mhayes529

1. The car is to have a four wheel alignment
2. Tires to be rotated and balanced
3. Codes to be cleared from the computer.

I picked up the car asked if the things were done. Salesman says yes, I ask for
the RO's he says they are in the system not to worry..... Ya right...

I bring the car home. Car sits in the garage for a week. I go out yesterday.
One tire is flat and another is just about dead.......

I fill up the two tires go to my garage... They pull off the wheels, the two
tires that are loosing air have cheap garage plugs. I have them put on the
proper patch, I then look at the front tires they look like they have been on
the front of the car since it was made, never rotated. The backs look
great...... They put the car on the rack, the TOE is out.

So I have an appointment with the service manager to talk about the issues.
This should be fun.....

Car has 20k on the odo, was part of a rental fleet in Ocala Florida. Other than
the tires and the alligment and if they didn't do the codes I can do that
myself just take the negative cable out for the night the car is fine....

Jake

mikehunt2

Your first clue that the salesman was not on the up and up should
have been when he told you a USED vehicle, previously owned by
rental car company, was a program car. The only owner of true
'Program vehicle' was Ford Motor company, not Ford Credit or a
fleet or retain car company.


mike hunt

bob urz

Well Mike, i hope you can enlighten us a little more about this whole
issue. I see the words "program car" batted around a lot in car adds.
So, an off lease vehicle from ford credit is not a program car?
Is a dealer demo car a program car?
No fleet buybacks or leases are program cars?
What are the warranty issues on a program car Vs lease return or used?

So, if the only True program cars are cars that Ford motor co personally used
internally, that seems like there would not be many around. What about lemon buy
backs? could they be resold as a program car? Tell us the whole story.

Bob

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mikehunt2

Ford dealer are loose with the term 'Program Vehicle,' using the
term to apply to ANY vehicle they buy at Ford sponsored auction.
That is NOT the case. The only owner of true 'Program Vehicle' is
Ford Motor company, not Ford Credit or any fleet or rental car
company. A true PV has a label on the window that states 'The
only previous owner of this vehicle was Ford Motor Company.'
Dealer domo's are untitled new vehicles used by the dealer and
not a PV. Dealer loners are in reality free rental cars, part of
a dealers fleet, owned by the dealerships. Off lease vehicles are
USED cars that just happened to be owned by Ford Credit, but not
Ford Motor Company. Leases and other 'buy backs' are owned by
Ford Credit, not FMC and are NOT program cars, since they were
sold to a customer and that fact is disclosed at the sale.
Manufactures can NOT sell vehicles to ANYONE except their
dealers. Fleets, both government and commercial, rental car
companies as well as Ford Credit just like every retail buyer
MUST buy their vehicle from a franchised dealer. About ten year
ago FMC bought out dealerships in several markets so as to sell
to large buyers. The Ford Dealers Association started litigation
saying ownership by a manufacture was a violation of US franchise
laws. The FDA won a case in court and Ford has to sell the
dealerships. Fords new car warranty follows the vehicle from the
in service date to the time mileage limit, regardless of previous
owners except in the case of a 'Lemon Law' buy back. In that
case the warranty is 12/12 BB, regardless of current mileage,
even if there is only 500 miles on the clock.


mike hunt

whopkin1

A "program" car is one that's been driven by Ford employees for a year or two.
It is a used car, but any remaining factory warranty still applies.

Nope, once Ford sells it to someone else (even Ford Credit), it's no longer part of the "program".

If the warranty's transferrable, then you can get the warranty transferred.
On a program car, Ford was the original owner, but they transfer whatever's remaining.


There's 10's of thousands of program cars, and the dealers sell 'em. I don't
work for Ford and so far I've bought three of them over the last two decades.

bob urz

I have not personally checked the dealer lots, but from the adds i have
seen i will bet a lot of cars being advertised as program cars don't fit
the description your gave.

Personally, i am sick of the huge adds in the sunday paper with the low
advertised price that only a one eyed disabled veteran that is a farm
bureau member would qualify for. In my opinion, its a form of bait and
switch. If they advertise rebates, they should all be listed separately
by amount and qualifications. Not just a lump total amount very few
(if any) people would qualify for all.

As far as the franchise bit goes, what's to stop ford from making a new
separate brand different from ford or mercury and having factory only
outlets for it? Could they get away with that?

The thing i see sad in the auto industry is the fading of GM's
experiment Saturn. Unique product. Non hassle pricing.
I think a LOT of people don't trust auto dealers. They may need a car,
but they don't want to get hassled or get took. I think that's why the
Internet auto shopping may get much bigger in the future. They cannot
hijack your drivers license and wear you down in the sales office on the
internet. They may be a lot of good straight shooter dealers out there.
But i am sure there are many who are not.

Bob

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brickmason

You certainly are entitled to you opinion but even when one
choose to purchase a vehicle though one of the on line services,
and pays their fee of at least $250, the final point of sale will
be a franchise dealer, period. HINT. Get the best price you can
get from the on line service than take that deal to a local
dealer and he will BEAT their price on the exact same vehicle by
at least $250.


mike hunt

joseph oberlander

Used, most likely.

Remainder of factory warranty still applies.

If anyone else has been driving it around for more than maybe 50 miles
on test-drives, it's used or at best has been used as a demonstration
model.(not ever titled and under 1K miles, IMO)