVER BE IN MY GARAGE AGAIN..

 

 

Good job but "DONT WRECK THE FORD"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bull.......

[SSGT500]

Ironically the dealer was named Courtesy Ford.

[DDT]

"HOLY CRAP"

 

Ruined that decent name???????????????????

[TurboGT]

Ironically the dealer was named Courtesy Ford.

Which Courtesy Ford dealer was it? There are several across the country with that name. Mine is in Conyers, GA - I can't believe they would do that to anyone that was buying on good faith.

[SSGT500]

It was in Chicago. Back in the 60's. A lot of crap happened in Chicago in the 60's.

[DDT]

It was in Chicago. Back in the 60's. A lot of crap happened in Chicago in the 60's.

 

And S.Chicago is a fine Upstanding Safe Community now?????????????????

[SSGT500]

And S.Chicago is a fine Upstanding Safe Community now?????????????????

Are you kidding? That's where Barack lives.

[JimC]

Here is a good dealer centrally located dealer near Frenso, cA.

Their motto: No suits No ties No lies.

 

You will feel like your at home form the sec. you walk into this dealership.

There service is the best I have found in the bay area.

I travel 107miles one-way for warranty service, I will not go to any dealer in my area.

 

Why do I travel that far?

Local dealers cost for my car at the time I bought was 120 to 86.500K plus DMV, plus Sales Tax, plus GGT, plus Destination charge, plus Detail Charges. Cha-ching Cha-Ching.

 

My old dealer laughed at me when I offered to pay 5 or even 10k over MSR. I even offered to pay their posted mark up price, 70k plus tax, plus DMV, I was told the car was sold to some fool for 120k; I’d have to do a lot better if I wanted it.

I walked.

Their service (service at all dealer in my area) is piss poor the Dealers Can not even FIND and/ or FIX a Recalls, and my old dealer even charges for factory issued flashes for new vehicles still under factory warranty, that’s just wrong.

 

There is much more I could add. I hated Ford at the time, and had my defective truck for sale.

I was saved.

 

The truth is there are good dealer that care.

Sadly, there are more piss poor dealer that don't give a flying: censored: about you, only your money. Being Nice or Angry doesn't make a difference to them because they just don't care.

 

If anyone in the Bay Area, central cA area or even LA is in need of a good dealer here it is.

 

Westside Ford

1503 8th Street

Firebaugh, CA 93622

1 559 659-3951

 

Sale Manager: Mike

My Sale Rep: Debbie (Both great people)

Serv Managers: Gary or Martin (pronounced Marteen)

Top Notch Mech: Rod (Service is great these people know their stuff)

Paint and body shop is very good as well, they restore cars, working on a Elennor right now.

Office staff is friendly, knowledgeable and Great

 

They are reasonable and don't try to take people to the cleaners, they won't waste your time or miss-lead you or string you on.

They will fix your vehicle right the first time and won't juke you around.

 

I used to work for one of the the most well known corp. in the world. I provided Customer Service as well a host of other tech training to technicians and others.

So I can recommend them with confidence:

I aslo recommended them to ford as a SAI approved shop that is how good they are. (They don't have a Dyno)

 

Maybe we should start a post with the names of Dealers that proved Fair "Sales Deals" and have good "Service Dept.".

[msw.63]

OK!, back on topic, here's my story...

 

I was fortunate to be invited to the Ford Media event in the SF Bay Area back in April 2006, and was given the opportunity to drive a 475HP prototype Tungsten 'vert, and a private dinner with the entire lead engineers at SVT.

 

Point #1 I want to address, the SVT folks were very clear with me, they told me they were looking at a 3 year build with about 10k cars per year, followed by the statement, "we'll build as many as they'll sell"

 

Additionally to a man they were all disgusted at the high ADM's (20k+) that most lists were starting at, at that point, but all said they and Ford Corp. had no control over what the dealers did....

 

After I spent the weekend with these great gearheads, I called dozens of dealers from San Diego, CA. to Portland OR. to inquire about lists and how much $$$, here's what I found, again, this was April 2006.

 

Most dealers had little or no information, some were amazed at my knowledge, and my recent weekend spent with the SVT folks. They didn't have a list, weren't going to start one, as they didn't even know when or if they were going to get one (even though most of my calls were to SVT certified dealers)

 

Many were short and/or rude, car sold, dealership owner keeping it for himself, or list closed etc.

 

The ones that had a list had varying ADM's, most in California were 20k plus...I said no thanks, I don't need to be the first on the block to have one. (oddly enough, in the back of my head I wanted a 2008, as I have a 1968 KR, so I thought the 40 year deal would be a natural, nevertheless, I wanted to get one soon).

 

I was able to get onto 2 lists in Oregon, the first was with Butler Ford in Ashland Oregon, with a $1,000 refundable deposit, BUT, but I was number #9 on the list. I did have a confirmed vehicle order confimation with my name on it and they told to expect a 12-14 month wait. I gave them my credit card for the deposit.

 

That keep me happy for a couple of weeks, and I started up on the phones again, and got on a list with Lithia Ford in Roseburg Oregon with NO money down, but they were asking $10k over MSRP. I was number 2 on the list. About 6 months later, some time in the fall of 2006, I rec'd a call from the salesman, he told me that the guy with the first position fell out, and it was my turn at bat, they had a black strip delete (both sets, the over-the-top, and side strips) He emailed me pics, and she looked very menacing....I asked him if I could call him with my decision tomorrow, he said no problem...His timing couldn't have been worse, as there were some personal issues that req'd me to focus on these more important family matters. I called him the next day an politely declined. **Great experence, this guy true to his word called me 6 months later without a deposit, and offered per our discussion earlier...

 

After waiting about 16 months with the original dealer, I got tired of waiting, basically (and I hate to admit this), wasn't really interested anymore, you know, LIFE HAPPENS, you move on. So I call the dealer (I hadn't heard boo from in months...) and request a refund, NO problem, money is refunded.

 

I tell me wife I got the money back, she says, YOU IDIOT! THATS THE CAR YOU WANT GO AND GET BACK ON A LIST!!

 

One of my clients and good friend (who had a Legend Lime 2006 GT Mustang) were taking and he expresses his interest in the new GT500, I had just attened the Nor-Cal Mini-Nats at Sears Point, and had the HP juices flowing, when I tell Tim, go to your local dealer and see what you can negotiate for 2 cars. He visits Kendall Ford in Eugene, OR. in early Sept 2007, where he gets 2 cars for $3000 over per car. Tim orders a Vapor w/black strips coupe, I order a Vista Blue/white strip delete coupe (mine with zero options, I just wanted a striped muscle car, like the old days)

 

His allocation comes up first, and picks his car up around Halloween, I'm back to waiting with no info from the delaer, I call, send emails, NO info, no return calls. They did tell me in the beginning that I would likely see the car in Feb 2008. I beleive he was somewhat satisfied, other than being shuffled from one person to the other from employee turnover.

 

It's late November, Thankgiving weekend, and I see a car advertised both here at stangsunleahed, and the same car on Craigslist, it was a fully loaded 2008 black 'vert for 3k over. I wanted a coupe, but I knew my wife really wanted a 'vert, and us married guys know how to make mama happy...It really didn't matter to me, I just wanted that BADASS motor!

 

OK, I know its been a long story, I call the dealer on that Friday (most people had the day off for the 4 day weekend), I speak with the sales mgr. He says it has been a very slow week, and he NEEDS to sell a car, any car. I tell him make it an MSRP deal, and I'll drive up (they're 180 miles north of me) and do the deal that day, he comes down to $1500 over, I say no thanx, he says give me something extra over the MSRP, I say OK, I'll go to $53,000 even, the MSRP was $52780.00, so I got the car for $220 over MSRP, I'm happy, he's sold the car, they had it on the floor for about 6 weeks (BTW, they did have it adverted originally for 20k over, I have the label as well).

 

My wife and I drove up, they got us in/testdrive/paperwork/gas fill up/out in 50 minutes, that experience was good, except I've since learned that the GT500's were supposed to come with a 'vert boot cover, and no one there knows anything about those, and the 3 people I worked with no longer work there...

 

There's my deal, over done, I love this car!!!!

 

Interesting you mention Lithia Ford in OR. After reading a post by Joker, I contacted Lithia Ford in Fresno, Stan Green, and worked an MSRP deal with him while I was in Afghanistan. This was back in DEC 07 while ADMs were still prevalent. Stan told me that Lithia in Fresno did not have ADMs for any of their vehicles. I don't know how long they had this policy, but I know that Joker and I were both able to pick up vehicles that we special ordered for MSRP. The folks at Lithia were nothing but professional, and they are telling me my GT500 will be there for pickup no later than 11 APR. I wholeheartedly recommend them.

[TurboGT]

Interesting you mention Lithia Ford in OR. After reading a post by Joker, I contacted Lithia Ford in Fresno, Stan Green, and worked an MSRP deal with him while I was in Afghanistan. This was back in DEC 07 while ADMs were still prevalent. Stan told me that Lithia in Fresno did not have ADMs for any of their vehicles. I don't know how long they had this policy, but I know that Joker and I were both able to pick up vehicles that we special ordered for MSRP. The folks at Lithia were nothing but professional, and they are telling me my GT500 will be there for pickup no later than 11 APR. I wholeheartedly recommend them.

Mike,

First of all - I assume you are in the military and I want to thank you for serving our country!

Secondly, I'm glad you found an honest dealer to work with you while you were overseas. I hope you are home or will be soon. Aside from a warm welcome from your family I can't can't imagine a better homecoming present than a brand spanking new Shelby! Enjoy your new ride.

Tim :D

[DDT]

Here is a good dealer centrally located dealer near Frenso, cA.

Their motto: No suits No ties No lies.

 

You will feel like your at home form the sec. you walk into this dealership.

There service is the best I have found in the bay area.

I travel 107miles one-way for warranty service, I will not go to any dealer in my area.

 

Why do I travel that far?

Local dealers cost for my car at the time I bought was 120 to 86.500K plus DMV, plus Sales Tax, plus GGT, plus Destination charge, plus Detail Charges. Cha-ching Cha-Ching.

 

My old dealer laughed at me when I offered to pay 5 or even 10k over MSR. I even offered to pay their posted mark up price, 70k plus tax, plus DMV, I was told the car was sold to some fool for 120k; I’d have to do a lot better if I wanted it.

I walked.

Their service (service at all dealer in my area) is piss poor the Dealers Can not even FIND and/ or FIX a Recalls, and my old dealer even charges for factory issued flashes for new vehicles still under factory warranty, that’s just wrong.

 

There is much more I could add. I hated Ford at the time, and had my defective truck for sale.

I was saved.

 

The truth is there are good dealer that care.

Sadly, there are more piss poor dealer that don't give a flying: censored: about you, only your money. Being Nice or Angry doesn't make a difference to them because they just don't care.

 

If anyone in the Bay Area, central cA area or even LA is in need of a good dealer here it is.

 

Westside Ford

1503 8th Street

Firebaugh, CA 93622

1 559 659-3951

 

Sale Manager: Mike

My Sale Rep: Debbie (Both great people)

Serv Managers: Gary or Martin (pronounced Marteen)

Top Notch Mech: Rod (Service is great these people know their stuff)

Paint and body shop is very good as well, they restore cars, working on a Elennor right now.

Office staff is friendly, knowledgeable and Great

 

They are reasonable and don't try to take people to the cleaners, they won't waste your time or miss-lead you or string you on.

They will fix your vehicle right the first time and won't juke you around.

 

I used to work for one of the the most well known corp. in the world. I provided Customer Service as well a host of other tech training to technicians and others.

So I can recommend them with confidence:

I aslo recommended them to ford as a SAI approved shop that is how good they are. (They don't have a Dyno)

 

Maybe we should start a post with the names of Dealers that proved Fair "Sales Deals" and have good "Service Dept.".

 

Thanks Jim,

The kind of Dealer we all try to find;

If anyone in So. Cal. Knows a Dealer like this one Please Post it.

I think Firebough is streaching it for me.

 

Oh Ya, and I also found a couple Dealers that stated they sale their GT500s with "NO ADM"

and they told me their Allotments were already spoken for with a long list of back ups.

 

Drew Ford in Mesa near San Diego was one of them..............

[DDT]

Are you kidding? That's where Barack lives.

 

And "BAD BAD LEROY BROWN"????????????????????

[DDT]

Not because it was requested but thaught I would share the experience of;

 

"THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY"

 

I will not name names in this story because of my membership in the Local Mustang Club,

so here it goes;

 

I was invited to look at a red GT500 07 Coupe at a local dealer by Sales Manager that belongs

to the Mustang club I am a member. It was Jan. 07 and the car was in the show room and

was purfect............OOOOoooops except for the all black interior (I knew my exact car and

it has to have the red accent interior) so I told him this and he tried to interest me in a Parnelly

Jones Saleen Mustang and I thanked him and insisted on the GT500 optioned "MY WAY". I shook

his hand thanked him again and left. Notice that I did not ask for a test drive as it was not the car

I wanted and nothing was said about price.

 

Few days later he calls me and says he will order another car to my specs and I said great, let me

know when it comes in. He replied it will be my personal order so come down and place 1K deposit.

Cool, first guy willing to personal Factory order, so I made it down and gave deposit and he asked

me why I did not make a deal earlier as he heard about my test drives. I made it clear to him that

I had a bad attitude with the "ADMs"on this car and he seemed to be OK with that. I got my DORA

and thanked him and left feeling great but no written sales contract ........

 

I agreed with his estimate of 6-8 weeks was ordered on 2-11-07. He called me a few days later and

said "THE POWERS TO BE WANT 15K ADM"..............

I replied; "I CAN'T GUARRANTY I WILL PAY THAT" as you know my attitude with the ADMs, but let me

know when it comes in as it is still my order. He said OK but still no written contract......

 

Suprise he called me on 3-20-07 "your car is in" but I was busy working so I told him to prep it and

I would be there the next morning..............

 

So my delemma, the only thing seperating me from my Factory order car was price. So not feeling

confident I went to my Credit Union and recieved cashiers check exact amount for MSRP+TAX/LISC.

and 5K cash to try and deal.

 

Went to the dealer early and waited when he arrived seemed upset at me that I was there early

and took pics of the car. We sat down and I told him I have cashiers check for the car at MSRP

+TAX/LICS. and ready to deal. He said "NO DEALING" 15K ADM or walk away from your car.

Very disapointed but was not surprised. Promised myself next time it will be in writing.........

 

Although I have the uppermost respect for this fellow (he does alot for the local club) I reminded

him that we never nailed down a purchase price and sorry your not the only store in town............

[Dave-Washington]

Good experience: Downtown Ford in Sacramento. Scott Ikesaki (hope I didn't butcher your last name Scott, I don't have the paperwork with me) was the sales guy (and a Team Shelby poster). Easy to work with, helped arrange transportation, we did the deal with a virtual handshake. I asked if they wanted a deposit and Scott said that once they made a deal, they considered it done, and it wasn't necessary. After dealing with some sales guys in Spokane (Washington dealers still think huge ADM's are the norm on these cars: 1 local dealer is asking more for his SGT than the MSRP of a GT500) dealing with Downtown was a relief. If this was ebay, my 1-liner would be "would definitely buy from again".

[DDT]

Good experience: Downtown Ford in Sacramento. Scott Ikesaki (hope I didn't butcher your last name Scott, I don't have the paperwork with me) was the sales guy (and a Team Shelby poster). Easy to work with, helped arrange transportation, we did the deal with a virtual handshake. I asked if they wanted a deposit and Scott said that once they made a deal, they considered it done, and it wasn't necessary. After dealing with some sales guys in Spokane (Washington dealers still think huge ADM's are the norm on these cars: 1 local dealer is asking more for his SGT than the MSRP of a GT500) dealing with Downtown was a relief. If this was ebay, my 1-liner would be "would definitely buy from again".

 

Glad to hear of your good experience;

How about some more detail. What car did you buy????????

 

Color- Options- Price-Details please???????????

[07shelbygt109]

I live in Pulaski Tennessee, a small town about 75 miles South of Nashville, and as things go in small towns we tend to deal with the same people year after year. My family had purchased most of our personal and business vehicles from Sharp Motor Company for the better part of 50 years. I would estimate we purchased at least 30 vehicles from and recommended countless others to this dealership through the years. Plus we bought several Chevrolet products from their sister GM dealership across town. I guess you could say we were pretty loyal customers.

The day Ford announced they would build the GT500 I drove to the dealership and talked to a friend of mine who was the finance manager and told him I wanted one. He knew nothing about them so we went to talk to the owner. He said he had heard the rumors but didn't know they were actually going to make them. I showed them the article on Fords website and stated I didn't care what the sticker was, I wanted one. My friend told me he would keep me posted and let me know when I could order one. I stopped by at least once every two weeks to see if they had any information and they never seemed to know anything. It seemed like every bit of information they had came from me. I even had to tell them when the order guides were posted online.

I'm not sure if the Barrett-Jackson auction was before or after the order guides came out so I might have my timeline off a bit but it really doesn't matter for the point the auction makes in my story. The night of the auction the owner of the dealership happened to come in my store as the GT500 was rolling across the block. He was rather astonished at the 600K price it bought and I was worried that he would start talking about an ADM. He assured me though that the first GT500 on his lot would be mine and not to worry about the pricing. I stated that I wouldn't pay an ADM and if he was going to charge me one then I needed to know so I could start looking elsewhere. He told me I had nothing to worry about and that the car would be mine.

As soon as the order guides were posted I went to the dealership and sat down with the sales manager to place my order. It was a black coupe with the Shaker 1000, tungsten stripes and black interior. He told me he would place the order that day and let me know when to expect the car. I restated at the time that I didn't want to pay an ADM and he told me not to worry about it. A few days later he came in my store and I asked him if he had placed the order and he seemed to want to avoid the topic. I finally drug it out of him that the owner had started talking about an ADM but the car was ordered. I told him I would take it up with the owner when the car came in since I was in no hurry and the weren't sure when the car would be made anyway. I figured since we were in such a small market the car would be one of the last few out the door.

As time rolled on I was starting to get worried that my deal was not going to go through but I had faith in a dealership that had treated us so well over the years and patiently waited for my GT500 to roll off the truck. Well, one night on my way home my fears were confirmed. Sitting in the showroom was a red GT500 convertible. I started to get mad but thought maybe it was a dealer transfer and my car hadn't made it yet. The next morning I stopped by and looked at the sticker. The car was shipped to Sharp Motor Company from Ford. The owner, Preston Murrey, had changed the order after I placed it. The same man that looked me in the eye and told me I would have the first GT500 to come in to his dealership had flat out lied to me. To say I was livid is an understatement. I went straight to his office to confront him and was basically handed a load of BS. He wanted me to pay a 25K ADM on a car that I didn't order. I informed him that he had lost my family's business forever.

At this point my hopes were dashed and I had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to wait and find a used one on a lot in a few years as I wanted an 07 and figured all the good deals had already been made.

A few weeks later I accompanied my girlfriend to Cookeville TN to pay a speeding ticket and convinced her to take the long way home so we could hit some of the small town dealerships with the hope of finding a GT500 sitting on the lot with no ADM. The only promising stop we made was in Sparta TN at Valley Ford. I talked to a salesman there, his name slips my mind but he was a very nice guy, who didn't know if they were getting one or not but he took my name and number and said he would call if he heard anything.

A few months rolled by and I had just about given up completely. Every where I looked I had come up empty and I was kicking myself for putting my faith in just one dealership. I had completely lost interest in a Shelby and had decided to build a hot-rod F-100 instead. Well, my cell phone rang one morning and it was the guy from Valley Ford. He told me they had just unloaded a black Shelby GT with silver stripes. I had no idea what a Shelby GT was but started doing some research. When I discovered that they were being built like the original GT-350s I decided that this was the car for me and started dealing. The guy couldn't tell me much about the car since his manager had all the paperwork with him and the car had not been put into the system yet so we started playing phone tag. As we were talking back and forth I made calls to several other dealers looking for one exactly like I wanted and found out most of the dealerships had no clue as to what these cars were. By the close of business that day we still hadn't made any progress and his manager would not be in until the next day. That night I figured out how to identify the Shelby GTs by Fords online window sticker and saw that Steve Williams Ford in Lawrenceburg TN, which is about twenty miles away, had one in stock.

The next morning my salesman at Valley Ford called and had all the information on the car. It was a base GT with no IUP and the Shaker 500. I told him I really wanted the IUP and I had found another car I wanted to check on. I called Steve Williams Ford to but had trouble getting any information because everyone was in a sales meeting. I finally got a call back from Brock Reynolds who was the sales manager and told him what I was looking for. He said the car was on the showroom floor and it was loaded like I wanted but they wanted a 4K ADM. (Keep in mind that at this time Shelby GTs were still getting ADMs) I told him I would write him a check for sticker and nothing more and that I was buying a car that day whether it was from him or from Valley, I didn't care. He called me back about fifteen minutes later and told me I could have the car for sticker if I was serious about buying it. I told him to prep it and I would be there in an hour.

I called my guy back at Valley and told him the bad news, which I hated to do because he was trying his best to get the deal done but the car he had just wasn't loaded like I wanted. He said he understood and appreciated me giving him the chance at a sale. I really wish I could remember his name, he was a class act and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anybody in that area.

When I arrived at Steve Williams Ford the Shelby was sitting out front waiting on me. Brock and Brian Greene, a salesman I knew from school that works there, met me at the door and had all the paperwork filled out. The owner, Harvey Clay, even came in to introduce himself. Everyone was extraordinarily nice and it was a very quick transaction. I was on the way home in my Shelby in about thirty minutes. It was by far and away the best experience I have ever had buying a car.

I went back to the same dealership this past December when I started looking for a truck and they were just as courteous as they were when I bought the Shelby. Brock even had one of his salesmen drive a truck over to me so I could take look at it. I ended up buying the truck but couldn't get there until almost closing time to pick it up and had my infant daughter with me because her mother had to work late. In the rush to get everything done I left her diaper bag in the back floorboard of my trade in. My salesman, Dewayne McGill, called me while I was on the way home to tell me and instead of having me turn around and come back he brought it to me.

I had almost no history with this dealership, I did purchase a Cobra from there ten years ago when it was under different ownership, but that didn't matter. They treated me as if I had been buying there for years. They truly are a class act and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for Ford products.

[DDT]

Glad you made a deal and found a Dealership to treat you rite...........

 

Your story sounds too familier as I was also a loyal customer with a local

Dealership here in So. Cal. , but when it came to the GT500 I also new

more about the product and was insulted when they said I was not a serious

buyer at MSRP, Insisted on 20G ADM without personal order and basically

treated me like a MUSHROOM. Yes, loyalty works both ways my friends...........

[gassman]

My experience was great. They kept dropping the price because 2 KRs had arrived. So I got it a msrp. I could have waited for a 2009 but they had the car I wanted to the T so I pulled the trigger and it felt GOOD!