The Wife and I came to the conclusion that we should trade off her jeep for two reasons, first, I don't fit in it, and second, we still owed on it. I searched around for a decent deal on Expeditions and Explorers. I found a '99 Expedition Eddie Bauer in pretty good shape At Lakewood Fordland. Paperwork in the glove box for an engine replacement around 30k ago. Fine...trade the jeep, take home the Ford-and a promise of a check for the balance. Was also told about a "referral fee" if I helped them sell a vehicle. As it turns out, my Dad went down two days later and bought a nice Mercury, bingo, $150 more dollars for me. A few days go by and the Wife tells me her "new" car is making a funny noise. As it turns out Lakewood Fordlands idea of dealer prep doesn't include ENGINE OIL!! 1.5 qts is enough to keep the gauge normal, but kinda starves main and rod bearings. I call them up and ask what they want to do about it. The reply was "Did you buy an extended warranty?" Followed up with "Bring it down so we can have the service department look at it." I'll stop here and admit, I never checked the oil. However, I was told it was just serviced, so I figured all was well. Lakewood Fordland calls me the next day and says, "Yup, it needs a new engine." No shit. Sales manager starts the conversation with "I'm NOT giving you a new engine, period." Fine, didn't ask for one. I asked what are we going to do about it. Can't get the jeep back, it's sold already. They offer a total POS "97 Expedition in trade for my now worthless one. No thanks I tell them. Kinda suprised myself that I am still being calm and courteous. They show me a '03 Explorer they just took in on trade, I am told that I would have to pay an additional $1k. Fine, they still owe me $1650.00 for my jeep balance, plus the $150 referral. We go drive it, the a/c isn't working. I tell them about it, they have to take it to the service department, which is closed. Fine, I ask them to call me the next morning. They do, want to know if I'm going to come down and do the paperwork, I say sure, I'll give you a call when I leave the house. I call them an hour later to give them the heads up, but am told the Explorer now has an overheating issue, and check engine light on. Well fvck, this keeps getting better. I ask them to keep me posted. I hear nothing, keep in mind they still have my '99 Expedition down there. A few days go by, I check their used inventory on-line. The automated salesperson ask if it can help me, I give the stock number of the Explorer to them, and it turns out that it is indeed listed again-supposedly fixed. They call me this morning to see if I'm still interested, I said yes, told the guy on the phone the offer that was originally offered me, he told me he had to check with the manager, and would call me right back. I called the original salesman I dealt with, left a voice mail. Still haven't heard back.
So, after two weeks, I don't have the jeep, (no payments either), don't have any use of the Expedition I traded the jeep for, no news on the Explorer I was offered, and none of the money due me either. I sure think Lakewood Fordland is a great place to deal with.![]()