King216

Hey all,

I have been negotiating with dealers and one specifically that I am planning on picking up the truck, XLT 302A ($57,595 MSRP/Blue box $55,345/X-plan$51,700), today. Did all the negotiations through text and email and received a written quote with listed dealer discount.

The dealer said his discount is about $700-$1k or so below invoice/x-plan. By my calculations and using the X-plan price another dealer gave me on same build/vin, it seems to be closer to $2k-$3k cheaper, but that may just be due to different breakdown and all between dealers.

I am planning on leasing for 36 months with $12k miles and they agreed to pay off my remaining lease payments.

A few questions real quick to make sure of before I finalize:

1. When the dealer agrees to this price, or more so the dealer discount amount, can x-plan be added on that or, more so, are the required to? I assume no, but I don’t know for sure.

2. Appears they added bed liner and wheel well liners and are including in price, but since leasing aren’t these supposed to be added to the residual value instead? I mean I didn’t ask them to put those items on and they may be listed at more than Ford price.

3. if the dealer doesn’t also allow x-plan on top of dealer discount, should they still honor the $100 doc fee max that is with x-plan?

Thanks.

Ricktwuhk

1) No. X-Plan is not negotiable. It is 99.6% of invoice plus $275, minus all applicable rebates. Max paperwork fee of $100. There is no "dealer discount".

If you qualify for X-Plan, they give you access to a site that shows you X-Plan on every vehicle on any dealer's lot. There is no guessing.

2) Don't think so.

3) If you buy with X-Plan, you get X-Plan. If you don't, dealer can charge as much as law allows for paperwork. Many charge as much as $499, $699...

vulnox

Rick nailed most everything as usual. To add to some of your questions, you asked if dealer is required to x-plan, they are not. They aren't even required to honor A-Plan IIRC. It's usually in their interest to do so, but not required. X-Plan is a set price on every vehicle though, and it's fairly easy for a dealer to beat X-Plan, but nearly impossible for them to beat A-Plan without taking a loss. So if they seem to be offering a lower cost than X-Plan, that's not super unusual, but is nice to see on a '21.

2. To expand, dealer added options are NOT leased. You own them. A friend of mine had the dealer add a tonneau cover to a lease of his and his salesman reminded him to remove it at the end because it was actually his. Sucky part for you is, not sure I would care to bother removing a bed liner (assuming drop in), so you are kind of just stuck paying full price.

3. No, it's X-Plan pricing and associated benefits, or dealer OTD pricing. No mix and match, if you try that you may just **** them off really. With any plan deal, the dealer basically leaves the equation. You are dealing with "Ford" at that point, even if you still talk to your salesman. Ford sets the prices from vehicle to fees, and the dealer gets a kickback from Ford for selling a plan vehicle, it almost becomes like a commission. Any extra money the dealer puts on the deal comes from their kickback, which they won't let you touch unless maybe your dad owned the dealership.

In some cases X-Plan still works out even if you get a better vehicle price from the dealer due to lower fees as Rick covered. But we are generally talking a hundred dollars on one end or the other, not thousands.

Ricktwuhk

To add to this, the X-Plan rules are quite clear. See #2. If you don't immediately identify yourself as using X-Plan, you're violating the rules. You're also wasting the dealer's time. I've bought 2 vehicles myself and one for a relative on X-Plan, and now use A-Plan. Couldn't be smoother. I know the price from the portal. They print a Smart Vincent report showing all incentives. I either order, or pick the vehicle I want and we're done.

Another benefit of using X-Plan (or any other plan) is that Ford audits the transaction to ensure compliance. They make sure the dealer didn't throw in anything (they're not allowed to do anything they don't give anyone else and are limited to $50 value - like a free oil change), they make sure the price and rebates are correct, etc. Keep in mind that no plan deal includes how your trade, if any, is valued - that's up to you.

How do I take advantage of the Program?
That's easy. Follow these simple steps:
1. Generate your PIN on this website.
2. Visit your local dealer with your PIN and immediately identify yourself as a Partner Recognition participant. Provide your PIN and the last 4 numbers of your Social Insurance Number to verify your eligibility.
3. Provide proof of employment or membership by an eligible Ford Partner through a pay stub, company I.D. badge, T4, healthcare card with Company name, membership card.
4. Select your new vehicle.
5. Request vehicle invoice from sales representative to confirm plan price.
6. Discuss financing options.
7. Drive home in your new set of wheels.

https://www.fordpartner.com/partnercaweb/planRules.do

King216

Thank you all!

Those are the answers I assumed but wanted to make sure of. I did use X-plan on my 2018 3 years ago but didn’t know much about it at first. On that vehicle they threw in box link and floor mats, which I removed to put in my 2021!

I actually thought I did tell them I had X-plan to be honest, because I spoke with so many dealerships and told them. Plus, with this place, an internet person reached out for lease details I wanted and vehicle, then had a sales person reach out, then the sales manager. I thought I told one of them up front but may not have or maybe he just wanted to beat another location and didn’t do it by X-plan?

The main thing I was really uncertain with was another dealer told me that if accessories are added it is added to the residual value, and something like a liner adds maybe $3/month, but this dealer has the full price listed.

However, they did send me a breakdown that included if I was buying it but next to it showed the lease per month. He said the taxes and stuff would probably be lower for the lease but that is the way Autonation lists it initially on the “sales menu” that he needed to fill out to get the vehicle from another Autonation location.

I was going to try to get them to remove the $700 total for bed liner and wheel well liners since they added them on themselves, not per my request, but seems like it is not worth it and likely will be calculated properly when I see the lease breakdown instead of this “sales menu” listing.

Thanks again!!

nickf2005

One thing I kept in mind about X-Plan versus searching for dealer discounts that might beat it was my time and effort. I value my time and if I know I can drive 10 minutes to a dealer and pull off X-Plan with zero hassle versus save maybe $1,000 but invest days, if not weeks, in doing so... Then I'm going X plan all day long.

Prime example was my GT500. I spent months looking for a used car. Had one lined up to purchase and it fell through. I exhausted countless hours into searching for a car... used. I decided to just try the local dealer. Within four days they located one I wanted, accepted my X-Plan, sent a driver to pick up the car (dealer trade), drove my car back to my local dealer, and I picked the car up 10 minutes from my house. I think it was a $5,000 difference between the used car I was going to buy and the brand new car I got, both optioned very closely (granted I missed out on aftermarket wheels). I think you get my point though.

We all only get so much time here so do something valuable with it! Spending weeks to save a grand isn't valuable to me.

King216

Right, makes sense. I really spent 4 days or so between all dealerships, first two days were all other dealers then two days with this dealership, only because the sales guy had to wait for his manager to get in the next day. Also, I was really negotiating and comparing monthly lease payments between all but also asked for pricing breakdown just to see and see what could get a lower payment and if buying out long term savings.

just don’t want to settle just because easier or x-plan when could get a better deal.

Plat_2021

I believe there is still a $1750 lease Loyalty offer. at least that was the case on Feb 20 and I believe that it was available through the end of the March. If the bed liner and wheel well liners where a part of the factory build they are residualized, if not they will not be included for the Residual calculation.

snowguy

What is acquisition fee listed (s18)?? Is that only for leases??
playing around with X plan build shows my my discount at $3,948. Even if you don't use X plan still good to know discount if you plant to negotiate.

Ricktwuhk

Acquisition fee is only for leases, yes. If you go to the Additional Disclosures at the bottom, it tells you what everyone of them means.

Be careful what you're looking at and the terminology you are using. The site will show you the following in Build and Price:

Starting X-Plan
Total of Options
Destination Charges
Total X-Plan
Available Incentives
Net X-Plan

There is no "discount" listed, but clearly the Total X-Plan price can be compared to MSRP and a "discount" be determined. It also allows you to reverse calculate invoice price.

If X-Plan's formula is 99.6% of invoice + $275, then the calculation to determine invoice is X-Plan - $275 / .996. So if X-Plan is $30,000, then invoice is $30,000 - $275 / .996 = $29,844.

Note that Available Incentives is likely not complete. Having a dealer print the Smart Vincent report on the vehicle will list each and every incentive, including private cash, that you might be eligible for. Build & Price is usually not correct on this line. It will list X-Plan price, invoice price, as well as A/Z plan price.