I have bought many new cars in my lifetime. Just in the last few years I've special ordered several different makes of cars. Most of these have been European or Japanese, so I guess it's possible that all of the domestic brands work in a different way. I have been trying for weeks to special order an F-150. All I want to do are two very simple things. First I want to make sure that I am getting a good deal like I always do with cars. Second I want to understand exactly what I am paying for the truck before I put down a deposit. I understand the numbers to accomplish the first goal, but unless I can accomplish the second goal then I won't accomplish either of them.

With every other make I've ever dealt with this is a very simple proposition. I tell them what I want to order, they tell me exactly what dollar amount I need to write on the check when I come to pick it up, I leave them a deposit via credit card and I come get the vehicle when it's ready. With Ford even after calling several dealerships this seems to be completely impossible. The first hurdle was the rebates. Call 10 Ford dealers you will get 10 different answers on this. Some will tell you that you get the rebates that are in place when the order is placed and there is no other option. Others will tell you that you get the rebates that are in place when the truck shows up and there is no other option. Now the correct answer here is they can lock in the rebates available when you order the truck and then change them to the rebates available when you pick up the truck if they are better. It took me a while to sort that out so hopefully that saves somebody else the trouble.

Now after clearing that hurdle they are telling me that the invoice price could potentially change. They are telling me I need to put down a deposit now and then find out what the final dollar amount ends up being later. They say that they have no control over what the invoice price that they actually pay for the truck is. Is this legitimately how it works? I've wasted an enormous amount of time trying to pin down a final price before I put down a deposit and it seems to be a battle that Ford and its dealerships just don't want you to win. It seems as if they are deliberately making this difficult so that they can get you to give them a deposit now and find out what mystery price you are actually obligated to pay for the vehicle later. None of the dozen or so other brands that I've owned in my lifetime have ever given me an answer that was this silly. I have tried calling Ford directly, but they are completely useless and just tell you to call the dealership. I explained that if you call 10 dealerships you will get 10 different stories and that none of them will actually give you any solid answers but Ford does not care.

Is it just completely impossible to order this make and get an honest, straightforward answer on pricing? That really seems to be the case, but I am astounded that anyone would special order a make that works this way. I legitimately really would like to order this F-150 right now. I have cash in hand and I would love to give it to Ford, but they are making it completely impossible for me. I am considering just switching to some other make even though the F-150 best fits my needs.

 

Not even going to read this but by the title only....


Yes! they are.

 

My dealer didn't make me lock into any incentives (rebates) until the truck arrived. Then she let me choose between the incentives at the time of order or the incentives at the time of delivery.
Some dealers make you choose the incentives you want when you order and lock into one or the other, but they don't have to because not all dealers do.

 

Sounds like a dealership issue. We don't do anything with the dealership in town but travel close to an hour to one that doesn't jerk people around. Good luck!

 

I've could have written the OP myself so, sadly, this seems true of any dealer.

For whatever it's worth, I've been waffling on ordering a Dodge Durango. I'm in the Memphis area. All the dealers around here are the same. That, what you are complaining about, is why I'm over here poking around. Seems like it's the same crap. I honestly don't understand why the auto dealer networks have all evolved this dishonest, corrupt, way of doing business...

If anyone knows of a reputable Ford dealer within a five hour drive of Memphis please feel free to recommend one.

PS - To be fair, I haven't really even tried negotiating with the Ford dealers around here so I shouldn't imply they're the same as I honestly don't know from first-hand experience. Others I've dealt with here are as corrupt as they come (felt compelled to take a shower after I bought my Kia from Gosset - the WORST car dealer ever BTY!) so I'm assuming its the same everywhere...

 

Not sure how long a drive it would be but I worked at this dealer http://www.jjohnsonford.com/ for 12 years, they have a reputation for being honest and trustworthy. The only reason I left was because I secured a gov job with pay and benefits that I could not deny my family that they could not match, I have an open door policy with them in the event of a zombie apocalypse or other world ending event.... LOL but seriously, those are good people that will bend over backwards to do right.
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Prices rose in early April, so if you order now you are probably good. Negotiate X percent or dollars off invoice and be done with it.

 

Simple solution, don't order a truck, buy one off the lot. You have no requirements besides "getting a good deal" and "knowing why you are paying what you are paying". Seems pretty basic to me, you dont need special options added or deleted, so buy a truck on the lot and your 2 requests will be met the day you go and look at a potential new truck.

 

I've been ordering new vehicles since my 1965 Vette Stingray coupe. Here's the scoop:


Never deal with a salesman. Always deal with a manager, such as the fleet manager or the new car manager or new truck manager. In a small dealership, I usually deal directly with the dealer. If a "lot lizard" grabs onto you before you get in the door, tell him that you came to see the fleet manager.


The manager may turn you over to a salesman for finalizing the details of your order. That's okay, as long as you make your deal with the manager and not with the salesman.


Good price? X-Plan price. Any Ford employee (not a dealership employee) can give you an X-Plan PIN. So make friends with a Ford employee of an assembly plant somewhere. The X-Plan price is included on the invoice, so demand to see the invoice as part of your deal, and the price is not a mystery. X-Plan is also called the "friends and neighbors" plan. Ford employees can give PINs to their neighbors to get them to buy Ford products. That's why you need to make friends with a Ford employee.


X-Plan price is usually a bit less than dealer invoice price, plus the dealer is not allowed to add any "dealer packs" to the contract, and cannot charge more than a decent charge for dealer prep. And you get all Ford factory incentives. I have bought several new Fords using X-Plan.


For a Ford, any decent manager knows that if the dealer locks in a price at time of the order, Ford will okay that price. If the price goes up during the several weeks it takes to build and deliver the new vehicle, the customer still gets the old price. But if the price goes down (or if Factory incentives increase) then the customer can choose the better price.


When I prepare to buy a new Ford, I first get an X-Plan PIN from a friend who is a retired Ford engineer. Then I go to a dealership and ask the fleet manager "will you sell me a new Ford (vehicle description) for X-Plan price?" The answer will always be yes, except for maybe high-demand special cars such as a Shelby Cobra or Mustang GT 500. After you have agreement that the dealership will order and deliver you a new Ford of your specs for X-Plan price, your negotiations are over.


You must add TT&L to the price, but TT&L are fixed government taxes, not something the dealer or Ford can control.


So spec out the order and then the wait begins. Or if the dealership happens to have your exact vehicle in stock, X-Plan works for that too. The manager can show you the invoice which includes the X-Plan price. You get the factory incentives that are available on the date of purchase.

Here are the rules for X-Plan:
http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/...-rules-275779/


Nothing magic about it. Deal with a good reliable manager and you'll get a good deal and be happy.


The dealer gets reimbursed a few percent from Ford on an X-Plan sale. So the dealer wants you to have a PIN so they can get that reimbursement. But if you are a nice guy, some dealerships will sell you a new Ford at the X-Plan price without the PIN.


You don't know any dealership managers? A good one for you guys in SoCal is Bobby Williams at Fontana Ford. If you're in west Texas, find Vance Lane, the fleet manager at Rogers Ford in Midland. Full disclosure: Vance is my nephew, and Bobby is a cracker-jack good fleet manager in a huge Ford store in Fontana CA. Cochise Willis in Houston is also on my list of excellent fleet managers that give good prices with minimum negotiation, but I think he retired recently. But the one I usually use is Danny Ireton, the dealer at White Motor Company in Stanton, TX. Danny's Mom is the owner, and she and I grew up as neighbors on west Texas farms south of Stanton.

 

That's a simplistic solution. For my current 3 vehicles, there were none in stock that were equipped exactly the way I wanted within 500 miles of me.


2012 F-150 pickup/tow vehicle, 2013 Toyota Venza family car, 2015 Mazda Miata MX5 GT runabout with power retractable hardtop (PRHT).