Risk of buying from afar, my Granger experience

[Jack in Prescott]

Couple of things:
-- Let's keep a perspective on this: Granger sells hundreds of vehicles each year to out-of-state buyers like me and the OP. It's simply due to Zack's strategy to increase Granger's annual truck allotment from Ford. After all, Iowa is truck country. This incident is quite unusual, as a lack of other posts about this kind of situation illustrate.
-- The OP was keen to get his new truck (so was I, after waiting 7 months!) and eagerly coordinated his flight with Chip ASAP...but that's not the best move when buying long distance. Better to wait until PDI is completed and everyone who can put a hand on it has done so. After delivery, I asked Chip for photos and he readily supplied them. Chip made sure my truck was not just 'prepped' but parked in the shade and awaiting my arrival. In short, I'm pretty confident he, if not the PDI crew, would have noticed this damage by the time the process was completed. Book the flight *after* everything is done and, worst case, you'll know about any surprises while still back home...not that this changes anything.
-- I'm guilty of a little thread drift here but wanted to add a note I don't see mentioned often: My flight (from Phoenix to Des Moines), hotel nights (3) during the delivery, and gas (1400 miles) were all covered by my state tax *reduction* due to purchasing at Granger's pricing. I no doubt would have been as disappointed as the OP...but it's not like the inconvenience associated with repairing the damage would have been any less if I had bought from my local dealer. My point is that the distance purchase and the delivery damage are independent of one another. It's the anticipation coupled with Granger's process not having been completed that produced the bummer.

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[AgieF150]

We do not know at what stage damage happened. I will give benefit of doubt in Granger favor.

I have bought many vehicles out of state without test drive or anything. Made the deal on the phone went and pickup the vehicle and out of dealer lot within an hr. Some vehicle I did find mechanical problem which dealer can not duplicate. How you will deal with it? In my opinion if Granger took care of this without any fuss, end of story.

 

[Poorredman]

-- The OP was keen to get his new truck (so was I, after waiting 7 months!) and eagerly coordinated his flight with Chip ASAP...but that's not the best move when buying long distance. Better to wait until PDI is completed and everyone who can put a hand on it has done so.

Just to clarify, I had asked if the truck had been looked over and I was assured it was because doing so when the transport drops it off is the only time they can file a claim. That was 2 days after it had been delivered, so I booked a flight for 6 days later.

PDI didn't happen until the morning of pickup, even though I was scheduled for first transaction of the day at store open. The damage very well could have happened on Granger's lot, nobody knows. The fact that it wasn't caught until I was 5min from arriving at the dealer was a slipup of process that I'm confident Zach will improve, but rare mishaps can always happen.

The difference in if it had happened at a local dealer is that I would have turned around and gone home and waited until they called and said it was like new again. Maybe a 20min inconvenience going there and back.

Here, I've already spent an hour getting two separate quotes from the local dealer (body shop for bumper/light and service for armrest). The earliest they can get it in is 30 days out and they need it for 5 days for the work. Then there is the risk that they F* something up in the process. I own the truck now, so I can't just walk away.

As I said in the update, Zach has so far stood behind his promise to take care of the cost to make it right. The significant deal savings still makes it worth the aggravation and inconvenience.

 

[Granger Ford]

So I'm curious, is Granger covering for it because it was discovered after the truck was offloaded at the dealership and Granger signed the truck to the delivery driver as "no damage"; otherwise if it was discovered at time of offload, Ford would have paid for it?

Correct. Once it's dropped off at our store and signed for we own it. If we missed something it's on us.

 

[two wheels]

We do not know at what stage damage happened. I will give benefit of doubt in Granger favor.

I have bought many vehicles out of state without test drive or anything. Made the deal on the phone went and pickup the vehicle and out of dealer lot within an hr. Some vehicle I did find mechanical problem which dealer can not duplicate. How you will deal with it? In my opinion if Granger took care of this without any fuss, end of story.

Well I don't see how Granger had any choice. It's not like Granger could tell the new buyer, "Here's your damaged truck and you have to take it like that." Granger had a responsibility. To deliver a new vehicle in new condition when they promised the new buyer it would be there. Who damaged, when it was damaged is of no concern to the customer. The customer's responsibility is to pay for the new vehicle. That's it! Granger did the right thing? Granger did the only thing. We understand things happen, but this vehicle should have been thoroughly checked and presented when they told the customer it would be there. Doing the right thing should include reimbursement for any and all cost customer incurred. If this wasn't done, then Granger did the minimum in my opinion.

 

[JoeBlowFord]

Well I don't see how Granger had any choice. It's not like Granger could tell the new buyer, "Here's your damaged truck and you have to take it like that." Granger had a responsibility. To deliver a new vehicle in new condition when they promised the new buyer it would be there. Who damaged, when it was damaged is of no concern to the customer. The customer's responsibility is to pay for the new vehicle. That's it! Granger did the right thing? Granger did the only thing. We understand things happen, but this vehicle should have been thoroughly checked and presented when they told the customer it would be there. Doing the right thing should include reimbursement for any and all cost customer incurred. If this wasn't done, then Granger did the minimum in my opinion.

Your continued push for additional compensation above and beyond the repair of the damaged parts is.....odd. Granger doesn't magically owe the buyer more because the buyer is out of state. If the buyer was next door to the dealership, and the damage was caught at the exact same time in the process, the buyer could have decided to buy and fix it later, or wait for a fix and buy later.

The OP had the same choice here, and given the added costs of having to travel a second time in the later scenario, he chose the first option. The distance aspect doesn't introduce increased compensation. He very clearly gets this, as his title calls out and recognizes the personal risk of buying afar. In the end, the buyer is being made whole for exactly what is owed, a damage free truck.

 

[two wheels]

Your continued push for additional compensation above and beyond the repair of the damaged parts is.....odd. Granger doesn't magically owe the buyer more because the buyer is out of state. If the buyer was next door to the dealership, and the damage was caught at the exact same time in the process, the buyer could have decided to buy and fix it later, or wait for a fix and buy later.

The OP had the same choice here, and given the added costs of having to travel a second time in the later scenario, he chose the first option. The distance aspect doesn't introduce increased compensation. He very clearly gets this, as his title calls out and recognizes the personal risk of buying afar. In the end, the buyer is being made whole for exactly what is owed, a damage free truck.

Regarding "continued push for additional compensation." I was merely looking at the customer being reimbursed for any losses the customer suffered because of Granger's inadequate inspection/care/information given to the customer. I was also surprised by some posting here almost praising Grainger for repairing damage Granger clearly is responsible for and had no other choice. In other words; "thank you so much for doing the minimum you had to do". There is no magic necessary for dealer to reimburse said buyer for traveling in out of state upon Granger telling them the vehicle had been checked and conveying to buyer to come in because everything was in order. Just common sense or common courtesy. Clearly, the vehicle had not been adequately checked and cared for as to make sure the vehicle was ready for pick up. Who should be responsible for this inaccurate information? The customer? That was the dealer's responsibility. If the buyer was next door, we wouldn't be addressing other cost incurred, but the buyer wasn't next door. Moot point!
Yes, the buyer does recognize the risk of buying from afar now, from a dealer who doesn't exercise adequate care to make sure the vehicle is ready, when it's clearly not. Not all dealers are the same. In the end, if the customer incurred any additional cost due to the vehicle not being ready for pick up when he was notified it was ready to go, and was not reimbursed for those unnecessary expenses. Then the customer was NOT made whole.

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