Eau Claire Ford Lincoln & Quicklane

I sent a message through Cars.com to Eau Claire Ford that I was interested in your truck and requested to keep the communications through email. I was contacted by Sales and everything started out well. They offered to meet half way in Madison but was very particular on what day we would meet, I made some alterations to my schedule and my wife took a couple hours off of work to pick up our son from school. I found out later from sales mixed in a visit with his best friend in Madison, bothered me a bit that she missed out on work and we flexed as we did to accommodate this. I had to leave right from the dentist with a numb mouth for this.



When it came down to getting the numbers together sales committed to a $15,000 trade in value on my 2012 Mustang convertible with another $500 when they see back at the dealership that it looks as it did on Cargurus.com where I had it listed for sale by owner, all of this is in our emails. The other dealer had offered me $15,500 with no conditions but I thought going with Eau Claire Ford felt better. I was wrong.



We met as agreed in Madison and that is where everything started to fall apart. I gave sales my USAA Electronic Dealer Checks and they initially did not accept it and made a HUGE deal out of nothing but eventually accepted the check.



I asked for the title for the truck but sales said they will be sending the title through Wisconsin. The next day I confirmed that I needed the title to pay taxes, register, and title the truck in my name in Illinois. I immediately informed sales of this and sales argued that sending the title through Wisconsin was law. I called the USAA titling department who advised me the was no such law. USAA would get the title as they are the lien holder but would have to send it to me to take it to the Illinois Secretary of State to properly title it but all of this would take longer than Illinois allows to pay tax and register a vehicle. USAA was willing to send your dealership a letter giving permission for me to have the title to take care of the necessary things at the Illinois Secretary Of State.



I called and spoke with their title clerk and begged her to send me the title to do this and she refused. I continued begging her until she agreed to speaks with the Illinois Secretary of State to confirm what I was telling her. She did call and confirmed that I was correct but still refused to send me the title. She used the Illinois online system to fill out the paperwork the same as I would have done. I could have gotten personalized plates at the DMV if I would have had the title with me and done this myself which is what normally happens.





Then comes the issue of the remaining $500 for my trade. I sent sales an email a day after he got the car back to the dealership and expected to hear that the Mustang is as it was in the pictures and I would be getting a check. I did not hear back. I called and asked about it and he said that they would not make any decisions until the money is deposited in the dealer account from USAA. I asked why he had to wait for the money to be deposited before confirming the Mustang was as it appeared in the pictures and tell me they would send the check when the USAA deposit shows in your account. I was not asking for a check right now. Sales said in that case we will go with the contract and leave it at the $15,000 as it is not worth more. I asked how he can say that when it is already listed on the Eau Clair Ford website for $20,995 almost $6,000 more than I was given.



I asked what was wrong with the Mustang that he is pulling back on the $500 when they will be making $6,000 on it. He said he did not have to disclose that to me. Based on the progression of the conversation it was clear that there was never any intention to give me the $500.



Beware of this dealership as my experience showed they are not trustworthy. They also did not disclose the truck had a broken windshield and missing spare tire tool kit.

the sales floor was nice. its wide open and bright unlike some places I've shopped at. i was greeted right away and didn't feel pressured. the sales manager was able to find the vehicle I wanted (i'm picky). overall i was treated fairly and i got a good deal on my vehicle.