It's been a
bad season for coastal Ford dealers with GTs in their showrooms. Back in December, we brought you the story of some
singularly determined thieves who stole one of the
Blue Oval's supercars in stunning fashion, using other vehicles as battering rams to break out of a locked
showroom and secured lot.
Yesterday, a North Miami man, apparently unhappy with the deal he received on a new Ford Escape the day prior, snapped after unsuccessfully going to the dealer to try and renegotiate. George Maretti subsequently rammed his SUV through the showroom's windows, whereupon he "calmly" doused his vehicle and the (occupied) dealership with an accelerant, lighting the place on fire. No injuries were reported, but a Ford GT in Gulf livery was among the 11 cars sustaining heavy damage. The insurance tab is being estimated at around one million dollars.
Metro Ford's disgruntled customer was later found by police walking down the street, allegedly yelling "Kill me, kill me," but he gave up without (further) incident. Subsequently charged with First Degree Arson and felony criminal mischief, he was later released on bond.
(More details including video of the carnage after the jump)
[Source: CBS-4]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
mark @ Feb 5th 2006 7:23PM
Yet another satisfied Ford customer.. hahaha
Will @ Feb 5th 2006 8:28PM
i might have to do this with carmax
Will @ Feb 5th 2006 8:29PM
i might have to do this with carmax
Buckus @ Feb 5th 2006 10:59PM
This guy only did what everyone else wants to do at the dealership. Why can't it be one price-shopping? I mean, come on, I don't have to negotiate the price on a box of cheerios. The price is right there; if I have enough money and I want the cheerios, we're all set.
Lithous @ Feb 5th 2006 11:11PM
This guy clearly should have bought a 2006 Saturn VUE. Similar to the Escape but with no hassle pricing.
I wonder if he gets to keep the GT (but with a salvage title of course)?
Tim UF @ Feb 6th 2006 12:31AM
yeah, perch that on top of the edmunds insideline long term tester ford gt that has bubbling paint issues (warranty covered at least)...:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=107422
Fabulo @ Feb 6th 2006 12:53AM
I may be out of my mind, but really, if he did not like the terms of the sale, could he just not walk away?
I probably would. Says omething like: "I'm sorry, but this is not what I consider a good deal. Keep your car, I'll kepp your money"
Then again, the guy might have had a bad day (like his mild turned bad 2 days before the date on the bottle, or his cat puked a giant hairball on the carpet)
I feel for the guy who will pay dearly for his mistake.
Dealership? Nope, not really.
Corey @ Feb 6th 2006 2:13AM
maybe its a sign that dealers should change the ways they do business. Im just waiting on a mass murder to happen at a dealer over a bad deal.. I should of done that to the p[lace that sold me the crappy Saturn I got now. I only had the car since August, and the VC gasket is leaking, the trunk no longer opens, my 40/60 spilt rear seats are now a 40, my driver window no longer goes down, and my car sparatically shuts off whenever I apply enough of gas.
Finished.Law.School @ Feb 6th 2006 2:21AM
1. He should have returned the car.
2. He is a jerk for damaging the GT. Especially since Ford is going to stop making them.
iQuack @ Feb 6th 2006 2:37AM
Wasn't that guy a nut case?
Well, of course he was for buying a Ford in the first place;-).
Jay @ Feb 6th 2006 3:04AM
I'm not sure if the dealer really boned him on the price or not, but regardless, you don't haggle AFTER you sign the papers to buy something. That's supposed to be done BEFORE you buy. That's the customer's fault. The dealer's not obligated to change the price once the sale is done. They both agreed to it and if he wasn't sure about the price, he should have not signed anything, told them he'd think about it, and gone back later. So I don't feel much remorse for him at all. Sounds like he was a pretty dangerous guy anyway...
Eric L. @ Feb 6th 2006 6:18AM
Wacko actions aside, I agree with the posts above. Once you sign on the dotted line and hand them the check, the deal is set. The goal of every car dealer is to sell the car for as high a price as possible, and if the customer's goal isn't to buy the car for as low a price as possible, then well, who's fault is that?
rw @ Feb 6th 2006 8:21AM
A person buys a truck. He does not like the deal and drives onto the showroom floor and sets the place on fire. Wackos on this forum thinks he is normal and this is what you should do because a dealer sold a vehicle. And of course he got screwed by the dealer. Such all knowing people here. I wish I knew this much about other peoples business as you people THINK you know about mine. Oh and the obligatory shot at American cars has to come in to play. Still cannot figure what that thing is on the back of Toyota showroom is with all those Toyotas lifted into the air. Can't be a service department to fix broken Toyotas? Nah just does not happen.
Car-la @ Feb 6th 2006 8:24AM
Yes, once you sign it's over. I really do feel sorry for the dealer. If the guy was not satisfied, he should have gone away. But destroying a dealership just because he wasn't satisfied with the deal is ridiculous. There's better ways to solve problems like this.
Richard Warren @ Feb 6th 2006 8:24AM
Kill me! Kill me! The police missed their chance.
"It was a clean kill, Bob"
Now we get to pay for the court case, mental testing, mental health care for life, when a 50 cent bullet could have saved us all that money and granted the assholes wish. What a shame!
Richard Warren @ Feb 6th 2006 8:33AM
#4 There already is "one price shopping" it's called the MSRP slapped right on the left window.
However, we as customers in our infinite wisdom have always thought we could do better than than and treat dealerships like Flea Markets, "Well sticker is 25,000" our response "I'll give you 15,000" the game begins.
So you settle on a price, then go home your neighbor says I just bought the car for 500 less and your response is "Those bastards screwed me" Yeah right.
As to your Cherrios analogy, I have my choice of several stores this week Cheerio's were on sale at another store. Hmmmm
Should I burn my regular store? "The bastards! They tried to screw me again on those Cheerios."
Then we wonder after we buying a car, grinding the saleperson into the ground they don't want to help you under waranty? Think the front end does not talk to the back end?
Whiplash @ Feb 6th 2006 10:35AM
This guy was clearly off-base to begin with. His life is probably a mess and this latest thing was just the final straw.
That said, I hate buying cars. The whole process, from dealing on price to getting hammered by the finance guy to add on all kinds of crap like theft protection, extended warranty, etc, etc, etc, etc is just the most agonizing experience. Even if you get a reasonable deal you can't help but feel drained by the whole experience.
Beau @ Feb 6th 2006 11:33AM
I am the only one who is scared to death by this sentence? “He was later released on bond.” This man obviously has serious mental health problems and already burnt down a building doing a million dollars in damage and putting several lives at risk and some stupid judge lets him go!
Mark Weber @ Feb 6th 2006 12:05PM
I've had friends who got screwed in the finance department side of things - where numbers were no longer as promised, and all sorts of "upgrades" were slipped onto the sales contract.
The most effective way to screw a customer this way, is to negotiate a monthly payment, not a price for the car. In the monthly payment is, say, $2,000 for "lifetime paint protectant." You print up the contract, the car is at MSRP, the trade-in is way below book, interest is high, and the "pack" is the $2,000 lifetime paint protectant.
But to the customer everything looks fine. They just came from a legitimate car dealer with a higher monthly payment after trade in. At the "screw you" dealer, the deal looks better because they give the customer a lower payment - but now its 72 or 84 months instead of 60 months.
It's really, really important to read every line of the contract that has an amount filled in, and understand what you are paying for, before signing the contract. The test drive is stressfull, negotiating the "deal" is stressfull, you can't let your guard down at the point where it looks like "all" they are doing is writing up the deal.
It's really, really important to say "no" to overpriced security alarms, overpriced detailing, and accessory add-ons, including extended warranties, during the "finance manager" process.
It's a dirty little secret that all the real money is made in the "f & i" (finance and insurance) departments these days.
Clyde @ Feb 6th 2006 2:41PM
Just imagine how much more pissed off he'd have
been if he'd have waited until the 7th recall.
Serves him right for buying an inferior car in the first place.