How not to sell a Ford C-Max ...

[redEV]

Hopefully any new owner's here were treated better than this ...

 

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130107/carnews01/130109916#ixzz2HJsP6KYf

 

 

The Ford dealer I was dealing with was better than this one in FL (not revealed but perhaps familiar to someone here?) but I've run into others just as bad. Could be one of the reasons I bought another VW instead of anything else (including a C-Max) as the 'rep I got my Touareg from came from the  service dept. originally and was quite knowledgeable about all the feature's, etc. (they also assigned a 'delivery expert', which was great versus digging through the owner's manual). As always, it's what you end up needing as 'important' from the dealer (i.e., proper paperwork filed, low-stress negotiations, etc.) versus going to another ... the sales process versus just about any other thing (except perhaps buying a house) has always been this way ... those dealer's who spend time training the dealer personnel, etc. I would think will get more repeat business. How many times have you walked into a dealer and you know more than they do about whatever car you're checking out?

 

 

[Jus-A-CMax]

I'll have a different experience - Galpin Motor Company in the San Fernando area has been our dealer for the last 10 years. All the salesmen are knowledgeable and they have the Aston Marton, Spyker, Jaguars, Volvo, Ford - almost all the gamut of exoctic and regular cars. I have dealt with their Jaguars for the longest, got 3 of them and they are sweet - one of the best service department I have ever experienced and they truly treat you like well. The Jaguar and Aston Martin parties are to die for and my wife and I consider ourselves lucky to be on their party list. We saw some very, very exotic Aston Martins indeed.

 

My CMax was the first Ford from this company but I had just a great buying experience. They were more busier and their procedures was different to Jaguar. Our sales guy Miguel Lopez knew his stuff, synced my phone etc. Still a first rate buying experience. Kudos to Galpin and they certainly have more of business in the future thats for sure.

[darrelld]

I read this article today and the whole story seems contrived. How many people would walk into a dealer with no prior knowledge and buy a C-Max Energi Plugin Hybrid?

 

I started to respond to the article by saying "We have this thing now called YOUTUBE that has all kinds of information about the C-Max Energi." I understand the point of the article but I have run into sales people without a clue about most of the cars I have purchased. The only exceptions would be the VW and Subaru salespersons, they know the products well and their customers expect them to.

[HotPotato]

I'll have a different experience - Galpin Motor Company in the San Fernando area has been our dealer for the last 10 years. All the salesmen are knowledgeable and they have the Aston Marton, Spyker, Jaguars, Volvo, Ford - almost all the gamut of exoctic and regular cars. I have dealt with their Jaguars for the longest, got 3 of them and they are sweet - one of the best service department I have ever experienced and they truly treat you like well. The Jaguar and Aston Martin parties are to die for and my wife and I consider ourselves lucky to be on their party list. We saw some very, very exotic Aston Martins indeed.

 

My CMax was the first Ford from this company but I had just a great buying experience. They were more busier and their procedures was different to Jaguar. Our sales guy Miguel Lopez knew his stuff, synced my phone etc. Still a first rate buying experience. Kudos to Galpin and they certainly have more of business in the future thats for sure.

 

I heartily second that. I bought my Mazda from Galpin a few years back. My local dealer had lied to me and lost my business. Galpin agreed to match my desired offer right over the phone. When I arrived, there was zero sales pitch, just honest answers and willingness to find the car I wanted. Instead of trying to steer me to overpriced dealer financing, they actually encouraged me to contact a credit union to see if I could get a better finance deal there. They honored the deal as promised over the phone, no static. And my straight-shooting, fair-dealing, no-pressure salesman was later promoted to sales manager. (The F&I guy sold me one thing that maybe wasn't in my best interest, but unfortunately that's to be expected at any dealer and now I know better.) And the whole experience was in-and-out in the minimum possible time.

 

This time, I bought my C-Max locally instead, from the same dealer that had fibbed to me the first time. And everyone was nice, truly. But they also each did at least one thing that seemed shady to me. The quoted payments didn't match the agreed-upon price and interest rate; I caught it and they backpedaled. They said Costco pricing didn't apply; I called Costco and they said that wasn't so. I had come in with pre-approved financing at a low rate; the dealer told me the bank was now demanding a higher rate; I called the bank and it appeared the dealer had put through a new loan application for me (perhaps with a fat commission built into the interest rate?) instead of sending the paperwork for the low-rate loan the bank had already okayed. They sold me a service plan that would save me money based on the 5000 mile service intervals they said the car had; it turns out the car has 10,000 mile intervals so I paid for double the service I can use, and I'm still waiting for the promised refund check on that...and they made that refund promise verbally only, despite repeated requests to email me. On top of all that, they had me waiting for no apparent reason on two consecutive days until I was so tired and hungry I would have signed whatever they put in front of me just to get out of there. Oh---and then the car was delivered with a defect that should have been caught in dealer prep, and I have take the car into their shop a second time to get it fixed since they didn't call me the first time to tell me the part had been back-ordered. I won't put the dealership's name here, because my sales lady really does seem to be willing to advocate for me to get stuff resolved, and it's possible it could have all been a series of honest mistakes combined with unusually busy traffic, but... the whole experience smelled a little off to me. If I were to do it again, I'd go to Galpin.

[RachelnLa]

Galpin needs to give lessons. Lucky you.

[Jus-A-CMax]

HotPotato - I think Galpin train all their sales people that way. I remember buying our first ever Jaguar and a guy called Stephen Henry served us. He knew tons about the car and he was very laid back, explained everything and he was smooth and he followed up. Infact, he was so good we still remember his name till this day but unfortunately I think he went to Keys Mercedes, bad loss for Galpin there. Also, on the Jaguar side, their technicans are A++++++ rated, can say enough of them and they are honest. I know cause my wife has connections to people who fixes and drives Jaguars for a living and the service prices at Jaguar are fair or better especially on those d*cky behind the firewall hose jobs that these Cats are notorious for. Hopefully I do not see as much on the Ford side but I will miss that nice, nice customer lounge, Starbucks coffee side of Galpin Jaguar though.

 

Hey great to see a local SoCal "homie" on this forum!  :happy feet:

Edited January 8, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax