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The Lincoln Dealership Experience

15K views 28 replies 23 participants last post by  SubVette 
#1 ·
Made the decision to lease the 2.3 MKC (fully loaded, Tech Pkg, Climate Pkg, 20" wheels, THX) this coming November and am starting my search for a Lincoln dealer in the South Florida area. I have visited four dealerships and am appalled at the stale and morgue like welcome from all four. Coming from recent visits to Audi, MB, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, and Acura for my wife's new lease it is obvious that Lincoln is trying to sell a $50k vehicle via a 5 cent experience. (She got the BMW 428i).

Here are the sad details.

Both the Pines and Doral dealerships are dedicated Lincoln dealerships and are fairly well appointed but absolutely NO ONE took an interest in my presence. While the sales reps from the foreign car dealerships called with vigor, after leaving my contact info at Pines and Doral I never got a call back.

On the first trip to Pines Lincoln we found the receptionist could not be interrupted while watching her mobile movie, so we left. A second trip to Pines Lincoln I got to test drive the MKC with the back office bookkeeper. In neither case could we find a sales rep.

Doral Lincoln was surreal. The special MKC reveal turned into some kind of non-auto related award for someone at the dealership, the Lincoln marketing MadMen were standing around in their black suits in shock. Amid the women in gala dresses and blaring music, after an hour I finally stepped over the roped off section to the MKC and sat inside. Aside from me and another guy, not a single person expressed an interest in looking at, buying, or selling the MKC.

The Pompano Lincoln dealership is very old and smelly. Of the four cars in the cramped showroom floor, one spot is occupied by a 1930's Ford. My first impression, "Are they trying to sell yesterday's heap to a tech savvy generation?" The elderly salesman wore a very old, but pressed shirt, smelled horribly of cheap cologne, and was about as lethargic as the old Ford. Nothing wrong with old (I am 55), but if someone is trying to sell the latest tech / modern vehicle at least dress and act the part.

The Delray Lincoln dealership is shared with Ford; a tiny space is made for Lincoln. Maybe that works for Hyundai, but they make no attempt to segment the Genesis as a separate brand (as in the new Genesis Motor Company). This would be like finding a combo VW-Audi dealership or selling the Mercedes commercial van next to the S sedan.

Bottom line, I'll probably do what I did last time with my Ford Edge. Ordered from the Alabama AutoNation with a substantial discount. They drove it from Mobile to Ft Lauderdale for free and in 15 minutes I completed the paperwork from my kitchen table. After one bad experience while Ford shopping, I decided not to step inside a Ford dealership. Same goes for Lincoln now.

So... is my South Florida Lincoln dealership experience unique?
 
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#2 ·
The Delray Lincoln dealership is shared with Ford; a tiny space is made for Lincoln. Maybe that works for Hyundai, but they make no attempt to segment the Genesis as a separate brand (as in the new Genesis Motor Company). This would be like finding a combo VW-Audi dealership or selling the Mercedes commercial van next to the S sedan.
Mercedes-Benz owner here. At one point, I almost considered Lincoln's MKZ after the date night program, but the dealership experience was lacking. I went through a high-volume Northern VA Ford-Lincoln dealer. At no time did I feel that there was enough differentiation in service levels to justify going with Lincoln. The fact that the MKZ didn't seem to meet my requirements in a car didn't help the cause either. Lincoln pushed me to look for a car in dealer inventory, and from surrounding dealerships. I was asked if I was willing to forgo certain options in order to make my search easier.

Mercedes-Benz on the other hand welcomed me, worked on my time schedule, and appraised of the progress of my car (a special ordered C-Class). At no time was I pushed to search their existing, or incoming inventory, to see if there was something close. At no time was it ever suggested that I try to look for an car that came close to what I wanted from a surrounding dealership. As I was placing my order, the sales associate explained each, and every available option, and option package; we even walked the lot to find cars with the option I considered ordering so that I could see what I would be getting. I felt like I was placing an order for an S-Class.

Your Sprinter (the Mercedes-Benz van) next to an S-Class reference is incorrect. In many dealerships, you will see the Sprinter next to an S, next to an SLS. Overseas, you will see Mercedes-Benz vans next to luxury cars, next to their basic A/B-Class next to their supercars. Mercedes-Benz makes no attempt to break the connection between their cars, trucks, buses, and (at one time) farm equipment. Ford on the other hand, will deny the Econoline, and MKZ/MKC share any DNA.
 
#3 ·
Made the decision to lease the 2.3 MKC (fully loaded, Tech Pkg, Climate Pkg, 20" wheels, THX) this coming November and am starting my search for a Lincoln dealer in the South Florida area. I have visited four dealerships and am appalled at the stale and morgue like welcome from all four. Coming from recent visits to Audi, MB, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, and Acura for my wife's new lease it is obvious that Lincoln is trying to sell a $50k vehicle via a 5 cent experience. (She got the BMW 428i).

Here are the sad details.

Both the Pines and Doral dealerships are dedicated Lincoln dealerships and are fairly well appointed but absolutely NO ONE took an interest in my presence. While the sales reps from the foreign car dealerships called with vigor, after leaving my contact info at Pines and Doral I never got a call back.

On the first trip to Pines Lincoln we found the receptionist could not be interrupted while watching her mobile movie, so we left. A second trip to Pines Lincoln I got to test drive the MKC with the back office bookkeeper. In neither case could we find a sales rep.

Doral Lincoln was surreal. The special MKC reveal turned into some kind of non-auto related award for someone at the dealership, the Lincoln marketing MadMen were standing around in their black suits in shock. Amid the women in gala dresses and blaring music, after an hour I finally stepped over the roped off section to the MKC and sat inside. Aside from me and another guy, not a single person expressed an interest in looking at, buying, or selling the MKC.

The Pompano Lincoln dealership is very old and smelly. Of the four cars in the cramped showroom floor, one spot is occupied by a 1930's Ford. My first impression, "Are they trying to sell yesterday's heap to a tech savvy generation?" The elderly salesman wore a very old, but pressed shirt, smelled horribly of cheap cologne, and was about as lethargic as the old Ford. Nothing wrong with old (I am 55), but if someone is trying to sell the latest tech / modern vehicle at least dress and act the part.

The Delray Lincoln dealership is shared with Ford; a tiny space is made for Lincoln. Maybe that works for Hyundai, but they make no attempt to segment the Genesis as a separate brand (as in the new Genesis Motor Company). This would be like finding a combo VW-Audi dealership or selling the Mercedes commercial van next to the S sedan.

Bottom line, I'll probably do what I did last time with my Ford Edge. Ordered from the Alabama AutoNation with a substantial discount. They drove it from Mobile to Ft Lauderdale for free and in 15 minutes I completed the paperwork from my kitchen table. After one bad experience while Ford shopping, I decided not to step inside a Ford dealership. Same goes for Lincoln now.

So... is my South Florida Lincoln dealership experience unique?
It's called thinning of the heard. Those dealerships won't be around long.
 
#4 ·
I gotta admit that I am not enjoying my Lincoln experience at all with my dealer. In fact, I'm in a point to cancel my order because of it...
Tired of this BS f@#$%^&* waiting time (3 months) and delivery date that changes every single time!
I could have enjoyed an X1 Turbo 6. Or you know what!?! F#$% this, GLA or NX here I come.
This experience is 3rd rated! Feels like I'm buying a Chevy and sh*t! :mad:
 
#5 ·
My dealer was just fine (but no silly coffee bar like BMW and MB started adding 15 years ago).

How is your dealer responsible for the delays and changing delivery dates? You ordered a newly released vehicle, which will always be prone to shifting and delayed delivery times during the vehicle launch. If you liked the MKC and had to have the late availability THX option, you should have expected delays. Conversely, if you wanted a new car right away, you should have just bought a BMW or Lexus. Of course there are MKC's available, we bought exactly what we wanted right of the dealers lot.

FWIW, BMW added the 2.8d to the X3 lineup for 2015 and its release was delayed by months. The bitching was the same on the BMW forums, 'I'm going to cancel my order' blah, blah, blah. This was just a new engine in an existing car. People get so wound up with unrealistic expectations.
 
#7 ·
My dealer was just fine (but no silly coffee bar like BMW and MB started adding 15 years ago).

How is your dealer responsible for the delays and changing delivery dates? You ordered a newly released vehicle, which will always be prone to shifting and delayed delivery times during the vehicle launch. If you liked the MKC and had to have the late availability THX option, you should have expected delays. Conversely, if you wanted a new car right away, you should have just bought a BMW or Lexus. Of course there are MKC's available, we bought exactly what we wanted right of the dealers lot.

FWIW, BMW added the 2.8d to the X3 lineup for 2015 and its release was delayed by months. The bitching was the same on the BMW forums, 'I'm going to cancel my order' blah, blah, blah. This was just a new engine in an existing car. People get so wound up with unrealistic expectations.
Dealer isn't responsible for the delay, but at least have courtesy to give back some updates instead of me calling them all the time.

Thanks for fighting with me. It gave me the spirit back up... :D
 
#6 ·
Our Ford/Lincoln dealer in Winter Haven doesn't have a fancy showroom, just a good, clean, presentable one with Fords on one side and Lincolns grouped together on the other. But they have a good local reputation, and the "Lincoln specialist" assigned to us knew his stuff. I'd much rather have that than the oh-so-upscale Lexus dealership in Tampa. When we were shopping for our last car they laid on a multi-person hard sell, and when we told them we we not buying a car that very day they told us we were wasting their time.

Until Lincoln has built up some volume, shared Ford/Lincoln dealerships are going to have to be a reality. One issue could be the service operation, where Lincoln simply isn't at a point to have service departments that mirror Lexus, etc. There's a relatively low-cost way to provide a premium service experience though -- bring a loaner to the customer's home or work. With that sort of program, a Lincoln customer would rarely (if ever) have to experience the Ford-ness of the service department.
 
#8 ·
Out of all the dealerships we probably had the best experience at Audi. They really seemed to go all out to make a sale, but not in a pushy way. If that dealer wasn't an hour away we might have chosen the Q5 or waited awhile longer to see the Q3. Worst experience was probably Acura, and just because the salesperson didn't know a thing about the RDX and I don't think he could sell a bucket of water to a guy in burning trousers.

If I bought a Ford Escape I think I would have had the same experience. It is the same dealership and the same salespeople.
 
#11 ·
Great comments! But I think many missed the point. When I had little money and bought the mid-to-cheapo cars I thought nothing of being treated with less than casual candor and seeing dirty floors and tattered seats in the showroom and waiting rooms. But at $50k, I am PAYING to be treated differently (especially by a relabeled company that desperately wants to compete, if not win) . So crisp, modern showrooms and waiting rooms and attentive staff are expected. And yes, at this price point they darned well better be asking me if want a coffee or cold soda.
 
#12 ·
Yes, dealership / service experience does carry some weight with me as well. I have a VW and there's nothing really wrong with their facilities. The showroom is nice, there's an acceptable waiting area with free water, coffee, and wifi. However, loaners are only available for scheduled maintenance, which kind of sucks, and usually they give out Mazda 3's from next door. (combined-ish dealership)

If we didn't have a Lexus as well, I would think nothing of it. Lexus is significantly better, as it should be. Hardly anyone uses the plush waiting area there because you get loaners for everything. They hooked us up with a loaner for 4 days due to a popped tire from a pothole, even though they were so swamped (from potholes) that they had to bring in some Toyota loaners. They also gave me a GS when I requested once.

As far as sales experience, it seems to vary by dealer and sales associate. I've had good experiences at luxury/non-luxury places.
 
#13 ·
I am changing my experience to poor. The car arrived this morning. I was told I cannot pick it up today. It's with service til 5 and the manager is out today so they can't give me pricing. So if anyone goes to my dealer today to lease a car they will be told to come back tomorrow for the price! Really????? If I didn't order the car, I would have gone to another dealer.
 
#29 ·
Just so you know, I leased the MKC in my signature for $399 a month 36 months no money down. I will be swapping my lease out early for a Ranger. That's the only reason I even looked at Lincoln. Great lease for $46,800My lease is 7500 miles a year.
 
#18 ·
I thought I would revive this thread because I wonder what others have experienced.

We purchased our MKC from a Ford/Lincoln dealership. The building is large. They offer a much greater inventory of Fords than they do Lincolns with a ratio of 8:1. The physical appearance of the dealership is very clean and polished. The waiting area is large and the coffee was excellent although we didn't spend much time there because they provided an MKC as a loaner; unfortunately it was dirty inside and out.

The major problem we have had with our dealership is not a total lack of customer service, but customer service offered in exchange for excellent ratings on the Lincoln Customer Viewpoint survey. Every time the dealership attempted to extend any type of customer service that I would describe as above and beyond what I would consider normal (although I can't really say what normal would be), we were reminded that they wanted all excellent ratings on the survey.

It became apparent to us that these ratings were extremely important to the dealership but I can't imagine that a negative rating would have much impact. Regardless, we are not allowing their "begging" to impact how we respond on the survey.

I wondered if other MKC buyers have experienced this. I don't know if this dealership has gotten bad ratings in the past and was told by corporate to "step it up" or what.
 
#19 ·
Standalone, upscale with over 600 vehicles in stock. :smile

Service ratings do matter to Ford/Lincoln in regards to the Dealership. With that said, I would only be fully honest in any survey. I have never been reminded or had them asking for high ratings for their service. I do know that the Dealerships survey on your purchase being anything below excellent will greatly effect, even their best salesman's compensation. Even if the customer is the rare total jerk type.

In regards to our total experience to date, I have no reason not consider anything but excellent for this Dealership and have replied as such for all concerned personnel.
 
#20 ·
The local dealership is Ford/Lincoln combined in one building (today 156 Fords/20 Lincolns) the building looks like it did when I was a kid and they've always acted like Lincoln was an afterthought so I drive 40 minutes west to a west side Cleveland dealership. It was older when I leased the 2012 MKT but was totally remodeled and finished in 2014.

This dealership has always had good customer service (IMO) but they do seem to go above and beyond now with Lincoln working harder to increase sales etc.
Nobody has every asked for a "good" review they do however, always remind me I'll be getting a customer survey and it be appreciated if I'd take the time to complete it. I do, they usually get high marks - unless they mess up and wash my car, (I've never liked the way any dealership washes cars, most leave them wet and they return spotted- call me picky)

They offer loaners, I didn't have to use one during my 3 years with the MKT, however, with some of the issues posted on here I'll assume they may need to keep it to do updates, fixes etc. once it goes in for it's first scheduled service.

All things considered, I've been extremely pleased with this dealership and the personnel, pretty much like the experience I've had at the dealership I deal for my other car(German) -
 
#22 ·
Bought my MKC from a Ford / Lincoln dealership. It was an OK purchasing experience with sales. Seemed like there was always something miscommunicated in price. The finance guy was good. got me in and out pretty quickly. A rather painless experience. I was reminded multiple times by sales and finance that I'd be getting a survey and to complete it. If there was anything that I wasn't completely satisfied with to call them to correct it (this wasn't any different than any other car dealership I've been to from Kia, Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes) When I replied to the survey the finance guy got excellent. Sales got excellent too because I figured it was the typical back and forth negotiation tactics.

I would have preferred to go to a stand alone Lincoln dealership if there was one close to me. I wonder hire big of a difference customer service would be over the Ford / Lincoln combo dealerships.
 
#23 ·
We bought from Ford/Lincoln dealership. Mixed reviews. Sometimes good, sometimes indifferent. Lacks consistent helpfulness. We found the same with our Ford C-Max. They certainly aren't fighting for the market with A-One service each and every time. We find this surprising. Our sales experience with the Lincoln was not good, and even involved a shouting physically shoving manager over price negotiation that involved $500. Yes, this was reported to Lincoln with no feedback after filing report. Hubby says that is the last purchase from them and deservedly so. What's wrong with this world?
 
#24 ·
We bought from Ford/Lincoln dealership. Mixed reviews. Sometimes good, sometimes indifferent. Lacks consistent helpfulness. We found the same with our Ford C-Max. They certainly aren't fighting for the market with A-One service each and every time. We find this surprising. Our sales experience with the Lincoln was not good, and even involved a shouting physically shoving manager over price negotiation that involved $500. Yes, this was reported to Lincoln with no feedback after filing report. Hubby says that is the last purchase from them and deservedly so. What's wrong with this world?
I think at that point, I would have walked; but sometimes that's easier said than done.
 
#26 ·
The initial posts on this topic had me howling. It's both funny and sad. I only wish the corporate executives would see the posts on here and make something happen. Corporate doesn't have a clue what is going on. The reviews they are asked to give to the manufacturer are coerced by the sales people to give them 5 stars. They need to see the anonymous posts by the customers who go into the dealerships to know what the real deal is. I dealt with Pines BMW. We couldn't work out a number when I was there. I didn't even receive a follow up call thanking me for coming in or anything. They didn't even try running numbers on another vehicle and try to get me to come back in. It's like they all make plenty of money and don't need us as customers or something. I don't get it. And they wonder why the Lincoln sales are shrinking. Look at all the complaints on here. Just think about all of the people who have had the same experience and kept everything to themselves. It's only us folks here voicing our opinions. When I go to Chik-Fil-A, I seem to get superior service from them vs the Lincoln dealership. It's hard to buy a car from a lot of people anymore. I even visited a couple Ford dealerships when I was in Miami and the sales people were terrible to deal with. They put you in little rooms and make you wait forever before they come back. That just bores me and makes me want to leave. I am doing my best to buy American vehicles to keep the money in the country.
 
#27 ·
I'm brand new to forum -- researching 2018 MKC. I like the vehicle but have encountered all manner of yuk in the shopping -- some stores don't know what they have, some don't update inventory on the internet, some are listing demo models as new, etc.

contrast w/ Acura where the whole experience is relaxed and easy. in Lincoln wants to survive at that level, it will need to rework its customer experience.
 
#28 ·
I'm fortunate enough to have three Lincoln dealerships within 20 miles of me. When buying my '17 Reserve, I checked with all three. The difference was amazing. Luckily one dealer was terrific. Not only with attitude, but also with price and service. Shop around if you can. Hopefully you will have a good buying experience as I did.
 
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