Ford apparently won't honor price shown at time of order

[benderofbows]

Day one reservation 5/19/2021... Received invite this September, and was able to order a Pro and *pay a deposit* of $500 which did hit my bank. Even though the price had increased from $39,999 to $46,974 I went ahead. The only option selected was Pro Power Onboard - 9.6 KW so total including destination and delivery was shown as $50,469 (minus my $500 deposit and $100 reservation for a bottom line of $49,869). The dealer "accepted" the order the next day; I know because my dealer contacted me, and also the "Order Status" on Fords website changed to show "Order Accepted by Dealer" over a month ago.

Next step should have been a "Scheduled for Production" notification. Instead, my dealer says their Ford rep called them (over a month after the order was placed and accepted by dealer), and was asking them to "confirm" the order; could they share my info with Ford to prove I was a real retail customer and was this for sure what I wanted? I said "yes" and the Pro is the truck I want. The only thing I asked was for them to confirm the price shown on my order status, and since I had them on the line, to see if they could remove the $500 mobile power cord and add a spray in bed liner instead.

Unfortunately the dealer just called back and said Ford will NOT honor the price shown at time of order. The dealer says they are new to having customers be able to actually place their own orders online instead of coming in to the store, and that Ford is telling them that I will have to pay another $5,000 above what is shown on my order page, since there was another price increase after I placed my order? This is not coming from the dealer, they say Ford is saying $55,469. Let me be clear, we trust our local dealer completely! My wife ordered a Bronco last year which arrived this summer, and the dealer was 100% amazing throughout that entire SAGA, they did sell us our Bronco at MSRP with no problems. So I believe the dealer when they say this is coming from Ford!

Right now my order page still shows "accepted" and $50,469. As one of the first reservations who has already waited for over 17 months I'm not sure I'm thinking rationally here... On one hand, I know some people did not get the chance to order a Pro, or haven't even been able to order at all; on the other hand, I know some early reservation holders like me either got a Pro at $39,999 or are "price protected" with Ford taking care of them to offset price increases. Is it unreasonable for me to expect Ford to honor the price shown at time of order? Any recommendations for how best to get actual confirmation from Ford about how this works; are they changing the price shown on my order page, or cancelling my order or what?

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[KurtsRPMGarage]

It sounds like you were one of those people that were able to order a pro due to a glitch in Ford's system. The pro was technically only available for wave 1 orders while you were wave 3. I would be careful about fighting this too much as Ford could just up and cancel your order if they felt so inclined.

 

[hturnerfamily]

pricing is completely up to the Dealer, not Ford. Ford only offers a 'suggested MSRP' pricing. What the dealer charges you is between you and them. This is the way it's ALWAYS been. I suspect that your dealer wants to add his own ADM, and make it sound like it's 'out of their control due to Ford'...

 

[brewski]

I would be careful about fighting this too much as Ford could just up and cancel your order if they felt so inclined.

I guess it depends on how much you really want the vehicle.

 

[LightningShow]

Sounds like you need to speak with Ford about this, not the dealer.

 

[vandy1981]

I think your dealer is confused or is adding ADM and trying to blame Ford.

Your actual price should be what you see on your order page, unless there is a "difference from MSRP" charge listed there.

They can try to charge you additional markup when you pick up the order, but this is the dealer's prerogative, not Ford's.

I suppose it's possible that your order got flagged by Ford for additional scrutiny and that the dealer didn't respond in a timely manner, thus locking you into the higher price.

I would consider calling the Ford customer care hotline to see if they can provide any additional information. @FordVideoGuy on YouTube will also try to help people make sense of situations like this when the dealer seems clueless.

 

[F150ROD]

Sounds like the dealer is wanting get an extra $5k from you. Just tell your salesman you will be calling the Ford Lightning hotline to find out what exactly is going on.

 

[Amps]

I think your dealer is confused or is adding ADM and trying to blame Ford.

One other slight possibility is there may be a private offer for the price difference coming from Ford that neither the dealer nor the order-er know about.

 

[vandy1981]

One other slight possibility is there may be a private offer for the price difference coming from Ford that neither the dealer nor the order-er know about.

If that's the case the dealer should be able to see a private offer in the smart VINCENT system.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

It sounds like you were one of those people that were able to order a pro due to a glitch in Ford's system. The pro was technically only available for wave 1 orders while you were wave 3. I would be careful about fighting this too much as Ford could just up and cancel your order if they felt so inclined.

I've been wondering what would happen to the glitch orders that weren't in Waves 1 or 2 and were still able to get a Pro or XLT.

 

[BEVolution]

Ask the dealer to email you an updated build sheet. It should have the price you’re paying for the truck. Window sticker will be higher price, but your order price should be locked in. Hope this helps.

 

[benderofbows]

Great advice! Thanks

 

[jimfigler]

the pro was only available in wave 1 in august and only wave 1 Pro and wave 2 XLT were price protected to 2022 pricing as were unscheduled 2022 orders that got pushed to 2023. If you ordered a Pro in September you glitched the system and they probably figured it out. Hence no price protection.

 

[jimfigler]

Also that $5000 may not be a dealer ADM. It could the $5000 2nd price increase the Pro got in October.

 

[p52Ranch]

Your Window sticker will have the extra $5,000 on it as that is a "mid year price increase on the 2023 Pro models. However, Ford should honor the price on your original DORA order. So make sure you have copies of it (before any changes). It shouldn't be any different than any other Ford model that has a midyear price increase. This will not show up in Smart Vincent and the dealer will only get reimbursed the $5,000 price increase after the fact of the sale to you. If they sold the Pro to anyone other than the original order holder then Ford invoices the dealer based on the pricing at the time of the window sticker generation rather than the DORA.

If you/the dealer never got a DORA sheet on the original order then that could be problematic as Ford wouldn't have any original order price to reference.

I'm thinking there is some confusion between Ford and the dealer regarding the timing of the order, the price increase and the mechanism the dealer gets reimbursed. The dealer is supposed to share this lower price with the customer but there isn't anything that forces them to do that. I'm sure many unwitting customers don't ask for the original DORA price and the dealer keeps the spoils. Caveat Emptor.

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