Fusion Hybrid Delivery Disaster

[Sleddog]

I had mentioned in a different thread I was going to pick up my new FFH on Tuesday. Ya right. Got there Tuesday and found the car’s interior to be filthy! The leather was dull and had scuffs. It looked like it sat with the windows open in a dust storm. The tray under the grill was coated with brown dust. The moonroof outside seal was green instead of black. The hood release broken off in my hand! The paint had scratches and looked dull. And for some reason it had 211 miles on it!

 

Now mind you, the dealer’s website said this car was on order. When the website showed pictures of it on the lot, I called the dealer. I ended up working with a guy that has no personality. My regular sales guy was out on family leave.

 

He tells me the car is not on their lot. But on a sister dealerships lot. If I want it I needed to put something down and they will go get it. I wanted the car so I gave them a down payment and they said it would be delivered on Monday, prepped on Tuesday, and ready for delivery that evening.

 

My regular sales guy came back the day before we were going pick it up and did not have a chance to look at it before we arrived. We had received 2 perfectly detailed cars on prior purchases. So I did not expect any issues. We got there early. When we all looked at it, he was as surprised at the condition as we were. He told us not to take it. There was no way we were! The dealership owner came out and wanted us to make a detailed list of the issues. It was 3 pages long!

Yesterday it was sent to the body shop to take care paint issues and service fixed the hood latch issue. I called them and asked them to run an Oasis report because I wanted to know why it had so many miles. It turns out it was produced on 9/12/12! But it was delivered to the dealer on 2/1/13. He said Ford took it for quality testing and that’s why the gap from production to delivery. They could not explain why it was on the other lot for 3 months. I could live to the 130 extra miles, the trip from the other dealership was 81 miles.

I understand the delay being delivered to the dealership. But 3 months on-site? That was making me nervous.

 

The sales guy said to wait another day to come and get it. They wanted it to spend a full day in the detail shop to clean it top to bottom (the dealership is 50 miles away). I had a loaner from the dealership because on Tuesday I dropped my Focus off so they could fix a blend door issue. I couldn’t walk home and was not going to pick up the FFH.

 

I wanted my Focus back, so I asked the salesman to make sure the FFH was outside in the sun so I could look a the paint. I got there and was talking to the service rep I normally deal with and mentioned we were there to get the Focus and look the paint on the FFH. He tells me it’s in a service bay with a laptop hooked up to it. They were trying to update all the software and the car’s systems crashed! They were going to call Ford support tomorrow to find out how to fix it.

 

I was looking at the FFH ‘s paint and had him pop the hood latch so I could see the engine bay. I was looking around with a flashlight and found that the underbody aerodynamic panel, all the running gear and the sides of the motor were covered in thick brown dust. This thing looked like it was run 130 miles on a dirt road!

 

At this point I wanted to talk to the owner because of the issues with it. We were intercepted by some guy, who did not introduce himself, that had something to do with sales. He starts apologizing for the problems with the car. I had to stop him from talking and ask who he was. So I asked him why it sat at a sister dealership for 3 months and was left in that condition. The guy had the stones to tell us “Some times cars will sit on a lot for a year before being sold”. I said that may be, but not FFHs.

 

My wife got so pissed about being lied to that she blew up at him. That was it. I was done with it also. I told this guy we not longer wanted that car. No way, no how! My wife had been saying that we should not take this car anyway. I was trying to look past the issues. But she was right. We needed to walk away from that car.

 

The owner walked up just as my wife unloaded on this sales guy. He asked what the he could do to help resolve the issue, and we told him we did not want the car, and we wanted to order one instead.

 

So we now have an FFH in Ice Storm on order. Of yeah, as for the repair on my Focus, they screwed it up. My vents are now operated by the defrost button and my defrost vents no longer work! I gave the key to owner and told him I would be taking the loaner home again. He said no problem and they will deliver my Focus to me.

 

What a nightmare! Three 100 miles trips since Saturday. Hopefully just one more, to pick up the new one in 8 to 12 weeks. Maybe sooner. The owner said he was going to make some calls to see if the date could be pushed up. Sure he will. I won't be holding my breath.

 

If anyone is looking at a loaded Bordeaux FFH SE with moonroof in the central Florida area, that suddenly shows up on a dealer’s lot, run away from it. I have the VIN number. PM me if you want it.

Edited May 10, 2013 by Sleddog

[Toz]

so the fabled "Lost" FFH's are starting to show up. There were a few folks that post here that had ordered their cars last year only to have them sit in Mexico for months with out being delivered. Some finally gave up and canceled their order and re-ordered another one. This was probably one of them. Probably a good idea that you walked away from that deal.

Edited May 10, 2013 by Toz

[Sleddog]

As a matter of fact, it was order by someone who cancelled it because it was taking too long.

[acdii]

Well, they could account for the lowball bids I have received on the one I had. I was told that they were pricing it based on what they were getting at auction. So it is possible that some of the "lost" fusions were hitting the auction floor in that condition and were selling very low. Makes sense now after reading this.

[Aquineas]

My goodness what an awful experience. After reading the first paragraph, I said to myself, "Man I hope this guy was smart and didn't accept this vehicle."

 

Good luck on your order; we ordered a couple of days apart; I ordered mine on the 6th.

[neod192]

Glad you said No to that one and placed an order!

[Sleddog]

Thanks to all! The dealer is attempting to make good on pushing the order thru. Got an order number today. They said the priority was 10, whatever that means. A call is going to made to someone, I can't remember who it is, maybe a district ordering manager? Its their attempt to get it pushed thru. They say is all goes well I have a build date and VIN in about 2 weeks. .They have others hybrids on order and they are going to attempt to swap this order for one of theirs that just hit the system and has not received a build date or VIN. They tell me those orders were submitted this past week.

[hybridbear]

After all that I would have been inclined to find a different dealer. What kind of pricing are they giving you on your order? I'd ask them for $500 below invoice because of all the issues

[Sleddog]

I'm staying with this dealer. No dealer fees, the price is dealer invoice, plus 1 % of their hold back, VIP service appts (I can just show up and I'm moved to the head of the service line), free regular service while in warranty and a fill up every time the FFH is in for service for life. Plus if I have a Saturday service, they will pay for our breakfast.

 

They definitely want me to be happy. All of my family buys from the them and so do many of my friends.

Edited May 11, 2013 by Sleddog

[corncobs]

I'm staying with this dealer. No dealer fees, the price is dealer invoice, plus 1 % of their hold back, VIP service appts (I can just show up and I'm moved to the head of the service line), free regular service while in warranty and a fill up every time the FFH is in for service for life. Plus if I have a Saturday service, they will pay for our breakfast.

 

They definitely want me to be happy. All of my family buys from the them and so do many of my friends.

That's what I call VIP treatment; even more disappointment about the condition of the car you were ready to buy.

[milleron]

I put an order in for a SE Hybrid in JUNE 2012. I left out the adaptive CC and went back the next day to have them amend the order. They told me they did. I waited and waited for months. Finally, they told me that they had a VIN for me, but it turned out it was the original order, not the amended one. At that point, they put in my corrected order, now a few months late. It turns out that neither of those cars was ever delivered, and the orders were not canceled. (I gave up in December and reordered a Hybrid Titanium which is now ensconced comfortably in my garage after another 17-week wait -- I finally actually took delivery of a 2013 Fusion 45 weeks after my first order.)

 

But the point is that both of those cars vanished. At one point, the dealership told me that the first one was still being "tested" in Hermosillo a few months after its alleged manufacture date. I never knew what happened to number two, either. Mine were Ruby Red, so I don't think they ended up at your dealer, but there were a LOT of those initial Fusions that were defective. At one point, they had to shut down the production line and move some of the machinery via chartered Russian Condor aircraft back to Michigan to be retooled. That's how bad it was. It really sounds like the car they showed you might have been one of those that sat in a yard, waiting for months to get into the body shop down in Mexico, which would at least explain the 5-month delay between manufacture and initial delivery. It might even explain the 200 miles on the odometer. There is NO plausible explanation for the condition of the car; that's way beyond inexcusable. I'm aghast. Someone at the other dealership should be docked a week's pay or severely reprimanded. The condition of that "new" car is incredible. Thanks for the details, and you were wise to walk away because you'd never find out what else happened to it since last September, and you'd never be comfortable not knowing what new problem, caused by the abuse it suffered then, was about to rear it's ugly head. Whatever it was would assuredly occur one week after the warranty expired, too.

 

I think most of us here would applaud you for not giving up. Your FFH will be everything you hoped for, and the chances of getting it within two months are fair.

[rvlasek]

Had a similar experience in buying my 2013 FFH in February. Found the vehicle via Ford website, the vehicle was located in outside of Austin and I live in Irving, Texas, some 180 miles away. Talked to a sales rep at the dealership, paid deposit to hold, purchased airline ticket and sales rep picked me up at the airport, everything went well, until I checked the odometer, the vehicle had 225 miles with a lifetime mpg of 4.7. The dealership had no explanation for mileage and mpg. I complained and wanted some concession for the mileage and potential hard driving with the very very low mpg, (maybe an courtesy extra 6 month term on satellite radio). The sales manager actually became somewhat belligerent and refused to do anything for me, He complained that is already a low profit deal and a vehicle is considered NEW as long that has not been titled. So I guess at his dealership he can sell a un titled vehicle with several thousand miles as NEW. I had just sold my 2011 FFH two days before, and was facing purchasing a one way ticket home. If I would have been at local dealer I would have walked, but I bought the vehicle. I had high expectations and did months of research beforehand. The vehicle seems to be OK, I have the cracklin front end noise issue, which my local dealership tried to remedy but failed, waiting on fix from Ford. In addition the security code for the keyless entry was missing from the owners manual and had my local dealer was able to download by attaching a computer to vehicle. I guess the previous user retained key entry code from manual. This delivery in my opinion was a disaster, I did call Ford customer service and relayed the story but nothing came out of it as far as I know. I guess I should have asked about the mileage before going down, never bought a new car with more that 20 or 30 miles on it... As the Ford customer service agent commented, the dealerships are independent and they form their own sales practices...

[Sleddog]

rvlasek, Sounds like you may have got one of these "lost" fusions. After what happened to me, I work have walked away on your deal. We walked away at the right time. It can be difficult to do that when your eye is on getting a new vehicle. If I had continued on and made the purchase, I would have been second guessing myself if anything happened with the car..

 

milleron, looks like you may have one also. When the new Fusion comes in, I'm sure it will be perfect. With the dealership owner involved, I have no doubt it will be a smooth process. I got a call today, from the owner, wanting to know if I was happy with the ordering process so far. I am. He assured me I would get a call every step of the way. As soon as they know any information on my order, I will get a call.

Edited May 12, 2013 by Sleddog

[Sleddog]

It's baaack! It left the dealers lot and has now re-appeared. And it looks like they got the MFT fixed. I can't tell if they fixed the paint and interior issues. But it appears they did not get everything. You can still see dirt on the brake pedal. I feel sorry for whomever gets this one. At least they posted the mileage correctly.

 

http://mullinaxfordnsb.com/Daytona/For-Sale/New/Ford/Fusion/2013-SE-Hybrid-Maroon-Car/19198762/

Edited June 19, 2013 by Sleddog

[hermans]

I'm really surprised at the $33,400 price. That car looks identical in color and features of my FFH and I paid $31,067 before rebates. I suppose they will reduce the price some.

[Waldo]

Interesting, doing a little research shows it was actually built on 9/22 but didn't leave Hermosillo until March 28th, arriving in FL on April 17th. So it didn't sit in any dealer lot for an extended time, just sat around the plant waiting for updated parts.

[Sleddog]

^{With 130 miles on the ODO, I don't think it was waiting for updated parts. It was more like they drove it around delivering parts. Either way, I rejected it because of the condition of the car and the miles on it. I would like to think they cleaned the engine bay. Any buyer needs to check under the hood on whatever vehicle they purchase. That will tell the story on how well they cleaned it.}