Bredemann Ford in Glenview

In the last 10(ish) years, I have purchased a Suburban, a Solara, a Conversion Van, an Escalade, and an Infiniti. Other than the conversion van which was made to specification, the other purchases were somewhere between unpleasant and painful. Within 1-2%, everyone that tries can find prices for what they want on anything in the new care universe. What's the point of three hours of haggling over a $100, insane time spent on upsales of unwanted items and "deal-of-the-day" bargains? I found roughly what I wanted-- a 2013 Fusion ES, largely loaded. I had prices for everything. I had my wife and one of my children go into Bredeman Ford in Glenview, IL today and check out their inventory. They had three cars that very closely satisfied what I wanted and figured I'd send them in to figure out if they liked the model and what features they didn't want or need. Salesman Mike S. walked them through their barrage of questions and answers, let them know what alternatives there were, how the vehicles in stock as well as not in inventory compared. He did it knowing full well that they weren't going to buy anything until I showed up some other time. Crazy stuff- someone who takes the time to educate the buyer on the Ford brand, the Fusion model (and there are quite a few variants) and what the dealership would bring to the table other than location. They walked out and called me now knowing more than I did about anything other than price as far as the car and the dealership were concerned. I went over to the dealer tonight. I met with Mr. S. Took a test drive. Went over the two concerns I had; price and alloy wheels. The price came in $400 under my expectation (due to a rebate I did not expect). He explained the "Tire Protection" plan that covered all of my wheel/tire concerns (we had huge issues with alloy rims and low-profile tires on the Escalade and received horrible dealer assistance--not same dealer). Mr. S. tallied off a list of items and paperwork and I was in the financing/cashier's office in 30 minutes. Steve S., sat us down. He offered an informative-- not pushy sales-- review of several programs. I knew it was a "no malarkey" explanation when he started off saying, "I'm not going to read you about all the things you get with this plan, I'm going to tell you what isn't covered. Everything else is." While we did not elect to take the warranty extension today, Steve let us know that he would contact us at the 11 month mark and see how we felt then. He also warned us that the extension, if we elect it later, must be executed prior to the 3yr/36k Ford warranty or that a full and expensive testing of the car would be required and we would have to repair all, even minor items, before the extension would be possible. He said that if after some time we did think we'd hold on to the car for significant years, the electronics on board make the extended warranty look like a good deal since one major problem would potentially pay for the warranty. None of this was, "Oh man, you really oughta get this now or your nuts." It wasn't an ask five times to push it situation. It was a matter-of-fact here's what you get, here's when you can get it, you make the decision. Very refreshing. We did elect the tire/wheel package. Like most people, the things that have made me miserable before are things I'll pay to cover. We finished quickly and comfortably with Steve. Mike S. was screwing on the plates. Another gentleman, August T., was going over the audio, gps, and system programming with one of my more technologically adept kids. A third gentleman, I do not recall his name, was reviewing the detailing of the car. And, we were done. Yeah, it was a Monday night and things weren't crazy at Bredeman Ford in Glenview. But the "no rush, no sales jamming, let us show you what you're getting, what you can get if you want, what everything costs" attitude is a business model-- not a show on a slow night. I honestly have no idea whether we're going to love the car or otherwise. I have no idea if I'm going to love their service department or not. But I know this: I feel really good about the experience. I feel like I understand what I bought and what I didn't. I feel like I have a dealership and a salesperson that are not in a combative relationship with me as I walked out the door. And, I got the product my family wanted at a price slightly better than I expected. Normally, I'd say 5 stars are unwarranted on just about anything. This was, beyond a doubt, the best I've ever felt about closing a car deal. Patient, knowledgeable people, managed under an excellent business model, working as a team.