No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

In an earlier post, I had indicated that I was considering a FEH. Yesterday I visited the local Ford dealership and was informed that there was a $2000 "hybrid" charge on top of the MSRP. I just refuse to pay this and I will now look elsewhere to satisfy my purchase of a more environmentally benign car. The following is my feedback to Ford online:

"I have an unrealistic hope that Mr. Ford would eventually see this comment, because I feel fairly confident that my opinion might be shared by others. A good chairman cares about what customers are thinking.

I presently have a 1997 Explorer and a 2001 Sport Trac and am in the process of replacing the Explorer. I had decided to emphasize the environmental side of this purchase decision and was well aware of Mr. Ford's leadership on this issue. After 2 months of study, I had decided that the Escape Hybrid best fit all of my criteria. Knowing the demand/supply balance of these vehicles, I was fully prepared to pay the full MSRP for it. However, the local dealer in Rutland, VT is tacking on an additional 2000 dollar hybrid premium to the car. I understand that is his right, but I think it is price gouging and I refuse to do any further business with Ford. I also think it is counterproductive to the Ford company and its future business viability.

I do have alternatives, namely the Toyota Prius for which there is not a sticker add-on. My other alternative is the Subaru Outback 2.5i, which in Vermont is certified as a PZEV automobile and has acceptable gas consumption.

I thank-you for making available a process for feedback and I hope some Ford internal discussions might be generated. As other competitors enter the field, Ford can very easily lose whatever advantage it has gained with the Escape Hybrid."

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

Hey don't give up. You can travel three hours west to a town near Rochester NY and get the FEH AT INVOICE! Call Jeff Clark at Van Bortel Ford in Victor, NY and he'll order a nice '06 for you. And remember, any Ford dealer anywhere in the US and Canada that has certified FEH technicians can service the truck. So if u bring it home to VT, no problem. FYI his dealer's sister company is a Subaru dealer.:shade:

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I like the way you handled this situation, hopefully someone with some power will pay attention to your response.

Have you considered finding another dealer? May have to travel a little bit, but maybe you could get the FEH at a price that is acceptable.
Or use Ford's online vehicle search?
It's a shame that you would miss out because of one poor dealership.

Regards,

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

David,

If I were you, I would really consider visiting other Ford dealerships. FEH is an outstanding truck and being that you own two Fords already, I am sure you had at least an decent relationship and/or emotional attachment to the brand, and probably have a need for the 4WD funciton of the truck. Don't let one sour apple spoil the whole basket.
Dealers have the right of charging whatever price as long as long as they can still move the inventory. MSRP is just what it is, Suggested. I live in DC and there are about 13 Ford dealerships within 1 hour drive, sure enought, several of them wanted a similar mark-up (one wanted $3500 on top of the MSRP), I was able to buy mine for the sticker price after calling around. It might take some effort, but don't give up on the FEH because of it. Share your response with us from Ford if do receive one.

Good luck hunting.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I know at least 2 people who have pruchased this truck with no premium. Shop around !!

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

Thanks for all the replies. Let me respond to several points raised. First, I live in Vermont and shopping around is not quite so easily done. I am not so set on having a FEH over other vehicles that I am willing to drive 2-3 hours trying to locate a dealer who is selling the FEH close to the MSRP. With regard to MSRP, I understand that it is a suggested price and one that I would argue has a reasonable gross profit margin for the dealer built in. Currently the FEH, equipped as I would want it, has a MSRP of $29,735 and a dealer invoice less holdback of $26,773 (source:Consumer Reports) for a margin of 11% to the dealer. An extra $2000 moves the margin to 20%. Considering that a car would be ordered and the dealer doesn't have his capital tied up, I think the 11% margin is plenty. Plus the dealer carries the Ford name and I would suggest that the MSRP is a more serious number in the car world than branded products at the local Big Box. Finally, I was being somewhat loyal to Ford and to the dealership because my cars are serviced there and one of them was purchased there (under a previous owner). But I think I am owed some loyality also...and I am the customer and don't appreciate being gouged just because Ford only has 2 products in real demand currently - FEH and the Mustang.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

Well, in that case you are kinda stuck. If that's the Ford dealer's policy on the FEH, I doubt they will bend for you. I guess you could attempt a meeting with the General Manager of the dealership and tell him what you just told us, that you feel some loyalty is due back to you too. All he can do is say no, and he MIGHT say YES.....:)

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

You might want to try going through forddirect.com. Contact the same dealer through their internet sales department, and get a quote.

I did this before ever stepping into the dealership and they quoted me MSRP. When I went in, and told them I wanted it (without mentioning the quote), they tried to add a $2000 premium. Then I mentioned the quote and they said 'no problem' and sold it to me at MSRP.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I purchased by FEH over the internet. I knew the price ahead of time, I just picked it up. I test drove it at another dealer. When that dealer started to go above MSRP, I said, I can get it at $X. He matched it.

You don't have to go 3 hours to shop, just to purchase.

You've seen the vehicle, you can see the price.

After you get it, iIf it's not working the way you want, you can have the dealer that tried to surcharge you do all the warranty work.

::Throws a 2p coin on the floor.::

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

A tried and true approach that I and others used to buy a Prius at MSRP during the height of the shortage was to email/call rural dealers. I bought mine in 24 hours, when the city dealer was quoting 9 months.

btw, why 4WD ? If it is only snow, slush and ice, the VSC equipped Prius with good winter tires like the MIchelin HydroEdge perform wonderfully. Steep hills would make me hesitate.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

Why 4WD? I live in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I gotta agree with some of the other people here. You did the right, and smart thing, but I think you're giving up a bit too fast on the FEH. You may wish to have a meeting, using the online quote, or other factors to get the MSRP.

When I got mine, I flat out told him that if I even felt like he was trying to screw me, I was walking to another dealership. I got mine for quite a bit under MSRP, but that's also with A plan in there. (Kind of a funny thing, I got several pens, and some other stuff to boot. My guy had a sense of humor.)

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I know what you mean about the price gouging premiums. :angry: When I was shopping around for my FEH in Dec 2004, several DC dealers were adding $3-6k pemium on top of the MSRP. I walked out of a deal on one because the deler refused to drop the $2k premium. It turns out it was the best thing I ever did. I shopped around and two months later found a dealer willing to sell at invoice. It was 200mi away...but was worth the drive.

I think you need to shop around. Deals are out there to be had. If you know what you want(options) and have decided this is the vehicle you want.....why not have it delivered. I have had several dealers in the past who would deliver a vehicle to you at your house, within reason of course. A 2-3hr drive shouldn't be that big of a deal for a motivated dealer who wants to "make the sale".:D

FYI, the dealer I ended up buying from(at invoice) offered to meet me in DC to close the deal(200mi). I don't see why a dealer can't do the same for you.:lightbulb

FWIW, I highly recommend Bowie Clift at Shelor Motor Mile in Christiansburg, VA. I know they sell all over the US....don't know if they would deliver to VT or not. It doesn't hurt to try. Phone:877-474-3567(toll free), web: http://ford.shelor.com/Default.aspx

BTW, I don't have any vested interest in this dealer. I just had a good buying experience...would like to pass info to others.

Nate

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd add some comments, since I've learned a few things about this topic.

1) Ford Motor Company apparently has very little pull with their dealerships. I'm told that there have been many dealers that were so bad that Ford, quite frankly, wanted them closed because they were damaging their brand reputation. I don't understand the nature of their contracts with their dealers but I'm told that (a) they're old... they were made years ago and the language favored the dealers heavily and (b) Ford doesn't seem to have any leverage to change the contract wording so that they can have more control over abusive dealers (this problem is not really unique to Ford). Ford is quite frustrated about this problem.

I live in Dearborn, MI (the home of the Ford Motor Company). While I don't work for Ford, I am practally the only person in my neighborhood who does not. I have lots of friends and neighbors who all work for Ford and we've gone round and round on the this subject. I'm told that Ford's attourneys have reviewed numerous cases and found that there's almost nothing they can do on their own, but in some cases the government probably could... and Ford did just that; turned the case over to the government to let them go after the dealer and close them down. So... Ford knows about this problem and are very concerned, but there's very little they can do about it.

2) You can punish the dealer. You own several other Fords and you said you get them serviced there. TURNS OUT... that a car dealer makes a small amount of profit on the car, but the REAL money is in the service garage. They make FAR more profit on service than they do on the sale of the car itself. Even when a car is under warranty and you don't pay for service, the Ford Motor Company has to reimburse the dealer for all warranty service charges -- for which they pay dearly. When you take a warrantied vehicle to a dealer for service, you are causing Ford to pay that dealer a nice profit on that service.

When dealers pull that crap, you need to tell them that (a) not only will they lose the vehicle sale for this and all future vehicles but also that (b) they'll also lose all your service business and make sure they are aware that you KNOW that they make more on service than they do on the sale. We're not talking about the serivce of whatever new car you might buy -- we're talking service on all existing Ford cars you currently own as well.

If you can't tell the owner of the dealer that they're losing your business, it's a good idea to let the service department manager know that you wont be back for service. The service manager and sales manager don't work for each other, but they both work for the owner. If the service manager is losing business because of something the sales folks are doing, they are bound to tell the dealership owner that it's a problem.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

tcampb01,

Thank-you for your response and explanation. Regardless of the influence (or lack of) that Ford has over dealers, I as a consumer see them as all part of the Ford system which is exactly the way advertising presents the situation. I will not ever purchase a Ford product again. And, as you suggest, I will have my one remaining Ford vehicle serviced at another dealer. Furthermore, I am motivated to go ahead and rid myself of that vehicle also.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I agree with you. It's my feeling that, as a consumer, I shouldn't have to understand the nature of how a company is internally structured, nor how they create relationships with suppliers, dealers, etc.

As a consumer I should not have to care. I've pulled this on other companies -- when they give me the run-around, I ask them to please send a copy of their corporate org-chart including the names and phone numbers of all the executives and all the departments. They usually respond as if they're shocked to hear such a request -- whereupon I explain that, according to them, we consumers were expected to know who was in charge of each aspect and take up our problems with ONLY the appropriate individuals. When they tell me that they wont send the org chart and phone list, I then explain that I likewise wont cut them any slack for the fact that it was "somebody else's" screw up.

My post wasn't necessarily to justify Ford's problem -- more to explain that it really IS a problem and there isn't a whole lot they seem to be able to do about. Shame on them for creating this situation, but that's the situation just the same.

Regards,
Tim

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

You should be able to get an FEH at sticker. The local dealer I purchased mine at has had a blue one sitting on the lot for three weeks or so, but they had been marking them up...I bet if someone came in and offered sticker they might be able to get it.

Escape Hybrid -- red-headed stepchild of the Ford Family Plan

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

We got our FEH at MSRP from a reasonable, no-nonsense dealer (relatively speaking). The salesman said they had talked about it and decided their market would not support a premium. I was willing to go MSRP but no higher, so there was no haggling. This was a far suburban / rural dealer. I think away from the city is the way to go. It was close to a two-hour drive, but that was much less of a hassle than I thought it would be. BTW, I found it on Vehix.com. Monitored daily for a while when the FEH first came to my area, until I found the features I was looking for, then made the call.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

We live in the Chicago area, so maybe demand isn't as strong around here for hybrids - our salesman was ready to deal immediately. We couldn't find one that had the options we wanted - most dealerships here have maybe 1 or 2 models per lot, limiting selection. Even when the salesman looked at other dealers' inventories for us there was a similar (but not exact) one about a hundred miles away that he offered to get for us - but maybe I'm just weird if I don't want someone else making the first 100 miles on my brand new car :)

So we placed a factory order with him yesterday, and he still settled on a price $500 below MSRP. I think going toward the end of the month might help salesmen be more willing to deal too. I think we're lucky around here, but to me, MSRP = rip off, much less any premium.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

villa ford in orange, california called it a 'limited availability option!!'

thats not an option I want.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I got my 2006 4WD Escape Hybrid at MSRP, but with my trade in, the dealer tried to get a hidden premium out of the deal. The thing is though, I did my homework on the net and knew what the true reasonable, fair value of my trade was, as well as what the "don't count on it" quotes were.

My dealership offered pretty close to the right value on my trade, but wanted a down payment and higher monthly payments than I was willing to go with. I laid the bottom line out to the salesman and without much haggling at all, I was able to do zero down and get the payments a little lower than expected! So while the price stayed at MSRP, they offered more on the trade (close to the "don't count on it" quote) and a lower interest rate (helps having a very high credit rating as well ;) )

The internet also helped me to know a LOT more about the FEH than the dealership!!! My salesman even appologized to me for his lack of knowledge because it was his job to know more... I scheduled my purchase for the next day and he promised to learn all he could before my appointment (which he did, though I already had the answers).

In my latest auto purchases, it has been a great advantage to come in already armed with info from the internet. It seems that each time I mention I had reaserched everything on the web, thhe salesman backs off the old sales/drop routine and just gets to MY bottom line! :D

By the way, I asked for rear floor mats and instead of charging $25.00 to grab them from parts, my salesman got a pair out of another Escape they had on the lot (non hybrid, so the mats aren't exact, but very close) and gave them for free. I wonder what they do for the vehicle they took them from, since its window sticker shows a $25.00 charge for rear mats it no longer has... :lol:

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I had been looking at the Ford Escape Hybrid when I saw the announcement about the Mercury Mariner Hybrid. I filled out a form and asked for a quote. A dealer down the street gave me a quote for $1200 lower than MSRP. He says that a car ordered now will probably not come in until January anyway so it sounds like I'll be eligible for the new tax credit on January 1. At the dealership, the salesman tacked on a $98 "Processing Fee" so I guess I'm getting only $1100 below MSRP. Has anyone else ordered a Mercury Mariner Hybrid? How close to MSRP are your quotes?

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I had a very good experience at Richmond Ford, Richmond, Va with Evan Weinstein 804-358-5521. The FEH I bought was the only one on the lot. I was not interested in 4WD which this car had and I was not interested in the audiophile navigation system which it also had. So, I convinced him to take the cost of the extra options off the car since it would cost more to order a car to my specifications. It also didnt have leather which I did want, so I was discounted again. I also wanted a real wheel and tire instead of the donut and got that too. I received more for my trade ( 2004 Chevy Suburban Z71) than I paid for it and got out of there for titles tags etc. There is no premium mark up for hybrids at this dealership, but I heard from a friend in Nantucket that there is and a waiting list. I guess it depends upon where you live.

Ive had the car for 1600 miles and am becoming ambivalent. I need to take it in for a tear in the rear seat where it folds flat. My MPG is not what I had hoped. Im happy with the size of the car, ease of parking and certainly it gets better mileage than my old car. Possibly I will get the hang of maximizing fuel efficiency through change in driving habits, but just today I was in my neighborhood driving 20mph and the display said I was on engine drive..so I just dont understand the car which I find frustrating.

The dealer was great though..when I was in the pick up my wheel and tire, they did have another on the lot with leather and I wish I had known it was coming in. However, I bought the car before Katrina and doubt I would have gotten the extremely good trade on my old car had I waited.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

We are new FEH owners and had a great experience with Fairway Ford of Evans in Evans, GA. David Postell went out of his way to find our 2006 FEH with the options we wanted and we had the vehicle in 2 days. This to me was over the top customer service... oh.. and the best part is we paid $500 under MSRP.

Gene Mohr
Mohr Photography
Martinez, GA

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

The day I bought my HAH, I went to a dealer that I was prepared to buy the car from. I received a quote from the salesguy the day prior which was better than I found anywhere else. After the test drive, the salesguy went to his manager and came back to tell me the owner of the dealership had made a new policy that all hybrids will not be sold for less than MSRP. This was during the whole $3/gal price hike. Guess they were doing their own form of price gouging. But anyways, I told them that was rediculous as I was quoted a far less price the day before. So, they came down some, but only about half way between the two prices.

So off I went, to the next nearest dealer, which had the next cheapest price. That salesguy sold me the car for the original price which he quoted me more than a month prior. Which, was a little more than a thousand dollars cheaper than the first car.

I really wanted to drive by the first dealer to show the owner/manager/salesman that I purchased elsewhere...

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

I guess the thing here is to not gig the entire company for the actions of the price gouging stealerships. IMO it's about along the lines of saying that I hate everyone whose name is John, because one person named John committed a crime. Ford Stealerships are not the only ones guilty of price gouging. Many VW dealers gouged on the New Beetle, Chrysler crooks gouged on the PT Cruiser, and Toyota stealers are still gouging on the Prius in places. In your shoes, I would still look for the FEH, as it IS an awesome vehicle, and worth the effort.

When I bought mine, I went into the dealership very late in the evening, and kept them on the defensive with prices for the Prius and FEH. When it came time to sit down with the finance guy to do the paperwork, I walked into his office announcing that I wasn't going to buy any of their payment packing garbage, and to not waste his or my time trying to push it. In the end, I got what I wanted under sticker, and without a bunch of free money thrown at them for junk warranties not worth the paper they were written on.

While I understand your frustration. You can't boycott every company that has an unscrupulous merchant. You'll quickly find yourself unable to buy anything.

Re: No To Ford Escape Premiums!
 

Exactly, Bryan! I already wrote in another thread that I had a great experience with L.B. Smith Ford near Harrisburg. Found one there on their lot, got a quote by email through their website about $1,100 less than MSRP. Totally no pressure for any add-ons. Other than my previous car (also a Ford, through Auto-By-Tel website in '96) definitely the best buying experience yet.

Keep looking around, use the 'net, the Escape Hybrid is definitely worth a slight bit of effort!! :D

Regards,
Fred