Bad experience at NY Ford Dealer. Refundable deposit? - Long Read w/ Cliffs

Intervention302 said:

The contract also states if the vehicle does not meet the estimated delivery date of 6/11/16 the buyer has the rights to cancel the contract and receive a full refund.
The car did not arrive until 12/24/16
GM told me that the fine print doesn't count on special order cars

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In that case, you should be entitled to that full refund then. I don't believe that about special orders, BUT it may be true as they would have a harder time selling, as they didn't build the car.
I put a deposit on my '16 Ram Sport 4X4 rcsb which I had ordered and was told that that the refund would be be non-refundable because it is a custom ordered truck.

I uploaded the part of my buyers agreement that has the estimated delivery printed.

Now, to be honest. The dealership made a mistake. That was the date I placed my deposit. But, what's written is what's written.

No where does it say anything about custom orders

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Intervention302 said:

I uploaded the part of my buyers agreement that has the estimated delivery printed.
Now, to be honest. The dealership made a mistake. That was the date I placed my deposit. But, what's written is what's written.
No where does it say anything about custom orders

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In that case, you may just win. If it isn't written, it's all "heresay".
I agree about the custom orders should be in print to be actually legal. As far as the date goes, that's the dealership's issue. You didn't write up the contract.
Good luck man!

There is nothing to "win"... I already lost the credit card dispute.

I'm not realistically going to take the dealer to court. I could post the reviews and hope that maybe they would be more willing to issue a refund, but that's about it

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Hard to sell an RS is probably because most Ive seen on dealer lots had ADMs of 5-10K. FOR AN RS FOCUS. Awesome cars, just no one is interested when the dealer is actively telling you how much they are going to rob you for one.

Hit them where it hurts. Blast them on yelp and dealer rater. Nothing pisses off managers more then getting bad reviews.

lexustech48 said:

Hard to sell an RS is probably because most Ive seen on dealer lots had ADMs of 5-10K. FOR AN RS FOCUS. Awesome cars, just no one is interested when the dealer is actively telling you how much they are going to rob you for one.

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I love my RS. Even though it's currently at the dealer for the head gasket issue

Mpoitrast87 said:

Hit them where it hurts. Blast them on yelp and dealer rater. Nothing pisses off managers more then getting bad reviews.

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I was thinking FB and Google.

Their dealer rating score is actually pretty high, much higher than FB and Google

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Not to derail thread, but how are they fixing your car? Head gasket with a head inspection? Long block?

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Intervention302 said:

Money is already written off in my mind.

It's been what, 17 months since it's been out of my pocket? Would have just went to more Cobra partsYa ya haha.

I refused to pay ADM.

I am slightly disappointed in the buyers market for the RS. Crazy to go from 5k over to some dealers 500-1500 under MSRP.

Had I just waited. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20

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First clearly the money has not been written off if you post a thread here 17 months later.

2nd the market has gotten soft on the RS after the intial launch as the car is Meh at best. It was "supposed" to run with a Mustang GT in a straight line and best EVO's and STI's. And it clearly cannot. And it's a $40K+ focus. Only so many people to fill that line. For $30-35K I'm buying a 18 GT A10 and destroying an RS in a straight line, and pocketing $5-10K.

black99lightnin said:

First clearly the money has not been written off if you post a thread here 17 months later.

2nd the market has gotten soft on the RS after the intial launch as the car is Meh at best. It was "supposed" to run with a Mustang GT in a straight line and best EVO's and STI's. And it clearly cannot. And it's a $40K+ focus. Only so many people to fill that line. For $30-35K I'm buying a 18 GT A10 and destroying an RS in a straight line, and pocketing $5-10K.

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Thread was made because they just recently sold the vehicle to my knowledge.

RS isnt all that fast in a straight line, that isn't what its about.

Its a fantastic DD with the AWD and is an absolute blast to drive down some curvy backroads. The torque vectoring AWD can do some truly uncanny things mid corner

Intervention302 said:

Thread was made because they just recently sold the vehicle to my knowledge.

RS isnt all that fast in a straight line, that isn't what its about.

Its a fantastic DD with the AWD and is an absolute blast to drive down some curvy backroads. The torque vectoring AWD can do some truly uncanny things mid corner

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You surely didn't expect them to leave it on the lot forever?

Understand how great it is around curves. But it was implied it was going to best Mustangs in a straight line, and STI's, and EVO's in other facets. It may do some of that. The other issue is pricing. At the end of the day it's just too damn expensive, for a Focus.

black99lightnin said:

You surely didn't expect them to leave it on the lot forever?

Understand how great it is around curves. But it was implied it was going to best Mustangs in a straight line, and STI's, and EVO's in other facets. It may do some of that. The other issue is pricing. At the end of the day it's just too damn expensive, for a Focus.

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It's priced correctly for the AWD turbo hot market. Evo sti are just expensive.

I never expected it to be faster than a mustang.

I'm 350whp 400wtq

It's a blast to ddi

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Seems dealers are over estimating desire for certain cars these days. Just like they are with the new NSX. Never would I put a deposit for a car but that's just me.

turns out it under performs expectations by a bunch. no one wants an under performing overpriced rollerskate. I wanted one then started reading real world reviews. would rather have an ST.

Intervention302 said:

Money is already written off in my mind.

It's been what, 17 months since it's been out of my pocket? Would have just went to more Cobra partsYa ya haha.

I refused to pay ADM.

I am slightly disappointed in the buyers market for the RS. Crazy to go from 5k over to some dealers 500-1500 under MSRP.

Had I just waited. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20

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RDJ said:

turns out it under performs expectations by a bunch. no one wants an under performing overpriced rollerskate. I wanted one then started reading real world reviews. would rather have an ST.

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I guess it depends on what your expectations are I suppose.

It's priced the same as the STi and the Evo was.

Pure power wise, yeah I wish it had a bit more.

Handling wise, it's better than I ever expected

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I decided to post the review. Screw it. The owner already replied

I wish I could reply back with "had I been more educated, I would have never risked doing business with you guys"

Intervention302 said:

Dealer owns the worst copy/fax machine in the world

Dealer missed the estimated delivery date by 6 months. Clearly states I have the right to cancel contract

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NY is all about contracts. If it’s written, you have the right to get your money back. There it is, black and white, if they don’t deliver by said date, you’re entitled to a refund. Dealer can say all he wants, but it’s written and signed, so the ball is in your court! Whether you choose to sue or not is up to you.


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Intervention302 said:

Too bad I didn't wait 6 more months haha.

I did end up paying MSRP.

Another local dealer was asking 10k+ for months and months. It was hilarious

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Yeah, a local dealer to me had that blue with a 10k ADM attached to it. I wonder if it sold. They are great cars though!

1.) The Buyer's Order "delivered by" spot is pre-populated by their computer system, and was probably 30-90 days after you signed it. Most of the time that is for the banks to hold financing availability for the consumer's sake.
2.) You spec'd the car exactly how you wanted it, and put down a $500 deposit.
3.) You got buyer's remorse, plain and simple.
4.) The dealer had the RS in inventory, so it was going to be on their website. A lot of dealerships cannot customize their inventory; it's either for sale, or it's sold and on the books.
5.) I didn't read how long it took the dealer to finally sell "your" RS, but they paid the floorplan interest on it from the day it arrived until the day it was sold to the tune of about $175 a month; so 3 months and your deposit was already spent.
6.) You obviously haven't written off the $500 a year later, since you're starting this thread, and writing reviews. I don't condone how the manager responded to you, but at this point, I wouldn't give you your money back either.


I would've refunded your money at the beginning if you had brought me a buyer for the car.

I would like to also point out that members are mentioning that everything needs to be in writing, provable, etc on the dealer's behalf... well, if we take your story and series of events for face value, can you prove you left the GM multiple voicemails? Did you send any emails? Any text messages? I feel like if I was going to be stuck in a $40k car I didn't want, I would've used all of my options and kept proof.


Merry Christmas.

This is a ridiculous thread. YOU ordered a car how YOU wanted it and then YOU backed out. Why should the dealer lose anything on this?

Morally should he have refunded your deposit? Eh. 50/50. He didn’t - move on. He could have to be the “nice” guy on the deal, but at what cost to him? Again, why should he have to sit on a custom ordered car that will take months to sell?

As a few other people have said, you clearly haven’t written this money off or you wouldn’t have started a thread and left a bad review on the dealer.

You’re entitled to nothing in this deal. Chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.