The Plan & Offer - Stephens Auto Center's Mid Atlantic Bronco Connection

[Dirty Bronco]

l talked with my dealer yesterday about pricing and allocation. They only have 3 allocations which i would be 1 of the 3, but we couldn't agree on price. I've purchased around 8 cars from them and all on X-plan. I was hoping they could still give me the x-plan price like other dealers have done. They said they couldn't discount at all so I'll be switching to Stephen's for a MY22. Hate not using my LFD and missing out on a summer in my new Bronco, but rolling the dice on a beautiful green Bronco. It's going to be a very long year, but look forward to drive to the beautiful state of West Virginia.

I feel you man. I was number 1 at my local dealership. I have x-plan AND a fleet account with them. Despite us doing years of business together and having all our cars serviced there, they wouldn’t go a penny below MSRP. In fact I called their lead sales guy out on multiple lies to the point he literally just walked away mid conversation because he didn’t know what to say.

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[Deano Bronc]

I feel you man. I was number 1 at my local dealership. I have x-plan AND a fleet account with them. Despite us doing years of business together and having all our cars serviced there, they wouldn’t go a penny below MSRP. In fact I called their lead sales guy out on multiple lies to the point he literally just walked away mid conversation because he didn’t know what to say.

Yep, it is frustrating. For some reason I felt a sense of loyalty to them and figured they would make the effort to keep me happy but I guess not. Oh well, saved money and will enjoy the road trip.

 

[ATLBronco75]

Let’s get this telethon started! Call now!!!

 

[Dirty Bronco]

You all want to know why I'm going with Stephens vs my local dealership? Read below. Fair warning... it's a long post.

My family company has been doing business with Gillingham Ford for over 10 years. My current vehicle is from them. We have a fleet account with them and all our cars/trucks are serviced there. Up until now I have had nothing but good things to say about them and was telling everyone that they should give Gillingham a try. Well that is no longer the case...

Early on in the Bronco reservation process I stopped in and talked to their floors sales rep Eric Vasquez. This is who their customer service put me in touch with after I told them I wanted to talk about the Bronco. I had just put a reservation in and the moment I got there Eric knew who I was. I am assuming this was because I was towards the top of their reservation list (first few hours of 7/13). The first thing I did was show him the Granger deal and asked if he'd match. I told him that if Gillingham would then I'm sure they'd have hundreds if not thousands of sales.

"Oh god, we can't do that!" was his response.
"We are selling at MSRP until I hear otherwise from my higherups. There is simply nothing official from Ford yet on pricing."

I then presented him with the Invoice and MSRP price breakdown for the trim levels. He balked at it and said he couldn't trust such a document. I then asked if considering our relationship with Gillingham if he'd consider going below just for me. Keep in mind they service our fleet and we buy multiple vehicles from them all the time, not to mention I myself have X-plan. He said we need to sit down again once official pricing comes out. I agreed and left disgruntled but hopeful considering all the official information had yet to be produced.

Over the past several months I asked Eric to price a few vehicles for me to see how an Explorer and F150 would compare to the Bronco. I never heard back. I had to ask our fleet manager to provide this.... thank god he was lovely to work with compared to Eric.

Fast-forward to this past week when the ordering banks opened and Ford released the Invoice pricing. I emailed the fleet rep and Eric asking to sit down to go over pricing. The hope was that they could make up some of the difference in a trade-in. I had since moved my reservation to Stephen's Auto since the difference was around $3k and I was more than willing to travel 4 hours for this difference. That being said, I wanted to give Gillingham my business. They are a family owned and operated business just like my own... Well when I got there it was a complete shit show. I had taken the time to email Eric all the details of my build and the pricing analysis I had done comparing the two dealerships. (Stephen's Auto and Gillingham).

In typical car salesmen fashion it was almost impossible to get a word in from the start... Eric wouldn't let me explain my knowledge and exactly what I was asking for.

Eric - "What's your last name?"

Me - "Brad ****** I emailed you ahead of time and have been talking to you for months
about price matching a Bronco from another dealership"

"Oh, yeah sorry I don't really check my email that often"

(I had emailed and text him multiple times over the months with barely any kind of response)

"So what is your last name again? I am not seeing you in our list of reservations"

"I was in there, we talked about this back in July. I switched dealerships though because I found a better deal elsewhere. I was hoping you guys could match or just get a little closer so I can stay local"

"Well when was your reservation? We have 23 and our cutoff time was at 3PM"

"I was at 10 PM the night of."

"oh well you're too late then! Sorry."

"Hold on, the reservation system was open at 8PM, I was in at 10PM that night. So technically isn't that before 3PM the next day? If I were to transfer back to Gillingham I should be one of those 23 allocations no problem."

"Ford would never let you do that"

...... At this point I tried to explain to Eric what I knew and how the reservation system vs allocation allotment worked. Mid sentence in explaining how I had until March 19th to switch, Eric then promptly turned and walked away mid sentence. Whether he was frustrated or simply uneducated in the process, it is poor business ethics to simply walk away from someone when they are speaking to you. This was nothing short of a cordial conversation too... we weren't yelling or arguing. I was dumbfounded by the result.

The fleet manager ended up running and grabbing their Sales Manager to talk over my request. His name was Scott, he was much nicer but had the same issue where he just could not let me talk and explain my stance. He kept telling me that even though I'm getting below invoice I would be getting gouged on dealer add ons. Finally when he stopped I told him how I had it in writing that this wasn't the case. It was a legit offer. I have X-plan (even though it's not valid) a vehicle currently from you guys, a family business who has multiple vehicles from you, a fleet account with you and have all our vehicles serviced here. Can't you help me out a bit to get this below MSRP?

"Sorry, but like you said, you're a member of the forums. I cannot give you anything better than anyone else because if you ran off and told everyone then we'd have to match it".

Excuse me? Okay, let me show you my history of saying you guys were great to work with and that I was recommending you to people on the forums. You probably have reservations here because of me! Also, why on earth would I spew to people that you cut me a deal? You do realize I don't pay until I take delivery. Nothing is set in stone until then. You could 100% reneg and go back to MSRP if I didn't hold up on my end. The Sales Manager finally told me the following... by cutting my price down that much Eric would essentially only make $15 off the sale as opposed to $800. We have more reservations than we have allotments so we are going to sell them regardless. This now explained why Eric was so keen on not having me transfer back in and was lying to me about everything.

Simply put... it was one slap in the face after another. Gillingham who prides themselves on being family owned and operated wasn't willing to help out another family business. Despite our 10 years of business together, they were looking for the immediate gratification of a sale rather than a continued relationship of business. I've gone back and forth on whether to leave a google/yelp review detailing my experience. We still have our accounts there but it was a total punch in the gut with how I was treated and the responses I was given. If you do choose to go with Gillingham then I recommend you ask to work with someone other than Eric.

 

[StephensAutoCenter]

Sorry for the delay in getting to everyone. We have almost all of the FEs knocked out. Chase told me that the options were limited on the FEs, so that will come later (we guess) from Ford. Someone mentioned above, we had about 20 or so catalytic converters stolen from vehicles Friday Morning and Saturday Morning. Chase and I both had parts to play in getting that handled, so the ordering was a little backed up. He'll get back on track this week.


/john

 

[Dirty Bronco]

Sorry for the delay in getting to everyone. We have almost all of the FEs knocked out. Chase told me that the options were limited on the FEs, so that will come later (we guess) from Ford. Someone mentioned above, we had about 20 or so catalytic converters stolen from vehicles Friday Morning and Saturday Morning. Chase and I both had parts to play in getting that handled, so the ordering was a little backed up. He'll get back on track this week.


/john

appreciate the update John. Sorry to hear about the issues you guys had over the weekend. Get things right in your end first, we can wait a few days. We have until March 19th to get these in.

 

[boxwood]

@StephensAutoCenter
Can you provide some clarity on the extra $300 off and $!00 doc fee for those that qualify for x-plan.
I read that as "If the customer qualifies, regardless of fords offering"

 

[JPNC]

You all want to know why I'm going with Stephens vs my local dealership? Read below. Fair warning... it's a long post.

My family company has been doing business with Gillingham Ford for over 10 years. My current vehicle is from them. We have a fleet account with them and all our cars/trucks are serviced there. Up until now I have had nothing but good things to say about them and was telling everyone that they should give Gillingham a try. Well that is no longer the case...

Early on in the Bronco reservation process I stopped in and talked to their floors sales rep Eric Vasquez. This is who their customer service put me in touch with after I told them I wanted to talk about the Bronco. I had just put a reservation in and the moment I got there Eric knew who I was. I am assuming this was because I was towards the top of their reservation list (first few hours of 7/13). The first thing I did was show him the Granger deal and asked if he'd match. I told him that if Gillingham would then I'm sure they'd have hundreds if not thousands of sales.

"Oh god, we can't do that!" was his response.
"We are selling at MSRP until I hear otherwise from my higherups. There is simply nothing official from Ford yet on pricing."

I then presented him with the Invoice and MSRP price breakdown for the trim levels. He balked at it and said he couldn't trust such a document. I then asked if considering our relationship with Gillingham if he'd consider going below just for me. Keep in mind they service our fleet and we buy multiple vehicles from them all the time, not to mention I myself have X-plan. He said we need to sit down again once official pricing comes out. I agreed and left disgruntled but hopeful considering all the official information had yet to be produced.

Over the past several months I asked Eric to price a few vehicles for me to see how an Explorer and F150 would compare to the Bronco. I never heard back. I had to ask our fleet manager to provide this.... thank god he was lovely to work with compared to Eric.

Fast-forward to this past week when the ordering banks opened and Ford released the Invoice pricing. I emailed the fleet rep and Eric asking to sit down to go over pricing. The hope was that they could make up some of the difference in a trade-in. I had since moved my reservation to Stephen's Auto since the difference was around $3k and I was more than willing to travel 4 hours for this difference. That being said, I wanted to give Gillingham my business. They are a family owned and operated business just like my own... Well when I got there it was a complete shit show. I had taken the time to email Eric all the details of my build and the pricing analysis I had done comparing the two dealerships. (Stephen's Auto and Gillingham).

In typical car salesmen fashion it was almost impossible to get a word in from the start... Eric wouldn't let me explain my knowledge and exactly what I was asking for.

Eric - "What's your last name?"

Me - "Brad ****** I emailed you ahead of time and have been talking to you for months
about price matching a Bronco from another dealership"

"Oh, yeah sorry I don't really check my email that often"

(I had emailed and text him multiple times over the months with barely any kind of response)

"So what is your last name again? I am not seeing you in our list of reservations"

"I was in there, we talked about this back in July. I switched dealerships though because I found a better deal elsewhere. I was hoping you guys could match or just get a little closer so I can stay local"

"Well when was your reservation? We have 23 and our cutoff time was at 3PM"

"I was at 10 PM the night of."

"oh well you're too late then! Sorry."

"Hold on, the reservation system was open at 8PM, I was in at 10PM that night. So technically isn't that before 3PM the next day? If I were to transfer back to Gillingham I should be one of those 23 allocations no problem."

"Ford would never let you do that"

...... At this point I tried to explain to Eric what I knew and how the reservation system vs allocation allotment worked. Mid sentence in explaining how I had until March 19th to switch, Eric then promptly turned and walked away mid sentence. Whether he was frustrated or simply uneducated in the process, it is poor business ethics to simply walk away from someone when they are speaking to you. This was nothing short of a cordial conversation too... we weren't yelling or arguing. I was dumbfounded by the result.

The fleet manager ended up running and grabbing their Sales Manager to talk over my request. His name was Scott, he was much nicer but had the same issue where he just could not let me talk and explain my stance. He kept telling me that even though I'm getting below invoice I would be getting gouged on dealer add ons. Finally when he stopped I told him how I had it in writing that this wasn't the case. It was a legit offer. I have X-plan (even though it's not valid) a vehicle currently from you guys, a family business who has multiple vehicles from you, a fleet account with you and have all our vehicles serviced here. Can't you help me out a bit to get this below MSRP?

"Sorry, but like you said, you're a member of the forums. I cannot give you anything better than anyone else because if you ran off and told everyone then we'd have to match it".

Excuse me? Okay, let me show you my history of saying you guys were great to work with and that I was recommending you to people on the forums. You probably have reservations here because of me! Also, why on earth would I spew to people that you cut me a deal? You do realize I don't pay until I take delivery. Nothing is set in stone until then. You could 100% reneg and go back to MSRP if I didn't hold up on my end. he Sales Manager finally told me the following... by cutting my price down that much Eric would essentially only make $15 off the sale as opposed to $800. We have more reservations than we have allotments so we are going to sell them regardless. This now explained why Eric was so keen on not having me transfer back in and was lying to me about everything.

Simply put... it was one slap in the face after another. Gillingham who prides themselves on being family owned and operated wasn't willing to help out another family business. Despite our 10 years of business together, they were looking for the immediate gratification of a sale rather than a continued relationship of business. I've gone back and forth on whether to leave a google/yelp review detailing my experience. We still have our accounts there but it was a total punch in the gut with how I was treated and the responses I was given. If you do choose to go with Gillingham then I recommend you ask to work with someone other than Eric.

I would immediately withdraw all my business from them and take it somewhere else. They obviously do not value you as a customer and take for granted the current business you give them. I would definitely leave google, yelp, twitter, Instagram reviews. The best way to combat their lack of respect is your voice and your wallet.

 

[Bronco_joe]

@StephensAutoCenter
Can you provide some clarity on the extra $300 off and $!00 doc fee for those that qualify for x-plan.
I read that as "If the customer qualifies, regardless of fords offering"

x-plan is not available for the bronco. that was the previous offer from stephens before ford said no.. belive it's still 1000 off Invoice and doc fee is $265

 

[StephensAutoCenter]

x-plan is not available for the bronco. that was the previous offer from stephens before ford said no.. belive it's still 1000 off Invoice and doc fee is $265

Correct.

From our website:

• If you are an X-Plan customer, you must inform us at this time, a -$300 X-plan credit may be applied. From our FAQ below: I keep hearing that there is/isn’t going to be an “X-Plan” available on the Bronco. Can you clarify? If the X-plan is allowable by Ford, we will be doing $300 X-plans. As long as Ford doesn’t block it, we’ll be doing it. (As of 10-22-20, we’re being told that Ford is NOT allowing X-plan on the Broncos, therefore, we cannot allow X-plans).

/john

 

[TNBronc4344]

Sorry for the delay in getting to everyone. We have almost all of the FEs knocked out. Chase told me that the options were limited on the FEs, so that will come later (we guess) from Ford. Someone mentioned above, we had about 20 or so catalytic converters stolen from vehicles Friday Morning and Saturday Morning. Chase and I both had parts to play in getting that handled, so the ordering was a little backed up. He'll get back on track this week.


/john

Sorry John to hear about the theft. That sucks.
Do your thing .....we will wait. I’ve got two resv with you but 7/17 & 7/19 so I’m pretty much assuming MY 22 at this point anyway. Just glad to be working with you guys and super excited to order these.

 

[Bronco_joe]

what are my chances of my 7/27 res planning to order a plain 4dr BD 2.3man, being scheduled before a day 1/2 res with late availability items?

probably unanswerable right now, but just thinking about the process

 

[Dirty Bronco]

what are my chances of my 7/27 res planning to order a plain 4dr BD 2.3man, being scheduled before a day 1/2 res with late availability items?

probably unanswerable right now, but just thinking about the process

Is this a 2 or 4 door? 2 doors were listed as on of the items that could potentially delay your delivery. Keep in mind that at 7/27 there could well be over 70 reservations before you. (pretty much guarranteed there are plenty more than that with Stephens) If over 70 people before you convert their orders for MY21 then Stephen's will be out of allocations until they get more. How many more is unknown at this time. Regardless, those people with time stamps before you will likely get theirs before you just based on the number of vehicles Stephen's will be able to order for MY21. Day 1 and Day 2 reservations will be MY21 or on the cusp of MY22.

Sorry if that was confusing. TLDR: Very unlikely.

 

[Bronco_joe]

Is this a 2 or 4 door? 2 doors were listed as on of the items that could potentially delay your delivery. Keep in mind that at 7/27 there could well be over 70 reservations before you. (pretty much guarranteed there are plenty more than that with Stephens) If over 70 people before you convert their orders for MY21 then Stephen's will be out of allocations until they get more. How many more is unknown at this time. Regardless, those people with time stamps before you will likely get theirs before you just based on the number of vehicles Stephen's will be able to order for MY21. Day 1 and Day 2 reservations will be MY21 or on the cusp of MY22.

Sorry if that was confusing. TLDR: Very unlikely.

not confusing. I already figured my22. thanks

 

[Thed]

Dont know what number I am but I’m patiently waiting for my call to place my two orders...

2021 Ford Bronco 2DR Wildtrak - Reservation # 1018XXXX (07/14/2020)
MUST BE EQUIPPED TO MEET CALIFORNIA EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
2DR Wildtrak
Shadow Black Exterior
Top - Modular Hard Top, Shadow Black-Painted
Hard Top Sound Deadening Headliner
Roof Rails with Crossbars
Front Bumper - Heavy Duty Modular with Front Steel Bash Plates
Paint Protection Film
Tube Steps - Powder Coated
Brush Guard
Wheel Lock Kit
Engine Block Heater
Keyless Entry Keypad
Leather-Trimmed /Vinyl Seats
Floor Liners - Front and Rear
Storage Bag - Front Row Top Panels and Doors
Lux Package
Towing Capability
Top, Soft Canvas (Bimini) - Throw In, Two Door
12” Hitch Extension for Racks
Ford Performance Slim License Plate Frame-Black Stainless Steel
MUST BE EQUIPPED TO MEET CALIFORNIA EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS



2021 Ford Bronco 4DR Wildtrak - Reservation #1037XXXX (08/05/2020)
MUST BE EQUIPPED TO MEET CALIFORNIA EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
4DR Wildtrak
Shadow Black Exterior
Top - Modular Hard Top, Shadow Black-Painted
Hard Top Sound Deadening Headliner
Front Bumper - Heavy Duty Modular with Front Steel Bash Plates
Paint Protection Film
Tube Step - Powder Coated
Brush Guard
Wheel Lock Kit
Engine Block Heater
Keyless Entry Keypad
Leather-Trimmed /Vinyl Seats
Floor Liners - Front and Rear
Storage Bag - Front Row Top Panels and Doors
Lux Package
Towing Capability
Top, Soft Canvas (Bimini) - Throw In, Four Door
12” Hitch Extension for Racks
Ford Performance Slim License Plate Frame-Black Stainless Steel
MUST BE EQUIPPED TO MEET CALIFORNIA EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS


Lol...Did I mention they must be equipped to meet California Emissions ?

Since both are Wildtraks with Black Modular Tops and Lux and Leather, both orders may get pushed to MY22 ... in which case I may change to a different color

I'm just as impatient... I have the email to John saved as a draft with the B&P printout attached. All I have to do is hit send.

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