Hello from Mass

RDale said:

Welcome to the forum @taxmanhog! It's good you're getting everything in writing with these emails. How has your experience been dealing with this dealer so far?

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I have not had the opportunity to get to the dealership in person with recent nasty weather, but have traded emails back and forth.

Nothing specific, one stating I and the salesman should talk on the phone to set expectations before I walk in the door at the dealership, he can answer any questions I have, which were clearly requested in prior emails but not answered in subsequent replies, that evasiveness is not a good sign!

I plan to call Monday afternoon, repeat my specific requests regarding markup, administrative charges, no dealer add-ons, I want a draft of the agreement with all details layed out, then set a date to sign, I want ink on paper and want to see them update the system to acceptance and load my contract and D/L into WBDO.

If this does not goes as I hope it will, then no signature and I will request they decline my offer to buy, return my deposit and move on. I have two alternate dealers willing to do a reasonable deal on standby, a little bit more of a drive but worth it to send a message to all these dealers that your not jerking me around.

Word of advice to any folks still at this stage of the game or still waiting for Wave 4/5/6, mind what happen on web builder, and get hard Sales Agreement /s/ otherwise walk!

Voltz said:

No advice, just a question. If the dealer simply goes ahead accepts the order you have entered, wouldn't this put you at the back of the reservation line if you walk away from it? In other words, the dealer gets a Wave 3 Lightning for their inventory.

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I'm not an expert , but from all that I have been reading on three forums and 3 FB groups, the dealer moving the order proposal to accepted stage does them no good unless they secure a copy of my drivers license and a signed Purchase Agreement from me on the deal and it must be uploaded into Fords build ordering system, otherwise they will reject the order, so they can not steal my opportunity to post an order.

This seems to be the method by which FORD Customer Service is able to move my order to a more cooperative dealer with more reasonable terms. In effect we the smart an tenacious customers have control if we exercise our rights and seek the help from the MOCO.

from the Ordering FAQ
"Only order requests that are accepted (either online or offline) will be selected for production scheduling. Customer vehicle delivery is subject to execution of a Purchase Agreement between you and your Dealer"

No action by the dealer........

Spoke to 800-334-4375 (option 2, Lightning, Lightning) the representative confirmed my current dealer needs to REJECT my offer to purchase.

The lightning hot line open until 8pm EST.

Next step is dealer f2f with the general manager, get the facts straight from the horse's mouth we either make a deal or or they must REJECT my offer to buy at MSRP.

Then I need to call 800-334-4375 and seek a transfer to another dealer of my choosing.

This is absolutely frustrating and not in the spirit of what CEO Jim Farley is expecting!

Voltz said:

In the intervening months, the good advice circulated to secure a purchase order from the dealer before allowing them to accept an online order from reservation conversion. I intend to build the truck on paper and take it to the dealer if I ever catch one of the waves 🌊.

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Good plan, but on the day or shortly after you get you wave offer, schedule a meeting with the salesman, when the sales manager is also available firm the final deal in words. Then take five minutes log onto your reservation, finish the specifications and transmit the order, 5 minutes later (maybe sooner/or/later) they will be able to pull up your offer and finish the Buyers agreement and scan everything into the order for submission to ROVP.

You will be able to continue tracking via ford web site as it moves to Production scheduling, built, shipped, ready for delivery.

OTOH

If you let the salesman & sales manager convert you manually and input all your specification, then you lose the tracking features and have to rely on manual communications with your salesman. (correct me if I have this wrong)

Years ago when I spec'd my special build of my F250, I never heard from the salesman again, and it was like pulling teeth to get information from anyone short of calling the sales manager and general manager, turn over rate with the sales folks is high and you lose that direct connection, hopefully your salesman sticks around to keep you informed