River City Ford Sales Ltd

Reviews 4

PA

Pamela Jane

I purchased a pre-owned 2012 Ford Escape in February 2015. Three months later, I was asked to come in to see if they could refinance me. They suggested that the only way they could get me a lower interest rate was if I traded in my old vehicle with $18,500 value for a newer pre-owned vehicle worth $35,000. At this time, I wasnt familiar with how negative equity worked, nor did they bother to educate me. By the end of the 2 hour-long negotiations, I was so lost, pressured and confused by all of the numbers that I decided to take the deal at an additional $206/month payments over what they knew I could afford. A few months later, I was in a bad accident that ended up writing the vehicle off. When MPI looked at the Canadian Black Book value ($16,000) vs. the Bill of Sale price of the vehicle ($35,000), there was a huge discrepancy that no one at River City would take responsibility for, placing the blame on MPI. They would not provide me with a True Bill of Sale showing the breakdown of the numbers that made up the $35,000 sale price. There were lies upon lies, attempts to pass the buck, and the most the Finance Manager could offer was that if I came in to purchase a new vehicle, she would help me complete the paperwork to "get back maybe a couple hundred dollars" from life insurance I was already eligible for, but only if I spent another $30,000 on another vehicle. I found out later how easy it was to open an insurance claim and get back over $600! After numerous voicemails and even a complaint to Ford Canada, Ryan, the General Manager, finally returned my call. With an arrogant attitude, he stated that "if we can make a three grand profit off someone, then great for us. Were in this to make money." As I calmly said, "I wont even tell you how that makes me feel..." he hung up on me. Not even a call back. I decided to settle with MPI and take an $8,000 loss as opposed to speaking to River City again. MPI was willing to give me well over what I was eligible for, and paid out the price of the vehicle -as if- I had purchased it brand new. (Theyre really not as bad as everyone makes them out to be!) Afterwards, I went to Birchwood to get financing for one of their vehicles, and they came back with a problem: River City had reported to the Credit Bureau that my 2012 trade-in was repossessed, which meant no finance company would accept me. The Finance Manager at River City, Elliot, was at least helpful in providing me with a letter stating that this was in error. Meanwhile, one of the Sales Managers was trying to retain my loyalty by offering me a "deal" by "allowing" me to purchase a new 2016 vehicle worth $40,000 and add on $10,000 to that loan amount (all taxable, of course), of which they would give me as cash back to pay off the rest of my old financing... Then, shortly after I received a letter in the mail asking me to bring my Escape in to trade-in for a newer model. Adding insult to injury! I also just got my Credit Bureau Report in the mail, and the bureau code still hasnt been updated as promised, so I may have to wait 6 years for this to fall of off my credit, while explaining to creditors what happened. I learned later from Birchwood, and MPI confirmed that this is the first time they have ever seen this NOT happen, but when there is a write-off and the customer is out money due to a discrepancy between the sale value and actual value, the dealership will always make up for some, or all, of the deficit by issuing a cheque to retain the customer. Other than trying to make more money off of me, River City didnt try to compromise even a tiny bit and left me feeling like another number. TL;DR: Dont, just...dont. If youre looking for integrity, go to Birchwood Group instead.

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TR

TrickyE

I dont trust this dealer or any of the others in the Driving Change Automotive Group (which includes Carman Ford, River City Ford and Bennett Dunlop Ford in Regina). They will try every trick in the book to get you into a vehicle. I was shown a truck that was completely covered in dents, and had the bumper tied onto the frame with rope. When I said I wasnt even going to get into that vehicle, the sales manager, Jev, said "Hey so why werent you interested in that truck?" I almost lost it when he asked and I had to explain the condition of the vehicle and the fact that theyre showing trucks that are falling apart. They offered me $12,000 for my truck on trade. I sold it privately for almost double that. Dont ever bother with these three dealerships. They have fake email auto-replies that say "Sorry Im in the middle of a big sale, and we have a lineup out the door of people interested in our vehicles!" etc. I received multiple responses from different sales staff that read exactly the same. That was an immediate red flag to me, and I have also come to understand that they try to force extras on their customers like window etching and expensive nitrogen tire fills (when theyre simply replacing the black valve stems with the green ones, but never actually putting nitrogen in the tires). These guys are snakes, and Im willing to bet the majority of the positive reviews on Google are fake. Just take a look at how generic the names and comments are and youll likely start to see a trend in them. Dont trust businesses that are run like this. I never spent a dime here, and I know I never will.

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TH

The FerrMonts

This place is a NIGHTMARE to deal with. We were sold a truck that was absolutely garbage. We went back and demanded to return the truck because we hadnt even put 20 km on it and it was already acting up. They did not want to make right. Eventually, after multiple discussions about the truck having illegal parts on it and almost causing a disaster, they agreed to take it back. It was a nightmare of a process. Now, we are forced to go to this dealership for oil changes. Each oil change we have to get it seems we are always charged way more than they say we will be. After going over the bill and often having to show them where the prices dont make sense, they again make it "right". Well today was the last straw for us. My husband went in and was clear about defining the prices (because we have to be that way with them now to avoid going over wrong charges later) off the start. We are both very understanding of running a business and wanting to succeed, so by no means are we asking for charity. But once again today my husband went to pick up the truck and AGAIN the charges did not add up. The lady that worked on this that morning had said she made him aware that he would be told about charges so he could approve them before actually doing them. He was not made aware and when he asked her about this, both her and her manager did not do anything about it. They even managed to charge us double once again for an oil change. They fixed that AFTER going over the charges. I DO NOT understand how a business continues to run in such a way?

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Bob McQ

We went to River City Ford to have a look at a C-Max, which is Fords smaller Hybrid vehicle. Chose River City Ford in part due to all the sponsorship of community events that they provide in our small town. Met with Chelsea, our sales person, who explained the vehicle fully to us and allowed us to take it for an extended test drive. When it came to negotiations on the vehicle that was quick and painless. We were trading in a used truck and Kelly the Used Car Sales Manager made us a fair offer on the truck. Jev the New Car Sales Manager gave us an unbelievable price on the C-Max. We couldnt refuse the deal. Chelsea was there for us throughout the entire process, answering all of our questions and always living up to commitments. Anytime we had to change appointment times she made it work and things always happened on time. We had Elliot as a Finance person. He explained our options in particular with regard to extended warranty. He presented it in a clear, easy to understand, manner. We dont normally purchase extended warranty but in this case it made no sense to turn it down. As a result of River City Ford and their excellent staff we went from driving an older truck that was going to need some work done to it soon to now driving a brand new energy efficient vehicle that gets unbelievable fuel economy for not a lot of money. And now we dont have to worry about repair bills for the next 7 years. How could we turn that down? Everybody was so helpful and they all lived up to all of their commitments.

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