Taking Delivery of 2018 GT350, Have Questions

9580 Views 28 Replies 11 Participants Last post by extrachrispy, Jun 3, 2018

extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · Mar 29, 2018

My local dealer found me a 2018 GT350, Ruby Red w/black stripe and convenience package--the exact car I would have ordered; however, the stripe ends at the front of the hood and does not extend down the front fascia. Looking closely, the paint appears to match, but it still gives me pause. Furthermore, the dealer my dealer obtained the car from in turn drove the car 130+ miles from a neighboring dealer, which I find odd.

The dealer my dealer got the car from claims that it came without the stripe extending down the fascia, which also seems very odd--I would have expected the first dealer to have filed it as a mis-build with Ford, but Ford Performance has no record of that for this VIN (I called them today). It's been recommended to me to have a body shop verify that it's original.

My dealer has offered to order the striping from Ford and have it professionally installed, and assures me that it would still be considered "factory original."

Would you take delivery of this vehicle at MSRP? Would you take delivery of it at all?

Here is the car:

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 29, 2018

Yes, the OTT stripe is on the sticker, as verified from the internet Ford window sticker. We know who the original receiving dealer was, and we will be calling them this morning to see if they noted it when they received the car from the truck. Interestingly, they originally had a $10K ADM on the car, which I find surprising if the car came off the truck missing the stripes on the nose. We'll be calling that dealer's new car manager this morning to see what they have to say. If the story checks out, great, though it is still curious why they wouldn't have filed a mis-build and have Ford make it right.

Color choice: thanks! I've seen the car in my dealer's detail bay, and it is beautiful in person! I just want to make sure that if I'm buying a car represented to me as new and original, that it really is new and original. I don't intend to ever sell it, but if the future ever brings me hard times and I have to, I want to make sure I don't take a bath on it.

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 29, 2018

[MENTION=4162]JimT[/MENTION], yes, that is where I am with this. I need firm documentation that the car arrived from FRAP that way, or else I need to have the deal adjusted to reflect that this is not an original car, but a repaired car, or else I walk away from the whole thing.

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 31, 2018

The latest is that the Ford sales manager saw that the paint had been blended on the front bumper cover, and the dealer was not happy that he had accepted the car in that condition. The dealer from whom my dealer got the car is under major renovation after his shop was largely destroyed by hurricane Harvey, and has pledged to do whatever is necessary to make it right. The dealer from whom he got the car swears that it came that way. None of us believe him--he is a collector of red Mustangs who has won awards for his collection--but he's willing to put it in writing, so we're good on that score, and my dealer will fix what needs fixing prior to me taking delivery.

That leaves the mystery mileage, for which we are still seeking answers.

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 31, 2018 (Edited)

Here is what we think happened, as the carfax report on this car shows that it was checked in at dealer #2 with 11 miles on it in January, with another service entry nine days later noting 12 miles, and it was picked up by my dealer via flatbed from dealer #2 with 149 miles on it: we think an employee of dealer #2 nabbed the dealer plate and went for a joyride, got into some boo-boo that damaged the bumper cover, and had a buddy in the body shop try to cover it up. That would account for the mileage. We have yet to ask dealer #2 about this.

Question: is there any kind of telemetry available via the OBD-II port that would let us know how it was driven? Max RPM? Number of times it hit redline? I am at this point leery of paying MSRP for a car represented to me as "new" that may have had the living snot beat out of it by some joyriding moron.

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 31, 2018

I ended up accepting the car. My dealer is going to make sure the front end is correct (at his expense), and close inspection revealed no balled-up rubber either on the tires or on the carpet that lines the back of the rear wheel wells. Avg. mpg was 13.4mpg, making the revised theory that the GM of the other dealer probably drove the car home to show his wife. My gf, who has been a manager at several Ford dealerships, was satisfied, and she has been the pickier of the two of us on this deal.

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 2, 2018 (Edited)

And I ended up taking the car back and unwinding the deal. What looked like a cosmetic issue apparently hid more serious problems, that the other dealer completely concealed: on the drive home, I found that the A/C didn't work, the climate-controlled seats didn't work, the buttons and dials for the radio didn't work, and I kept getting TPMS faults. For what these cars cost, I'm not about to buy one for the privilege of spending the next several months taking it back in to fix the next surprise.

Credit to my dealer: he took the car back without any hassle. Now we're trying to get another one from a nearby dealer, that has none of this questionable funny stuff going on.

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 3, 2018

My dealer took the bad car back without fuss, my gf found one nearby, and my dealer got it from them, brought it up, and I took delivery of a pristine Ruby Red w/black stripe + convenience package, with 15 miles on the odo, and no BS backstory.

I introduce to you, Ruby Gale!

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #19 · Apr 4, 2018

That's the sales guy, Nick, with the temporary tag. This is me:

Car Vehicle Land vehicle Hood Automotive lighting

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extrachrispy

Discussion Starter · #29 · Jun 3, 2018 (Edited)

systemBuilder said:
I am virtually certain that most important part about this car is not the stripe.

I am virtually certain that you are one of the aforementioned poopheads.

In the case of the first car, the stripe problem was a hint to look deeper, and we did not like what we found. The fact that the A/C didn't work, nor did any of the toggle switches, was the absolute last straw.

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