Been looking to buy a Bronco for a while, and finally found the one I was looking for on the lot at Covert Ford. 4 door Badlands with manual transmission in gray, perfect. Late last week I set up an appointment with them for noon on Saturday, ready to buy.

Today I made the drive from Houston to Austin for the appointment. At 11:20, right as I'm driving in to Elgin, I get a call from Covert. "Ford has issued a stop order on sales of four door Broncos due to a recall on seatbelts, we just found out." So I turn around and drive back to Houston.

Looked up the stop order on Bronco6G, and it's legit…but the "leaked" memo I'm reading is dated July 5th, two days before I set up my appointment to buy. So Covert knew, or should have known, that they were showing me a vehicle that I couldn't legally buy. I'm pretty pissed at this point, so I call one of the salesmen (the one who called me and informed me of the stop order) to ask why I was informed about the stop order within an hour of my appointment when they knew I was driving in from Houston. He tells me that it was a miscommunication, and the other saleswoman who set up my appointment didn't know about the stop order. I believe his story, but he certainly lied to me in the initial call, where he told me they all had just found out about the stop order.

I've asked to speak with the general sales manager, haven't heard back yet. Will follow up with them on Monday. I'm pretty mad about this whole thing, and I want to ask for some consideration for this "miscommunication", specifically right of first refusal on the vehicle I want after the seatbelt issue is fixed, additional discounts below x-plan, and/or freebies (Ford performance tune, roof rack, whatever). Am I being greedy or am I right for trying to extract a pound of flesh for this?

They told you there was an issue before you actually arrived.
It sounds like you believe their stories.
Therefore you want a first right of refusal to the vehicle (Seems fair)
Bigger discount below x-plan (Why would they do this or you be owed this?)
Free Things from them at a cost of several hundred dollars (Why would they do this or you be owed this?)

I will be the first one in line to tell the dealerships to go **** themselves, and I would do anything possible to be able to buy direct from Ford instead of ever going through a dealership again (Almost certain this wont happen...but that is a change I would love to see and maybe as people compete more against Tesla this could happen). With that said, I think they will tell you to kick rocks because they could sell the vehicle to some one else in the very near future. If you stopped at First right of Refusal I think that is a very fair compromise.

Best of luck though

I see where you're coming from, and would feel I'm not owed anything if they had actually just found out from Ford that they couldn't sell me the vehicle. That's fine, that's Ford's fault, not Covert's.

What bothers me is that they set up an appointment with me, knowing I was coming from out of town, for a vehicle they knew they couldn't sell me. I get that the specific salesperson that set it up may not have known, but that's Covert's fault. Ford informed the dealerships two days earlier!

Stop dealing with dealerships. Buy used.

I know it's not easy, but dealers suck.

Similar deal happened to me. I verified in writing that they had a vehicle on the lot and told them I'd be there in the morning. Drove from the Valley to Houston only to find out that not only did they not have that vehicle, but hadn't had it on the lot in over a month. Told them if they didn't make it right with another vehicle on the lot, that I'd sue. They basically told me go ahead. So I did. Ended up settling for double digits.

Like 20 bucks?

el_scorcho said:

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Like 20 bucks?

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Lol, but you know what I mean.

With as hard as Broncos are to get, I may have continued to see the vehicle. If it met expectations, I would have put a deposit down on it.

Ads like that on new, high demand/low supply autos are often used as bait. You are very fortunate they even called you while you were half way there.

OP user name does not check out

EMY92 said:

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With as hard as Broncos are to get, I may have continued to see the vehicle. If it met expectations, I would have put a deposit down on it.

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When we bought our Expedition a month ago the dealership had about 20 Broncos on the lot. I suppose the manual ones are still rare but typical Broncos are not.

Hungry Ojos said:

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Similar deal happened to me. I verified in writing that they had a vehicle on the lot and told them I'd be there in the morning. Drove from the Valley to Houston only to find out that not only did they not have that vehicle, but hadn't had it on the lot in over a month. Told them if they didn't make it right with another vehicle on the lot, that I'd sue. They basically told me go ahead. So I did. Ended up settling for double digits.

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Wait, didn't you make a thread? Update it with more details!

No. Double digits is 10-99 dollars do you mean 5 figures?

OnlyForNow said:

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No. Double digits is 10-99 dollars do you mean 5 figures?

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I think everyone (well most everyone I guess) took it to mean double digit thousands. Who the hell would brag about settling a lawsuit for less than $100?

AgEng06 said:

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OnlyForNow said:

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No. Double digits is 10-99 dollars do you mean 5 figures?

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I think everyone (well most everyone I guess) took it to mean double digit thousands. Who the hell would brag about settling a lawsuit for less than $100?

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I didn't think 10-99 but count me as confused as to what he was saying. No one says "double digits" when saying 10k.

Yesterday said:

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AgEng06 said:

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OnlyForNow said:

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No. Double digits is 10-99 dollars do you mean 5 figures?

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I think everyone (well most everyone I guess) took it to mean double digit thousands. Who the hell would brag about settling a lawsuit for less than $100?

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I didn't think 10-99 but count me as confused as to what he was saying. No one says "double digits" when saying 10k.

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It was $15k, I didn't know how else to say it without divulging the amount but whatever.

Hungry Ojos said:

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Yesterday said:

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AgEng06 said:

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OnlyForNow said:

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No. Double digits is 10-99 dollars do you mean 5 figures?

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I think everyone (well most everyone I guess) took it to mean double digit thousands. Who the hell would brag about settling a lawsuit for less than $100?

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I didn't think 10-99 but count me as confused as to what he was saying. No one says "double digits" when saying 10k.

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It was $15k, I didn't know how else to say it without divulging the amount but whatever.

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No worries. Didn't bother me. Was honestly thinking you were joking about how difficult it is to sue a dealership and you settled for $20.

All I have to add is Covert sucks.

AgEng06 said:

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OnlyForNow said:

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No. Double digits is 10-99 dollars do you mean 5 figures?

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I think everyone (well most everyone I guess) took it to mean double digit thousands. Who the hell would brag about settling a lawsuit for less than $100?

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The defense.

How did you get 15k out of them?? for deceptive advertising?

Yes, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act ("DTPA") prohibits false advertising and punishes an offending party by potentially double or triple damages if found liable. I had screenshots, saved texts and a bunch of documentation proving that they knew the vehicle wasn't on the lot, but lied and made numerous misrepresentations in an attempt to get me on the lot and try and sell me something else I didn't want. I'm an attorney, so all it cost me was time, but I sued and obtained a trial setting and 100% would have tried the case had they not settled.

So one would say you were rendered a fat payout?

Hungry Ojos said:

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Yes, the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act ("DTPA") prohibits false advertising and punishes an offending party by potentially double or triple damages if found liable. I had screenshots, saved texts and a bunch of documentation proving that they knew the vehicle wasn't on the lot, but lied and made numerous misrepresentations in an attempt to get me on the lot and try and sell me something else I didn't want. I'm an attorney, so all it cost me was time, but I sued and obtained a trial setting and 100% would have tried the case had they not settled.

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That's awesome!

civilaggie2011 said:

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I see where you're coming from, and would feel I'm not owed anything if they had actually just found out from Ford that they couldn't sell me the vehicle. That's fine, that's Ford's fault, not Covert's.

What bothers me is that they set up an appointment with me, knowing I was coming from out of town, for a vehicle they knew they couldn't sell me. I get that the specific salesperson that set it up may not have known, but that's Covert's fault. Ford informed the dealerships two days earlier!

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There's probably 10 people already in front of you on that Bronco. It's always worth asking for first refusal, you never know. On the other additional items, they will tell you to pound sand.

aggiedata said:

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So one would say you were rendered a fat payout?

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He was a GREAT man, they don't make em like that anymore.

civilaggie2011 said:

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Been looking to buy a Bronco for a while, and finally found the one I was looking for on the lot at Covert Ford. 4 door Badlands with manual transmission in gray, perfect. Late last week I set up an appointment with them for noon on Saturday, ready to buy.

Today I made the drive from Houston to Austin for the appointment. At 11:20, right as I'm driving in to Elgin, I get a call from Covert. "Ford has issued a stop order on sales of four door Broncos due to a recall on seatbelts, we just found out." So I turn around and drive back to Houston.

Looked up the stop order on Bronco6G, and it's legit…but the "leaked" memo I'm reading is dated July 5th, two days before I set up my appointment to buy. So Covert knew, or should have known, that they were showing me a vehicle that I couldn't legally buy. I'm pretty pissed at this point, so I call one of the salesmen (the one who called me and informed me of the stop order) to ask why I was informed about the stop order within an hour of my appointment when they knew I was driving in from Houston. He tells me that it was a miscommunication, and the other saleswoman who set up my appointment didn't know about the stop order. I believe his story, but he certainly lied to me in the initial call, where he told me they all had just found out about the stop order.

I've asked to speak with the general sales manager, haven't heard back yet. Will follow up with them on Monday. I'm pretty mad about this whole thing, and I want to ask for some consideration for this "miscommunication", specifically right of first refusal on the vehicle I want after the seatbelt issue is fixed, additional discounts below x-plan, and/or freebies (Ford performance tune, roof rack, whatever). Am I being greedy or am I right for trying to extract a pound of flesh for this?

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He said the saleswoman who set up the appointment didn't know about the sales order implying he did.

It was an honest mistake. I know it's hard to believe with car dealerships but it happens.

Agree. With the build up I was expecting him to say they sold it to someone else for more or something.

After reading all these dumb ass covert everyday low price ads on here never thought I'd side with them….

I want to hear more about the Houston dealer pissing their pants and then settling with you. How did it play out where they actually played ball?

$30,000 Millionaire said:

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I want to hear more about the Houston dealer pissing their pants and then settling with you. How did it play out where they actually played ball?

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I wish I had some grand, entertaining story but I honestly think they settled just because someone was finally willing to hold them accountable. In all of these scenarios, the car dealerships are clearly breaking consumer protection statutes, and even overtly flaunting their deception on their websites, knowing that no one is ever going to do anything about it except complain and leave a mean Yelp review. They were clearly liable for their actions and had no defense to my claims that I was 100% going to take to trial.

How did you get the documentation that they knew the. While was in the lot?

No, this Bronco isn't in high demand, it's been on the lot for a while and listed at MSRP. Not sure why, but Covert has a bunch of manual transmission Broncos on their lot. I guess they misjudged the market, maybe the typical person who wants a stick is the type who ordered one to their specifications.

Quote:

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He said the saleswoman who set up the appointment didn't know about the sales order implying he did.

It was an honest mistake. I know it's hard to believe with car dealerships but it happens.

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Oh I agree, I believe it was a mistake on their part, not anything malicious. But it's a pretty dumb one, and it wasted a good chunk of my time. Covert should have made sure all of their sales people knew that they can't demo or sell any four door Broncos.

civilaggie2011 said:

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No, this Bronco isn't in high demand, it's been on the lot for a while and listed at MSRP. Not sure why, but Covert has a bunch of manual transmission Broncos on their lot. I guess they misjudged the market, maybe the typical person who wants a stick is the type who ordered one to their specifications.

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Gotcha. I figured all Broncos were sold before they hit the lot. Guess the demand for them has gone down

Went to a Covert dealership a couple of weeks ago to replace the wife's totaled diesel Cruze. It was a deleted unicorn approaching 200000 miles and we were expecting to drive it that many more miles.

Of course they had sold the car we went to see and then they showed us what they had around $20000. First Honda had a caved in passenger door that wasn't in the pictures with 100000 miles. The next car they wanted us to see had been loaned out to APD as a bait car and it should be back Tuesday or Wednesday.

I hate dealing with car dealers, but these folks have stepped that up a couple of notches. I was pretty skeptical going in because of the specials they posted here last year, but they were far worse than I was expecting.

Hungry Ojos said:

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$30,000 Millionaire said:

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I want to hear more about the Houston dealer pissing their pants and then settling with you. How did it play out where they actually played ball?

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I wish I had some grand, entertaining story but I honestly think they settled just because someone was finally willing to hold them accountable. In all of these scenarios, the car dealerships are clearly breaking consumer protection statutes, and even overtly flaunting their deception on their websites, knowing that no one is ever going to do anything about it except complain and leave a mean Yelp review. They were clearly liable for their actions and had no defense to my claims that I was 100% going to take to trial.

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I'd like to do the same to DeMontrond in Houston. I posted in another thread a few weeks ago but I think I have proof that they charged the kid for window tinting(I know it's a scam) that they never installed. Fraud.