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Dealerships Suck

Clint Beastwood

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#21
Lots of good advise here. I usually buy outright, and don't have USAA but the negotiating factors here are great. I never buy anything expensive on the first day of looking. Especially a car.
Tell them you’re there to test drive a focus st, then ask to try a fiesta as a “well while I’m here” lol. Keep em guessing!
 


OP
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Thread Starter #22
Tell them you’re there to test drive a focus st, then ask to try a fiesta as a “well while I’m here” lol. Keep em guessing!
At that point I'll test drive a Shelby Mustang, then a Raptor THEN a Fiesta just for giggles. Then I'll drive off in my own Fiesta just to rub it in their faces lol.
 


danbfree

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#23
I have been drinking so this is stream of consciousness, apologies in advance.

If you have usaa, use their car buying service.
If you do not, use truecar to get printouts and offers from them first. Bring paper- physical paper. That makes it real. Have your own financing squared away but do not tell them that. Get their price offer printout during negotiations, then mention you have your own financing later. When asked about the rate (they will) lie and say 1.9-2.9% or so, and make them work to obtain a better rate. Write things down. Waste their time, then leave because you are uncomfortable being pressured. Chances are someone will come running after you to try to get you to sign right away, because they have done no business while you were wasting their time. Dress nicely but not stuffy, and keep things professional. You aren’t there to make a friend, and being unfriendly feels “wrong” but your relationship with this person is transactional, like a prostitute. You each have an objective and ideally land in the middle.

Do not be rushed. Rushed decisions are rarely good decisions.

Take notes while talking to them, occasionally reference your notes, and if they say something that doesn’t match what they said earlier - ask them to clarify which statement is true. Negotiations are like a fight - the first one to backpedal gives up ground and will probably lose. You don’t *have* to buy the car. Remember that. You can walk away. They will try to get you excited, get you chomping at the bit, then they’ll spin the numbers for a low monthly payment for 72 months and you’ll be screwed. Do your own math. Write things down - people who write things down during negotiations aren’t easy marks and they’ll likely try to get you out of there as quickly as possible.

Call and ask what color ST’s they have available. When you go in to buy, you had your heart set on whatever color they don’t have, and you’ll expect a little something to accept something other than your preferred color.

Go test drive a gti, a veloster n, and a few other cars. Get brochures and have them tucked into the back of the little notebook you take to shop for the car. Don’t reference them, but make sure they can be seen. Show you have options.
Or, you just say "I'm gonna use Costco/True Car/USAA buying service" and good dealerships will know immediately you aren't stupid and just say "Well,let's just give you a little better price than that then and make a deal so we can just move a car quickly for the dealer sales numbers..." and that's what happened with me. Dealers make most of their sales money (not counting service) on volume and financing kickbacks from their preferred lenders. They then offered me $1250 dealer discount on top of the $3000 rebate and even brought in the exactly optioned/color I wanted from another dealer. When they then tried to go too low on my trade after they brought that other car in, I said "nope, just can't do it unless I get $500 more on the trade" and they sure as hell didn't want to be stuck with an unsold Fiesta that they had to bring in from another dealer, LOL. Got mine for $18k sales price with just the black wheels/red calipers, which is not mind-blowing, but considering we don't have sales tax, where they usually have to offer better deals to move cars, it's pretty good!
 


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#25
What all was added on there to hike the price $7k??

Most things dealer added on you can just refuse to buy. Alarm, clear paint protection etc all gets installed beforehand they dont take it off when you say no.
 


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South Pole
#26
Stealerships they call them.

I was 'on the back foot' from the word go. They knew I came hundreds of miles away to get my car. Got mine used, but at a proper Ford dealer. I guess the previous owner traded it on a Mustang, like every other former FiST owner. That said, my sales woman knew FUCK ALL about this car. She underlined one of the features that I think was Electric Power-Assist Speed-Sensing Steering and said it was a good thing. That's it. That's all. Just that. The test drive was 2 straight lines that amounted to 2 miles. The deal was already screaming, as the price had been dropped $1,000 a week before, so I was great with it, and I already knew what one drove like. We then sat around and talked about her son for 30 minutes while the finances person was busy.

I mean...Jesus. If they told me they had just picked her off of the street yesterday I would have just nodded, and said I believed them.

(The blonde early 20s finance girl was a babe of the first order. I think she probably makes some nice money just so people can be in the same room as her and her smiling and laughing with them the whole time.)
 


OP
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Thread Starter #27
What all was added on there to hike the price $7k??

Most things dealer added on you can just refuse to buy. Alarm, clear paint protection etc all gets installed beforehand they dont take it off when you say no.
Well that shitty graphics package was an extra grand, then they had 2 more protection packages which were probably bs anyways, then he said the online price included every rebate (student, veteran, first responder, fire fighter etc.) Total all that up to an extra 7k I guess. But the car itself isn't even worth that much. They're just upcharging it cause of the Recaros.
 


MagnetiseST

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#28
My dad is looking for a new car, and he loves the Fiesta ST so we decided to look at one at a Ford dealership just down the street. They had an orange one with the Recaros listed for $21,000 which sounded like a great deal. When we got there, we saw that it had these horrific decals on the side that completely ruin the car. We sat in the seats and decided that we liked them (I would probably take them from him and put them in my car lol) and asked about the price. The salesman had the nerve to say $28,000. I told him it was listed online for 7 grand less, and he said that it had extra dealership packages (including an extra grand for the decals) on it and the online price included the rebates. We asked him why you would list it online for so much less, and he said that "It's okay since every other dealership in the world does it to lure people in." My dad and I looked at each other, told him how disgusting his practices are, and walked out. In England, it is actually illegal to do something like this. I hate dealerships and their shady practices. This dealer is Greico Ford in Fort Lauderdale. If any of you ever make it there, turn around and walk away.
Allow me to share my experience of taking my previous FiST to them for warranty work, this picture should suffice: oldfist.jpg

Long story short: had the engine replaced, they forgot to put my lower ball joint bolts back in, my passenger knuckle separated and ruined almost everything on that side of the car in the wheel well area. I traded it in shortly after this so that I didn't need to deal with any of their other short comings (a coolant line was not clamped and pissed coolant all over the place just after this as well).


Moral: don't go to Grieco Ford Ft. Lauderdale
 


Clint Beastwood

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#30
Car has been sitting since April easily. I live down the street from this place.
Who saw those decals and said "yeah - thats exactly what we need! the model... AND the type of seats! On the side of the car!" lol

that thing's like a rolling instagram shitpost
 


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#31
Allow me to share my experience of taking my previous FiST to them for warranty work, this picture should suffice: View attachment 22513

Long story short: had the engine replaced, they forgot to put my lower ball joint bolts back in, my passenger knuckle separated and ruined almost everything on that side of the car in the wheel well area. I traded it in shortly after this so that I didn't need to deal with any of their other short comings (a coolant line was not clamped and pissed coolant all over the place just after this as well).


Moral: don't go to Grieco Ford Ft. Lauderdale
:eek:
 


OP
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Thread Starter #32
Allow me to share my experience of taking my previous FiST to them for warranty work, this picture should suffice: View attachment 22513

Long story short: had the engine replaced, they forgot to put my lower ball joint bolts back in, my passenger knuckle separated and ruined almost everything on that side of the car in the wheel well area. I traded it in shortly after this so that I didn't need to deal with any of their other short comings (a coolant line was not clamped and pissed coolant all over the place just after this as well).


Moral: don't go to Grieco Ford Ft. Lauderdale
The previous owners of the dealer did a lot better of a job. Maroone and Autonation were 10x better than these jokers. Also, love the yellow seats. Never seen those before.
 


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#34
Also back to OP, dealerships do suck. Especially if you're a bad negotiator or impatient. However, there is a sucker born every minute some idiot will over pay for that ugly set-up.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #35
Also back to OP, dealerships do suck. Especially if you're a bad negotiator or impatient. However, there is a sucker born every minute some idiot will over pay for that ugly set-up.
I always bring my dad when it comes to negotiating for a car. He's older, and English, so he doesn't deal with anyone's BS.
 


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#36
Nice job having someone with you who is good at negotiating, I fell apart instantly because I wanted the car so bad (also needed) and didn't get a great deal.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #37
Nice job having someone with you who is good at negotiating, I fell apart instantly because I wanted the car so bad (also needed) and didn't get a great deal.
Yeah that's me and my mom's my issue too. Just remember, there's always a better deal possible.
 


MagnetiseST

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#38
The previous owners of the dealer did a lot better of a job. Maroone and Autonation were 10x better than these jokers. Also, love the yellow seats. Never seen those before.
Pretty sure those are Focus seats? I don't see yellow in the rears.
I work for Autonation Corporate, we cut that dealer and the Delray location because they were terrible. I also worked at in that particular store under Grieco before the new Service Manager fired me. They did a terrible job transitioning and blamed AutoNation, when in reality it was their own fault.

Yes they were Focus ST2 seats, they are still in the car, whoever bought the car has them now.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #39
I work for Autonation Corporate, we cut that dealer and the Delray location because they were terrible. I also worked at in that particular store under Grieco before the new Service Manager fired me. They did a terrible job transitioning and blamed AutoNation, when in reality it was their own fault.

Yes they were Focus ST2 seats, they are still in the car, whoever bought the car has them now.
Interesting background info. Thanks.
 


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Florence, KY
#40
Nice job having someone with you who is good at negotiating, I fell apart instantly because I wanted the car so bad (also needed) and didn't get a great deal.
That was always my issue but when I got my FoST and tried to leave 3 times during the deal because they wanted to screw me over on the price of the Focus, my trade and financing. At the end of the 'deal' I was talking to the sales manager directly before going to finance, lol. Everytime I stood up to leave I stuck out my hand because I was truly fed up each time and actually going to leave they bent over backward to keep it from happening.

Ever since then I have worked my ass off to get a good or decent deal on a car. Its hard sometimes especially when you and they both know you really want the car bad.
 




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