Update 4/20/22:Previously, Nick asked me to unpublish this review of our experience after being offered compensation for all of the hassle. This was previously published on 12/17/2021. As of today, no compensation for our troubles were ever received.
As someone who loves cars, it’s no surprise Nick and I can work on our cars together and also admire checking out other cars. There’s a love/hate relationship that comes with car shopping for anyone but buying Nick’s new Jeep has landed us more on the hate side of some stunts pulled by the dealership and this post will explain why we will never recommend Ames Ford Lincoln.
Now before anyone thinks this is just a rant, I have known/been involved in previous car purchases and services there before that were fine. While I might think he’s crazy for it; even my stepdad purchased a JAGUAR from the company, likely on the “Ames Performance” side. Now as someone who has driven a Ford Mustang in Iowa weather, I know he loves the car he purchased, and my kids have had some fun rides with him in it.
Nick purchased a Jeep Compass a few years ago in one of those situations where you know you NEED to buy a vehicle and well, he ended up in a loan where he felt he didn’t have a choice. Considering he had absolutely NO debt to his name, that also meant no credit experience. Since then, his numbers have SOARED. When he started eyeballing new vehicles, I knew it would mean a lot for him to buy a new car where he had wiggle room and not stuck. While I talked him out of buying a Jeep Wrangler right now, I knew I wanted to help locate a new Jeep that gave him more.
Shopping at Ames Ford
After we searched the thousands of car hunting sites, he found a Jeep listed at Ames Ford. While it wasn’t his first choice in the style he wanted, there was the convenience of a car dealership ten minutes from home. He went and took a look and came home definitely wanting it. He had told them he would be back after he punched numbers in with his bank we already had been working with. He did NOT want credit inquiries to hit over and over after all he had done.
After getting his pre-qualification taken care of, he gave the information to the dealership, stating he only wanted his numbers ran with the pre-qualified letter. He was made to believe that he had to fill out the generic application for even that to be done. Sure enough, while he was at work, his phone began getting credit alerts…Ames Ford ran his credit through their financing, despite multiple conversations of only wanting his done once.
When he went to look at papers, they acknowledged they ran it and attempted to fast talk why it was okay for them to do it. Then the car he thought he was purchasing for a certain price, on paper, was $7k MORE (once again, numbers adding up so the dealership wouldn’t take a loss on his vehicle trade-in).
He left without signing and was contacted by a sales manager. When the sales manager gave him a change in numbers, Nick decided to go ahead with the purchase. We were told we’d only deal with that manager. The next day, Nick traded in his 2014 Jeep Compass for a 2018 Jeep Compass. We noticed the obvious attempt to get us out of there fast, but the sales manager handed him off to another person when he got there and lots of avoidance was obvious.
Ames Ford Lincoln, also known under Ames Motor Company, sent the generic scripted letter of satisfaction and wanting a guaranteed working relationship in the future.
Fast forward to the 14 days from purchasing and trading in his vehicle, his bank has yet to receive any contact or payoff from Ames Ford. Sure enough, the payoff estimate written in his purchase agreement has changed, the bank has now had to mark a late payment on Nick. The car dealership had no explanation for why they have not done so, would not tell him when this would happen, and blew his complaint off, saying they had all month to do it.
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Love the Jeep, not the Price of Ames Ford
Nick loves his new vehicle, but it definitely hasn’t been worth the “price” that has been much more than the monetary meaning. We are attempting to follow up with the proper establishments that can help take care of the several things that clearly have been not okay, even some likely illegal. Anyone that has ever had to dispute things on a credit report knows it’s not a fun task having to fight through multiple things and provide proof over and over again, but we will keep going forward.
