LIES AND DECEIT.
I was told a new 2020 Ford Escape Titanium VIN #1FMCU9J9XLUA34135 was discounted by almost 10K from the MSRP of 39K since it sat on their lot for over 10 months and that since it was almost the end of September 2020, they believed in aggressive pricing. This all sounds believable right? I sure thought so, until the ugly truth came out after all the paperwork was signed and I was ready to take posssesion of the vehicle.
Turns out this was a "damaged discount" vehicle and they tried to sneak in a buyers acknowledgment form for me to sign along with the many other forms required as part of any sale. The finance manager initally stated that it did not need to be signed, since the vehicle was not damaged. He later came back and stated, it needed to be signed if I wanted to drive the vehicle off the lot.
When I questioned what type of damage the vehicle had, their deception continued. I was told, "Well, we don't know if there was actually any damage but the vehicle was on the lot at the time that a storm hit and other cars were damaged". I asked for proof that there was no damage to the vehicle I was buying and guess what, they couldn't provide any proof.
Why would I need to sign an "as is" damage waiver if their was no damage? The simple answer is because there was damage and I challenged them on it and cancelled the deal and drove off in my would be trade in. Later that day, I gave them the opportunity to right their wrong and I asked for a comparable size discount on a comparable car and the answer was, oh yes of course, an extra $300.00 off any other car. This proved to me the car they were trying to push off on an unsuspecting buyer was in fact damaged and most likly part of an insurance claim. SHADY.
My next step is to file an official complaint with the Colorado Attorney General's office for DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES. The CAG takes these types of claims seriously and are in place to help protect consumers from predatory businesses, like Brighton Ford.
Note: The car was not advertised as damaged (I have a dated print out from their website) a few other cars were listed as "damage discount" and fully disclosed in the ad. When the Finance Manager asked the Sales Manager if their ad disclosed this information for the car I was buying. The sales manager was like uhh, hmm, mmm, well no.
BUYER BEWARE AT BRIGHTON FORD.
Sales man M.B. was good to work with, he was helpful and friendly and overall a good guy in my opinion. I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't know anything about the damage, but his manager sure enough did. There was no viable damage, so it must have been fixed up prior to being offered for sale. I assume it was hail damage, but again, they couldn't and wouldn't tell me.
The sad thing is, I probably would have still bought the car if this information was fully disclosed from the beginning and with a little extra price negotiation in the end. I really didn't appreciate been lied to, almost being taken advantage of and having 6.5 hours of my time wasted. Luckily, I had the intelligence to notice their deception and the courage to walk away. Im sure most of their rural Colorado customers wouldn't.
By the way, the Escape was removed from their website a few hours after I left on 9/19/20. I wonder why?
Shame on you Brighton Ford and anyone that had full knowledge of this plan to rip off an unsuspecting customer that just wanted a good deal on a car. I did eventually purchase a Ford vehicle that day, from your competition. read more