Have purchased many new and used cars over the decades. Chapman Ford of Lancaster had a good selection per on-line inventories. I already had decided on another Explorer, so finding the best combination of location and price was my goal. Not being from the area, I initiated contact through email, and was contacted by their Internet sales staff.
Never having dealt with them before, my concern was also whether they were high-pressure or used hard-sell approach. I've never been fond of such tactics, as they are trained to counter any argument or point you make, no matter how well informed you are on invoice prices, Edmunds, etc. Must say that from the start, they seemed to be very helpful, good turnaround times on emails and phone calls. Prices were excellent. The negotiations and buying experience was straight-up, and probably one of the least "adversarial" I ever had. They weren't playing the typical old-school sales games. It was a refreshing change in that sense. Getting the paperwork done went pretty quickly, and there were no unwelcome little 'surprises' at the last minute. Got a fair deal on my trade, which I usually avoid working into the equation.
Time will tell about the service down the road, so to speak. But if the service department is like the sales department, it should be fair and efficient. It's easy for new-car buyers to be infatuated with their new car, and to be lulled into thinking they got a great deal. But this time, it really was! I'd recommend them to anyone. And no, they didn't pay me to write this :-)
sign me Explorer-man.
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