Dealer Mannequin Program

[BuzzyBud]

So bottom line: do you still want one?

Absolutely!!

 

[Bronco_Girl]

They put 51 miles on my "new" car doing demos and running errands before they told me it was delivered.They certainly can and do sell them as new after using them.

HUH?? You think in six months of people driving them there would only be 54 miles on them??

 

[Bronco_Girl]

HUH?? You think in six months of people driving them there would only be 54 miles on them and sold as new??

 

[1Five1 Garage]

They put 51 miles on my "new" car doing demos and running errands before they told me it was delivered.They certainly can and do sell them as new after using them.

As a mannequin they usually don't sell them as new if they have 4k miles on them. They usually sell them with a discount. BUT as a Bronco they will sell it at MSRP (which will be a discount for most) lol

If it sits in their show room the whole time with limited miles then yes.

 

[Broncadonk MKG]

How does the Dealer Mannequin program work? They are beginning to show up at dealer locations and some allow test drives, and others not. My salesman said that Ford is supplying the units without the dealer purchasing upfront, and they don't like them to be driven. He commented that a dealer allowed a test drive of a Mach-E that was totaled and the dealer got in trouble with Ford. I have heard the units can be sold after a time period, which I would assume the dealer would then pay Ford for the unit.
Any dealers out there with knowledge of the program?

My dealer gets their's soon and I can only look and sit inside. Otherwise they can't sell them as "new". sucks

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but they were just feeding you misinformation because they’re being lazy.
Legally speaking, it will be sold new whether it has 4 miles or 4000 miles on the odometer. The title to the vehicle never leaves the dealer’s name, so it will be “new”. Dealer demos are common, they get swapped out every 4-5000 miles and given a discount sticker on them saying “demo discount/ manager’s demo special” etc etc.
So your dealer sucks for feeding you that garbage, but I can also 1000% sympathize because half the units I lend out on BCAs get returned dirty, and/or less gas than agreed upon. And those are boring pre-owned SUVs and sedans that I let my customers use as a courtesy while their recently-purchased vehicle is in the shop for maintenance or accessory/ add-on installation. Just imagine how beat up these bronco demos will get because customers can’t respect property that isn’t theirs. Plus no salesman wants to spend 30 minutes to an hour of their day cleaning, re-detailing and refilling gas in a bronco unit they can’t sell when they could be out on the lot making money.

 

[Bronco_Girl]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but they were just feeding you misinformation because they’re being lazy.
Legally speaking, it will be sold new whether it has 4 miles or 4000 miles on the odometer. The title to the vehicle never leaves the dealer’s name, so it will be “new”. Dealer demos are common, they get swapped out every 4-5000 miles and given a discount sticker on them saying “demo discount/ manager’s demo special” etc etc.
So your dealer sucks for feeding you that garbage, but I can also 1000% sympathize because half the units I lend out on BCAs get returned dirty, and/or less gas than agreed upon. And those are boring pre-owned SUVs and sedans that I let my customers use as a courtesy while their recently-purchased vehicle is in the shop for maintenance or accessory/ add-on installation. Just imagine how beat up these bronco demos will get because customers can’t respect property that isn’t theirs. Plus no salesman wants to spend 30 minutes to an hour of their day cleaning, re-detailing and refilling gas in a bronco unit they can’t sell when they could be out on the lot making money.

Yes u r correct in regards to the title. First person to buy it will always have it be new. But I was talking about the money side.

 

[Broncadonk MKG]

They put 51 miles on my "new" car doing demos and running errands before they told me it was delivered.They certainly can and do sell them as new after using them.

As a mannequin they usually don't sell them as new if they have 4k miles on them. They usually sell them with a discount. BUT as a Bronco they will sell it at MSRP (which will be a discount for most) lol

If it sits in their show room the whole time with limited miles then yes.

Legally they are a new vehicle whether they’ve been on the lot for 6 hours or 6 months. Because the title never changes hands. But the minute a customer buys a car, brings it back the next week and returns it, it’s a used unit because it was very briefly titled under a different name.
At the end of the demo rotation, the dealer will slap an extra $500 discount on the unit in lieu of other discounts/incentives they usually offer from the manufacturer. On the front end they lose no money compared to a “new new” unit that has only 2 miles on it. On the back end they lose money because they’re constantly refueling and re-cleaning the unit to put back on the lot every day.

 

[Bronco V-8]

As a mannequin they usually don't sell them as new if they have 4k miles on them. They usually sell them with a discount. BUT as a Bronco they will sell it at MSRP (which will be a discount for most) lol

If it sits in their show room the whole time with limited miles then yes.

My car wasn't a mannequin, I ordered it special. Came in and they drove it around before telling me it was there. My point is the dealers have no problem selling cars as new when they were being used as demos.

 

[Bronco V-8]

Legally they are a new vehicle whether they’ve been on the lot for 6 hours or 6 months. Because the title never changes hands. But the minute a customer buys a car, brings it back the next week and returns it, it’s a used unit because it was very briefly titled under a different name.
At the end of the demo rotation, the dealer will slap an extra $500 discount on the unit in lieu of other discounts/incentives they usually offer from the manufacturer. On the front end they lose no money compared to a “new new” unit that has only 2 miles on it. On the back end they lose money because they’re constantly refueling and re-cleaning the unit to put back on the lot every day.

There is a matter of ethics when the dealer uses a customer car for demos.

 

[1Five1 Garage]

My car wasn't a mannequin, I ordered it special. Came in and they drove it around before telling me it was there. My point is the dealers have no problem selling cars as new when they were being used as demos.

True. It sucks when they do that.

 

[Soupcook]

Overnight test drives are not encouraged. Also a double edged sward, as I am Bronco specialist for a dealership looking at this as a whole, we have a 4 door Wildtrak 2.7 Ecoboost as our Mannequin that Ford Requires us to have a list of accessories on. When it comes down to it that's a hard one to say yeah lets send this out on overnight test drives, then have to sell it in 7 months with all these miles and not get any additional money from Ford in incentive to pass along to the customer who now is bringing up all the miles, who had it, what did they do in it. VS Having the unit on the lot for people to see sit in possibly drive for an hour. There are a lot of possibilities, as this is been left up to the dealers for the most part, each will have a different approach or view on it and at the end of the day it wont matter which direction the dealer goes someone wont be happy or understand. (I try to keep a very open mind here and look at both sides)

My suggestion for when your unit arrives was that we notify all order and reservation holders and allow them the opportunity to schedule a time to come by go over the vehicle and go on a test drive with me the specialist who has also been to Austin Texas, so I can also show them specific things and functions of the unit. As i am more proactive specialist from what i have seen in online forms, I also highly encouraged our management team that we should allow test drives but with a specialist one to protect us from all of the "what ifs" but second to provide a more positive experience for the potential customer and to be able to show/explain things more in-depth to them.

Just my take on the subject i try to look at it from a business point and a customer point and find the even medium. End of the day every dealer is different and every state also has different laws and regulations for loaner vehicles as well. I would say look for a dealer who has a Bronco Specialist, shop who has what units as each dealer will have different Broncos.

Any positive questions please feel free to message me i always try to help.

ChrisP

You say "My suggestion for when your unit arrives was that we notify all order and reservation holders and allow them the opportunity to schedule a time to come by go over the vehicle and go on a test drive...". Surely you don't take someone's vehicle when it comes in and schedule others to come in, sit in it and drive it?

 

[BDDavidn]

You say "My suggestion for when your unit arrives was that we notify all order and reservation holders and allow them the opportunity to schedule a time to come by go over the vehicle and go on a test drive...". Surely you don't take someone's vehicle when it comes in and schedule others to come in, sit in it and drive it?

This thread is all about "dealer mannequins."

 

[Rydfree]

My dealer has indicated that they plan to invite every order holder to take their unit for an overnight use.

If my dealer did that it would still be 2022 before I got to drive one .

 

[Broncadonk MKG]

Legally they are a new vehicle whether they’ve been on the lot for 6 hours or 6 months. Because the title never changes hands. But the minute a customer buys a car, brings it back the next week and returns it, it’s a used unit because it was very briefly titled under a different name.
At the end of the demo rotation, the dealer will slap an extra $500 discount on the unit in lieu of other discounts/incentives they usually offer from the manufacturer. On the front end they lose no money compared to a “new new” unit that has only 2 miles on it. On the back end they lose money because they’re constantly refueling and re-cleaning the unit to put back on the lot every day.

There is a matter of ethics when the dealer uses a customer car for demos.

I couldn’t agree more. If it’s a “sold-awaiting delivery” unit then it needs to be hands off.
At my last dealership there was an extreme d***head manager who I had to work with on a customer’s sold/ reserved SUV waiting to get there from the factory. Swore up and down it wasn’t on the lot yet, despite a truckload of these models coming in with one matching the specs. Got angry and demeaning at me when I’d bring it up. Accused me of being mistaken and making things up WHILE ON THE PHONE WITH THE CUSTOMER, because he called them trying to flex/ prove his point to me. Customer said I was correct and he turned bright red and told me to get out of his office. Then he tried lying to cover up the fact he’s been allowing test drives on their new SUV for two weeks up to that point and told them it was “because of extended factory testing”.
I ended up having to apologize profusely and navigate a professional way to tell them that guy was an idiot and a toxic manager when they called him out on lying.
Moral of the story is, mistakes do happen and people don’t realize some inventory is the order a customer has been waiting on. But the moral difference is catching it as soon as it’s suspected and being open and forthright with the customer if it was demo’d, offering free premium detailing or more free service coupons or something to make up for their mistake.

 

[jimFish]

You say "My suggestion for when your unit arrives was that we notify all order and reservation holders and allow them the opportunity to schedule a time to come by go over the vehicle and go on a test drive...". Surely you don't take someone's vehicle when it comes in and schedule others to come in, sit in it and drive it?

Get the F____ out of my car!
Jim

 

[WRANCO Flicka]

I have a test drive booked for tomorrow morning. The sales guy and I talked today. He will not be at the dealership until later in the afternoon. He said the keys will be ready for me to take it out and have fun.

I suspect Ford might repeat the same process they established with the Bronco Sport. I expect these demos to be sold long before the 6 month period is up. Ford said the Bronco Sport demos had to be sold early due to great customer demand! Is the demand for the Bronco any less? I do not think so!!

Waiting for your report..... Did you love it???

 

[Bronco V-8]

This thread is all about "dealer mannequins."

Oh I can talk about mannequins.

When I was young a friend of mine worked for a division of RONCO.
They were located in an old mill building on a river that made, you guessed it mannequins.
Was told to clean out the shed.
He opened it and found an old wooden mannequin. Threw it in the river, an old woman down stream saw it and called the cops.They traced it back to RONCO and gave him a stern lecture, will trying not to laugh.

In the shed was also a fiberglass mold for making fiberglass mannequins. It looked like a body mold with interior hardware and pieces to locate internal structure while the glass set.
One of the new guys asked him what it was and told him it was a RONCO Home Clone Kit.

Update from my dealer.
Their mannequin is a 2.7 10spd 2 door Big Bend Sasquash. Only reservation holders will be allowed to drive it.again by appointment only Probably won't go look at it, its not what I want to look at.I want to see what its like getting in and out of a standard height or base, and the 6 and auto are not what I want.Won't even waste my time on a test drive.

I now know why they have been jerking me around, they don't want to order manual trans.

"will not be getting a demo vehicle with the manual transmission."


BDDavidn you wanted mannquin talk well there you go

Dealers have a bug up their butt about the 7spd.

"As for your reservation, you most likely will not be able to order until later next year."

 

[BuzzyBud]

Waiting for your report..... Did you love it???

Yes! Loved it! My report starts with post #8 in the link below.
(1) Test Drive - Bronco 2-door Outer Banks. | Bronco Nation Forum (thebronconation.com)

Also addition information is provided in the thread below.
Test Drive Produces Bronco Joy -- Review of 2-Door Bronco 2.7L in New Hampshire | Bronco6G - 2021+ Ford Bronco Forum, News, Blog & Owners Community

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Metal-tech 4x4]

My dealer has indicated that they plan to invite every order holder to take their unit for an overnight use.

Now that's a dealer!

Thank you, Chris, for being a part of our community and your insightful posting. Today I completed my first test drive, and it was a joyful event. The only suggestion I would make is to encourage the potential owner to learn how all the great features work. I was along in the Bronco, and I knew a great deal but wanted to test my knowledge. Many of my tests were performed safely in a Mall parking lot. Listed below are just three of the features/functions I tested during my test drive. I tested many more.

• Program the Navigation system prior to returning to the dealership.
• Use the 12’ monitor to assist backing up the Bronco into a parking spot.
• Test out multiple GOAT mods and observe the color relationship in the digital cluster.

Knowing where the nearest pile of rocks, ditch or construction site might be helpful prior to a test drive! #dirtytires

 

[Bronco_Girl]

My car wasn't a mannequin, I ordered it special. Came in and they drove it around before telling me it was there. My point is the dealers have no problem selling cars as new when they were being used as demos.

I would of laid in to them!!

I have a relative who used to sell brand-new Jeeps. They would take delivery of new Jeeps, take them out 4x4ing, clean them up and tell the customer the milage was from test drives.