Macstang
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2014
- Threads
- 16
- Messages
- 102
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- Lakeville, CT
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 Shelby GT500
- Thread starter
- #1
Hello Everyone,
I'll be honest, like most people here, I do a lot more reading than posting. I've been into the performance car scene for 4 years now and during that time I've done a lot of reading and learning at the SRT forum, Camaro forum, and now here. What I've learned most is that for just about every question or issue, there are several people on the respective car forums who have already been down that road and who can help make it easier, faster, lower cost, or more fun. And for that I'm immeasurably grateful. It's in that spirit that I write this, in the hopes of saving someone from the same pain I've just been through.
When the GT350 was just a rumor, I was interested. Unfortunately I didn't have the same confidence many of you did and so I didn't attempt to purchase one until well after the car's launch. Of course it was widely praised and a car in crazy demand. To make things even more difficult, I wanted an R-Model. My current performance car has about 8,000 miles and 7,500 of them are either at the track or (more accurately) in transit to any number of tracks in the northeast. As a result, I wanted the car which has that narrow focus, I daily drive an SUV so my "car" is primarily for fun. Like many here, I tried to use a combination of emails and phone calls to blanket my geographic region to find a dealer who would take my order at a reasonable price. I had little success. I had some crazy offers, $30K+ over MSRP which I'd never entertain. I also had some forum people try to "sell" me their lower priced allocation. One was close, the person offered me an allocation for $5K in his pocket + $10K over MSRP. But it just seemed fishy and I honestly stopped looking.
Then one of the dealers I called months before called me out of the blue asking if I was still interested in the car. We went back and forth a bit, it was in the late winter of 2016 and finally in March we made a deal. It was going to be $10K over MSRP for an R order. As soon as the order banks for the 2017's opened (April as I recall) I put down a $5,000 deposit and an VOC was generated. I waited a few months before calling Ford Performance and they were able to confirm my order was in deed for a GT350R. I called FP about once per month. After a few calls, I'd ask about the allocation and each time I was told the same thing, they couldn't tell if the dealer had an allocation and I should ask my dealer to check with his or her Regional Ford Rep. So I did...
On two occasions through the process I asked my sales rep to check in with his Ford Regional Rep to confirm they really had not just a GT350 but an R-Model allocation. Both times I rec'd confirmation via email that in fact the rep did confirm the allocation. As the months passed, I continued very minor nudging, and eventually was told that my order was going to be "Pulled" in September of 2016. On the first Friday of October I called FP and was told that my order was still on UMH (Unscheduled Materials Hold, basically in total limbo, an order on paper, nothing more.)
I had a trip planned at the end of October and during that time I decided that when I came back, I was going to take this up the chain a bit and see what was going on. So I reached out to the Sales Manager at the dealership. I started with email to him both to arrange a mutually agreeable time to speak and to give him a heads up so he would be prepared for the call. Well, when we finally spoke it was a crushing phone call. He told me that they did not have an allocation for an R-Model, or any other GT350 for that matter at this point and they weren't getting one for the foreseeable future. He did offer to connect me with his cashier so they could refund my $5,000 deposit. I think that was done in an effort to get me off the phone before I could argue about the six months they had been promising me a car and holding my money hostage. I realized that, arguing with this person would do me no good and I did want my deposit back so I asked him only one question. I said that on multiple occasions, his sales person had confirmed with the Regional Rep that the allocation was real, how did it fall through? He said, and I'm sure he was lying, that he had just found out they didn't have an allocation. He made it sound like Ford took it from the dealership unexpectedly. A boldface lie I'm sure.
As I write this, I still don't see the credit on my CC account, hopefully it just takes a few days to hit but I'm faced with the decision what to do now? Sadly I do not think it is going to be possible to get a GT350R with no relationship at this late stage in the game. Further, the distaste in my mouth from this experience has really soured me from Ford all together. The 2017 ZL1 is just starting to ship and I'm strongly considering that vehicle. I'm also planning to test drive a Grand Sport, a car that - at least from a pure performance standpoint, is superior. I just don't think I'm a Corvette guy. Each time I see a GT350 at the track, I identify with the owner and I can see myself in that car. But I suppose it was not meant to be. From an ethical standpoint, I find it both hard to believe and totally pointless for the dealership to have strung me along. It's not like they tried to switch me into a more easily attainable GT350 at the same ADM. I don't understand the process or why they would have done what they did. It has only turned me into an evangelist against them and to the brand they sell.
If I ever find myself in a situation where I'm buying a car that has an allocation process, I won't wait this long to speak with the upper management at the dealership. I think the salesman just lied. He wanted to take a big order and didn't care about the consequences. I thought he was on my side but now I don't think that's true. Sad state of affairs if this is how Ford sells cars but it is what it is. At least with the Ford GT, the company itself handled the vetting process. Maybe they should do the same with the GT350, Raptor, Focus RS, or any other vehicles Ford makes in such pitifully low quantities that us consumers are forced to pay prices above MSRP. Yet the company cries about having to shut down Mustang production because of slow sales? Easy fix, make more GT350Rs.
I'm done.
DM
I'll be honest, like most people here, I do a lot more reading than posting. I've been into the performance car scene for 4 years now and during that time I've done a lot of reading and learning at the SRT forum, Camaro forum, and now here. What I've learned most is that for just about every question or issue, there are several people on the respective car forums who have already been down that road and who can help make it easier, faster, lower cost, or more fun. And for that I'm immeasurably grateful. It's in that spirit that I write this, in the hopes of saving someone from the same pain I've just been through.
When the GT350 was just a rumor, I was interested. Unfortunately I didn't have the same confidence many of you did and so I didn't attempt to purchase one until well after the car's launch. Of course it was widely praised and a car in crazy demand. To make things even more difficult, I wanted an R-Model. My current performance car has about 8,000 miles and 7,500 of them are either at the track or (more accurately) in transit to any number of tracks in the northeast. As a result, I wanted the car which has that narrow focus, I daily drive an SUV so my "car" is primarily for fun. Like many here, I tried to use a combination of emails and phone calls to blanket my geographic region to find a dealer who would take my order at a reasonable price. I had little success. I had some crazy offers, $30K+ over MSRP which I'd never entertain. I also had some forum people try to "sell" me their lower priced allocation. One was close, the person offered me an allocation for $5K in his pocket + $10K over MSRP. But it just seemed fishy and I honestly stopped looking.
Then one of the dealers I called months before called me out of the blue asking if I was still interested in the car. We went back and forth a bit, it was in the late winter of 2016 and finally in March we made a deal. It was going to be $10K over MSRP for an R order. As soon as the order banks for the 2017's opened (April as I recall) I put down a $5,000 deposit and an VOC was generated. I waited a few months before calling Ford Performance and they were able to confirm my order was in deed for a GT350R. I called FP about once per month. After a few calls, I'd ask about the allocation and each time I was told the same thing, they couldn't tell if the dealer had an allocation and I should ask my dealer to check with his or her Regional Ford Rep. So I did...
On two occasions through the process I asked my sales rep to check in with his Ford Regional Rep to confirm they really had not just a GT350 but an R-Model allocation. Both times I rec'd confirmation via email that in fact the rep did confirm the allocation. As the months passed, I continued very minor nudging, and eventually was told that my order was going to be "Pulled" in September of 2016. On the first Friday of October I called FP and was told that my order was still on UMH (Unscheduled Materials Hold, basically in total limbo, an order on paper, nothing more.)
I had a trip planned at the end of October and during that time I decided that when I came back, I was going to take this up the chain a bit and see what was going on. So I reached out to the Sales Manager at the dealership. I started with email to him both to arrange a mutually agreeable time to speak and to give him a heads up so he would be prepared for the call. Well, when we finally spoke it was a crushing phone call. He told me that they did not have an allocation for an R-Model, or any other GT350 for that matter at this point and they weren't getting one for the foreseeable future. He did offer to connect me with his cashier so they could refund my $5,000 deposit. I think that was done in an effort to get me off the phone before I could argue about the six months they had been promising me a car and holding my money hostage. I realized that, arguing with this person would do me no good and I did want my deposit back so I asked him only one question. I said that on multiple occasions, his sales person had confirmed with the Regional Rep that the allocation was real, how did it fall through? He said, and I'm sure he was lying, that he had just found out they didn't have an allocation. He made it sound like Ford took it from the dealership unexpectedly. A boldface lie I'm sure.
As I write this, I still don't see the credit on my CC account, hopefully it just takes a few days to hit but I'm faced with the decision what to do now? Sadly I do not think it is going to be possible to get a GT350R with no relationship at this late stage in the game. Further, the distaste in my mouth from this experience has really soured me from Ford all together. The 2017 ZL1 is just starting to ship and I'm strongly considering that vehicle. I'm also planning to test drive a Grand Sport, a car that - at least from a pure performance standpoint, is superior. I just don't think I'm a Corvette guy. Each time I see a GT350 at the track, I identify with the owner and I can see myself in that car. But I suppose it was not meant to be. From an ethical standpoint, I find it both hard to believe and totally pointless for the dealership to have strung me along. It's not like they tried to switch me into a more easily attainable GT350 at the same ADM. I don't understand the process or why they would have done what they did. It has only turned me into an evangelist against them and to the brand they sell.
If I ever find myself in a situation where I'm buying a car that has an allocation process, I won't wait this long to speak with the upper management at the dealership. I think the salesman just lied. He wanted to take a big order and didn't care about the consequences. I thought he was on my side but now I don't think that's true. Sad state of affairs if this is how Ford sells cars but it is what it is. At least with the Ford GT, the company itself handled the vetting process. Maybe they should do the same with the GT350, Raptor, Focus RS, or any other vehicles Ford makes in such pitifully low quantities that us consumers are forced to pay prices above MSRP. Yet the company cries about having to shut down Mustang production because of slow sales? Easy fix, make more GT350Rs.
I'm done.
DM
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