Ford Boss Puts the Kibosh on ‘Unreasonable’ Dealer Markups

[Bikeman315]

Well, well, well!

https://www.thedrive.com/news/44172/ford-boss-puts-the-kibosh-on-unreasonable-dealer-markups

 

[food_fanaticz]

Well, well, well!

https://www.thedrive.com/news/44172/ford-boss-puts-the-kibosh-on-unreasonable-dealer-markups

About time! Ford and other car manufacturers have to know those shady dealers that do this give their brand a bad name. It reflects back on them if they don't put a stop to it.

 

[food_fanaticz]

Good bye free market. Say hello to price controls LOL.

Ford should return all the covid emergency assistance cash they received on the backs of bus riders.

What's next? Capped oil prices? Maximium Nike price?

If I think the price is unreasonable I'm free to buy elsewhere, or from competition.

It's not like Ford's are aspirational in any sense. If your the only person with it and I want it, I have to pay.

I may not like it, and I'll remember it, chosing to never spend another dime, but, I will enjoy it because only live once and time is non renewable.

if ford wants to control allocation to dealers based on these shady practices it’s their choice. You’re acting like Ford doing the right thing to reign in unscrupulous dealers is going to be the next stop to communism lol

 

[FreePenguin]

Even though this screws me over. I agree, dealership should not be told what it can and cannot do and go back on their deals w allocation.
Ford gets paid and that’s all that matters. They should be happy their workers are getting 10x paydays.

if I can’t afford a car and next guy can, more power to them. I will find a car I can afford

 

[Bikeman315]

Even though this screws me over. I agree, dealership should not be told what it can and cannot do and go back on their deals w allocation.
Ford gets paid and that’s all that matters. They should be happy their workers are getting 10x paydays.

if I can’t afford a car and next guy can, more power to them. I will find a car I can afford

Yeah, that's not really how it works. Manufacture's have be "telling" retailers how much to charge for decades. I worked retail back in the 70's when we had fair trade laws. Then I went to work for a manufacturer. If a retailer dropped a price below FT, we would threaten them with stopping to ship. When that became illegal we offered a "suggested" retail price and one again if they decided not to follow our suggestion we could hold back their Co-Op (advertising) monies. It is still done to this day. There are many brands that are sold at the same price across multiple platforms. It's not an accident. It's the manufacturer holding firm control on their pricing. And it is their right to do so.

Many consider ADM's as a form of price gouging. Others believe it is a form of collusion. Well it is both. Neither of which is legal by the way.

Lastly "Image" matters. That is what Ford and others are realizing. They also have dealers that do play by the rules. Allowing rogue dealers to rip off the public is bad for the dealer network and, as a result, Ford's image.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

I just took delivery of a new 22 F450 a few days ago, was ordered in July. I asked when they said it was on its way if I was going to be dealing with them trying to put an adm on it. They said unequivocally not. I was talking to the sales manager when it was all getting wrapped up and he was telling me Ford Corporate was tracking these sales and making sure they were going to the customers that ordered them. He also told me if I wanted to go list it after I got it home I’d get 15k above what I paid in a heartbeat. Evidently they are getting hit up pretty hard from other dealers as well as customers when the units hit there websites when they get shipped. So many don’t realize how many are actually customer presold orders.

 

[Balr14]

My son just ordered a GT500. With any luck he will get it by August. He was lucky to find a dealer that only charged a $10k markup. All the others wanted $25k. So, I guess I would take talk about curbing unreasonable markups as just that... talk.

He is till on the list for a Z06 at list price. He ordered it as soon as he could and put $10k down. But he is number 3534, so it looks like he won't get it for about 5 years.

 

[Hack]

Lastly "Image" matters. That is what Ford and others are realizing. They also have dealers that do play by the rules. Allowing rogue dealers to rip off the public is bad for the dealer network and, as a result, Ford's image.

I disagree with calling it collusion, but I do agree with this. Image matters. I just bought a GR86 for slightly under MSRP. I realize some Toyota dealers are doing the ADM thing as well, but as a customer I was happy to be able to get a good price as well as decent trade in value.

I'm not planning to ever go back to the dealer that charged me a $5k ADM on a GT350. Yes I realize I could have just chosen not to buy, but even though I made the decision to pay it at the time, and I support their freedom to charge it, I'm still not happy about it.

Edit: typically I blame the manufacturer for not building enough cars more so than blaming the dealer for trying to get more money. If Ford would have just built more GT350s, no dealers would have been able to over-charge. The market would have been flooded with plenty of cars. I understand post Covid all the manufacturers are having trouble meeting demand, so it's a little different situation now. But in 2015 it was a deliberate decision by Ford to not build enough GT350s to meet the demand.

I see certain things as fair or unfair - such as subscription fees for remote starting that Toyota is talking about doing. I am not at all interested in paying a subscription fee for a feature on a car. I'll drive an old car before I pay something like that, no matter how low the amount is. I just disagree that anything like that should be illegal.

 

[Bikeman315]

I just bought a GR86 for slightly under MSRP.

So you did get one, Congrats. Can we see it, please!

Edit: typically I blame the manufacturer for not building enough cars more so than blaming the dealer for trying to get more money. If Ford would have just built more GT350s, no dealers would have been able to over-charge. The market would have been flooded with plenty of cars. I understand post Covid all the manufacturers are having trouble meeting demand, so it's a little different situation now. But in 2015 it was a deliberate decision by Ford to not build enough GT350s to meet the demand.

Well Shelby’s have always been limited edition cars. They were never meant to be made in GT quantities. I don’t blame Ford for doing this. And honestly, in a free market society, it’s hard to blame the dealers for taking advantage of this situation.

Charging what the market will bare has been a long standing tenet in the American economy. As long as the consumer is willing to pay, dealers will charge what they can. I don’t like it but I understand it.

 

[Hack]

So you did get one, Congrats. Can we see it, please!

Thanks! Yes so far I really like it. Of course it's been either raining or snowing almost every day since I got it, but I think it will be a nice upgrade to the FiST.

 

[Bikeman315]

Thanks! Yes so far I really like it. Of course it's been either raining or snowing almost every day since I got it, but I think it will be a nice upgrade to the FiST.

That’s a great looking car. Bet it will be tons of fun. Enjoy it and use it in good health.

 

[Hack]

That’s a great looking car. Bet it will be tons of fun. Enjoy it and use it in good health.

Thanks! The shifter is really great. It has steep rear end gears so the engine actually feels like it has a lot of torque in first and second. And most of the hood is too low to see. Great visibility out of it - at least to the front. Definitely it feels similar to the 944 except new and with a lot more power. I only have 200 miles on it so far, so I haven't revved the engine out yet. I'm looking forward to warmer weather so I can push a little harder.

 

[Biggus Dickus]

Thanks! Yes so far I really like it. Of course it's been either raining or snowing almost every day since I got it, but I think it will be a nice upgrade to the FiST.

Great car.

 

[Biggus Dickus]

I'm all for cutting out the middle man - I gotta hand it to Elon the Iconoclast on this front.

 

[Vlad Soare]

I'm all for cutting out the middle man - I gotta hand it to Elon the Iconoclast on this front.

Me too. But this approach isn't without drawbacks. Having to wait a year for your Tesla, only to have it delivered with less options than you'd ordered, being told: "take it or leave it, we don't care, we've got plenty of customers lined up at our door anyway", isn't exactly the most pleasant experience.