I had to sign a no resale clause. The contract form that included the clause was dated from the early 2010s. The dealer said that the genesis of this clause was to prevent the resale and export of vehicles since manufacturer dealer agreements prohibit dealers from selling vehicles that they know are going to be exported or immediately resold. This is something I have seen at different dealers and not just the Ford dealer where I bought my Lightning.
Nothing to sign on my end and no ADM.
This is standard language in most auto sales contracts. It's the part where you're certifying that you are not a dealer, exporter or acting as an agent for one. This is not a no-resale clause that says you can't sell your Lightning. Once the vehicle is titled in your name, you can do with it as you please. That is the very purpose of holding title. Being a piece of titled property, which must convey to you (the new owner) free of any and all encumbrances. If they want to dictate how and when you can sell or transfer ownership, then they need to provide a concession and be listed as a registrant party on the title or as a lien holder.
Actually, no they don't. Ford sent them sample language, but told them to contact their local legal counsel before drafting something. I've seen maybe 2 posts in months of people having to sign such a thing. Most dealers laughed.
There was never any sample language from Ford. Only a supposed internal memo that supposedly leaked, saying that Ford would support a no-resale term if a dealership wanted to impose one and if it were legally permissible in their market. I have seen absolutely nothing that ever indicated the memo was genuine or valid in any way. It first appeared from a dubious source that had conjured up other bogus stuff. Jim Farley said he was unaware of such a memo when asked about it.
Well, my dealership's GM specifically discussed it with me, from that memo. Which was genuine, and clearly stated sample language.
Whatever. I'd laugh in their face if a dealership did that to me. I'd call bullshit on it until they showed me a certified and notarized letter from Ford HQ and would still laugh at them after that because it doesn't change how titled property works or vehicle sales laws work. And then if by some miracle they could validate it, I would publicly shame Farley and all the execs at Ford for claiming they were unaware of its existence and allowing their dealerships to unethically bully customers. Your dealership/GM is full of shit. Yes, I'm going there. You're also in MI, where automakers, and more so their dealerships, seem to make all the rules and yet still not play by them much of the time. I'd bet you dinner the guy downloaded the bogus memo or retyped it up on Ford letterhead to make it look official and added some verbiage so they could bully their customers. I buy dozens of vehicles each year, mostly trucks, from two dealerships I talk to regularly. My dealership where I'm getting my Lightning values me as a customer. Enough so that when I complained about the heated steering wheel delete, they were going to retrofit the heated wheel and necessary components for me at no cost. We're taking a wait and see on that now since Ford says they will be offering a retrofit kit for it in '23. ...That retrofit kit is talked about in official Ford communication. The no-resale, example verbiage, whatever, is not. Never was. Doesn't exist. Maybe it exists in Michigan if there's some legal loophole that allows dealerships to maintain some sort of control over property they don't own, but I'd wager not. I'm betting they would have never let you leave the building with a copy of whatever they showed you, even if you signed it.
