Ford

We visited Mathews Ford in Oregon, Ohio in March of this year. We traded in a 2011 Ford Focus and purchased a 2017 Ford Focus for myself and a 2013 Chevy Cruz for our older son giving up some of our savings.

After owning/driving the Ford Focus for a few months, I felt the car to be unsafe and was unhappy with the vehicle due to the clunky transmission and overall performance of the car. We called the dealership and they told us to stop by and that they will make it right.

The salesman said they can adjust the transmission and that everything will be better. While my husband was waiting for the car, the lead person at the shop gave him some forms about this particular car and told me they have nothing but issues with this vehicle. Nice, right? So, we take the car back home since there is nothing else the dealership can do.

Now it gets better. During this time, we put an offer in to buy a home. My mortgage person called my husband and asked what he had done to his credit. Come to find out, when Mathews Ford paid off the trade of the old Ford Focus, the amount was wrong causing him to show delinquent credit car payments and losing financing for our dream home. Eventually we were able to re-apply and finally got the approval from the mortgage company after visiting the dealership five different times before they wrote a letter stating it was their mistake then hand delivering said letter with a check to Huntington Bank.

So now our interest rate on the mortgage is 1% higher than originally approved for…roughly $80/month. Predicting we stay in this home for 10-15 years, we will lose $10, 000-$15, 000.

We spoke with the Salesman again and told him we had two cars to trade in. He was very happy to hear from us after the pay-off ordeal and said if we brought two cars in to trade that they would "make it right." We took in the Ford Focus along with my husband's old car (2014 Chevy Malibu) in hopes of trading both for one car trying to keep our payment about the same, i.e. $350/month. They weren't able to work with us because of the negative equity on BOTH vehicles.

Don't get me wrong, I understand negative equity and that is on me for sure. However, we would never have bought the Ford Focus to begin with without a knowledgeable sales person telling us it was a "great" car. In fact, when I made a comment to him about it driving smoother after the transmission adjustment, he said "for now it is, but it won't be in a few months." So why did he even sell us the car to begin with?

So, here we are…a typical stereo-type car sales process to an unknowing customer. We cannot trade in because of negative equity, I am afraid to drive the unsafe vehicle, we lost savings from buying said car, lost money on home purchase, and the stress of not having a vehicle to drive…all from one visit to Ford Mathews and the purchase of this car.

I doubt I will get anything in return for this letter but wanted to let you know that the trip to Mathews Ford has financially wrecked my credit and my house payments, my stress level and the car just sits in our garage because my wife feels unsafe driving this vehicle. In fact, we have put approximately 4, 000 miles ONLY on this car since the purchase in March. Pretty great trip to buy a Ford vehicle - wouldn't you agree?

Please feel free to reach out to me if you care to discuss a family trying to recover from a purchase at one of your dealerships. I hope to hear from someone that understands what customer service means and that fair and honest treatment still exists in the car industry.

Christy Tolbert

We visited Mathews Ford In Oregon, Ohio in Feb/March of this year. On that date we traded in a Ford and bought a 2017 Ford Focus for my wife and a older used car for my oldest son in college. Giving up much of our savings. After owning the car for a few months my wife feels the car is unsafe and is unhappy with the vehicle due to the clunky transmission and overall performance of this vehicle. Call the dealership and are told to stop by and they will make it right. Salesman tells me they can adjust the transmission and everything will be better. While waiting at the shop the lead person in charge gives me the forms about this car and tells me they have nothing but issues with this vehicle- Nice right? So we take the car home because there is nothing the dealership will do to help. Now it gets better - we have put an offer in to buy a home. My mortgage person calls and asks me what I did to my credit. It turns out when Mathews paid off the trade- in car the amount was wrong causing me to show delinquent credit car payments and losing my financing on our dream home. Was able to re- apply and get the approval from mortgage company - only after visiting the dealership 5 different times and getting letters stating it was there mistake and hand delivering these letters to Huntington Bank. So now my new mortgage rate is 1% higher - roughly $80 a month so predicting staying in this home for 10-15 years we will lose thanks to Ford Dealership approx. $10, 000- $15, 000. I was told to bring in 2 cars to trade for one and they "would make it right" . I understand negative equity and that is on me- however would never have bought the Focus without a knowledgeable sales person telling us good car. So here we are a typical stereo type car sales process to an unknowing customer. Cannot trade car in because negative equity - family too afraid to drive unsafe vehicle, very low savings from buying said Focus- losing money on home purchase, stress of not having vehicle to drive all from one visit to Ford Mathews and a purchase of vehicle. I will instruct my 125 employees to avoid the place if they want to be treated fairly. I doubt I will get anything in return for this letter just wanted to let people know that the trip to Mathews has financially wrecked my credit, my house payments, my stress level and still have the car sitting in my garage because she feels unsafe in this vehicle we have put less than 4k miles since purchase- pretty great trip to buy a Ford vehicle- would you agree? Please feel free to reach out to me if anyone cares about a family trying to recover from a purchase at one of your dealerships. I can be reached at [protected]. Hope to hear from someone that understands what Ford customer services means of if fair and honest treatment exists in the car industry.