Evader53

I'm within a month or two of buying a 2012 FX4 Screw w/ 6.5' bed. There are three dealers within 50 miles of me that have the truck I want, and many many more within 200 miles (I'm willing to travel to get the best price).

I've been reading & researching tons on here about how to go about the process... Yet I still have a few questions that I just can't seem to find the answer to. This will be my FIRST buying experience from a dealer.

Here's the Scenario;

I find the truck I like at 3 different nearby dealers. MSRP on it is 44-45k per the window sticker. Two of those trucks have been sitting on the lot since May. I do not have a trade-in. I already have a 36k loan at 0.75% interest sitting in my bank.

I will buy from the dealer that gives me the lowest price.

1.) What is a good number to start the negotiation at?

2.) Should I be looking for OTD price or just "purchase" price?

3.) Do I keep rebates/incentives out of the deal until after a price is agreed upon? I see a lot of people on here purchasing a very similar truck for nearly 10k off sticker. In the negotiation, you don't try to get that 10k off, correct? You agree on a price maybe 5k off sticker, then after all the rebates/incentives are applied you hope it adds up to somewhere around 10k. Is that right?

4.) Should I ask to see the dealer invoice?

5.) How do you go about finding out the current incentives/rebates being offered so you can anticipate what you will be paying otd?

6.) Can you all give me a DETAILED run-through on how the buying experience typically goes? (Starting from the MSRP, to negotiation, to settling on price, to applying rebates/incentives).

7.) If you were in my exact shoes, how would you go about purchasing a truck?

Any other tips/advice/techniques from you all that have done this before would be great. I'm hoping to get a good deal and don't want to end up screwing myself because I'm a virgin buyer.

Thanks!

jheizer

I tried to walk out with a FX4 tonight. At under $700 under x plan price they still laughed me out the door. Hope you have better luck than I.

gr8hntr

i bought 2 in june (f150 n mustang ) both dealers took the rebates off the sticker price and we went from there ... i guess they thought i might pay sticker since it was 4250 off but that didnt work lol ... i traded in a 4k car on the truck that basically took care of taxes n tag ... sticker was 52k and out the door was 42k and talked them out of a free hard bed cover

good luck hope u get a gr8 deal

ClaySlayer

They know about the rebates/incentives. They'll list those out right away to make it look like an awesome deal. You can also find them listed on the Ford website. You're negotiating the bottom line OTD price because that's what it's costing you (plus the 0.75% interest of course). I told them I didn't care if they gave me more for my trade-in or took more off the price of the truck. It's all the same to me in the end... Be firm and polite unless otherwise provoked and even then just walk. No reason to be an ****... Give them a chance to put some numbers on paper just for the heck of it then tell them that's too much and see if they come back with anything else. The first exchange or two I never offer a number just to see what they'll do because you just never know. I just tell them to give me a good reason to take the vehicle off their hands and act like I could take or leave the truck. Keep in mind the whole time me and the dealer are talking OTD price (tax, title, etc). On a $44-$45k sticker ($45.5-$46.5k OTD where I live)) in Sept/Oct when the 2013s are about to be on the lots and rebates are a plenty I'd think the lowest OTD they would volunteer would be about $39k (2.75% tax where I live). Then I'd counter with $36k expecting them to come back around $37.5k...which would be a decent deal but I'd still try for lower.

I always try to buy from my local dealer if possible because that's who I'll be coming back to for repairs and what not...unless of course they have a reputation for screwing people over. They can tell you all day long that it doesn't matter where you buy the service is separate from sales but that's a load of BS. I've had so many things fixed out of warranty over the years by local dealers because I bought the vehicle there it's not funny. With that said, you can email dealers not local to you and ask for their best price and use that to educate yourself and also print those offers out and take them with you and see if your local dealer will match them...

NorCal-09

I am advised, that the X Plan price is about 1.5% over dealer invoice; therefore, $700 under is about 1.5% below dealer invoice on a well equipped FX4.

While I realize some here will offer that they got deals well below invoice; in my long experience, if you can get a truck at invoice, or just $250 over invoice, as I usually do--you are still getting a good deal--while leaving some on the table for the dealer (holdback +).

I have already been offered $250 over invoice at Galpin here in CA; which is what they offer to most LEO's and FF's in the SoCal region.

Therefore, on a $50,000 ($49,590) FX4, I am getting about $5,000-6000 off of Monroney, plus the current $3,000 in factory rebates...Consumer Cash and Ford Motor Credit Cash.

No trade-in to muddy things up; will sell current '09 PP.

cameraman123

I found it easiest to browse all the local dealers, (after visiting a few with no luck), and find the best internet sales department. Sticker on my F150 was $41,000, selling price $30,700 and OTD at $33,000. I knew exactly what I wanted so I picked it out online, and made sure the internet sales dept. knew I was coming to buy and we agreed upon a price over the phone. When I showed up the vehicle was ready to go and all I had to do was sign (and fight off the dealer add-on BS every stealership tries to pull these days).

I realize my XLT isn't an FX4 - but I looked at those too. The dealer I bought from (Joe Myers Ford) has several (14 of them) listed anywhere from 10-12k off. And they'll sell them for that price.

Best of luck and enjoy it when you get it!!!

billf

(1) Go to the TrueCar website (http://truecar.com). Look up the truck you want. Specify the exact model and all the options you want. Get to the graph showing: dealer cost, MSRP, average sales price in your area, and what TruCar thinks is a great price.

(2) Next, and still on the TrueCar website, fill out the form to request quotes from local dealers. You will get up to three quotes depending on how many (if any) local dealers have signed up for their service. Each quote you get says "if we have this exact car on the lot we promise to sell it to you for this price".

(3) Go to Dealer Rater (http://dealerrater.com) and see if there are any reviews for the dealers who have quoted.

(4) Choose a dealer and contact the person listed on the quote. This might be an internet manager or representative who will have to assign you to a salesperson or might be their salesperson who handles internet sales.

(5) Go see the quoted vehicle. Check it out. Test drive it.

(6) With the salesperson work out the deal. Be firm that: you have your own financing, you won't be trading in a vehicle, you wont' pay for any dealer add-ons (e.g. paint protection, VIN etching, undercarriage coatings), etc.

(7) When it's time to make the purchase you will be taken to an F&I (Finance and Insurance) guy. This person has two roles: he/she both makes sure that the legal paperwork is filled out and also tries to convince you to purchase extra stuff that is profitable for the dealer. This includes extended warranties, dealer for manufacturer financing, dealer add-ons, etc. I refuse all of these things -- even any add-ons they've already applied to the vehicle.

(8) You may be required to show proof of insurance. In some cases your current insurance policy will automatically insure any new car for a period of time before you formally add it to the policy. In other cases the dealer will have to call your agent, give him/her the VIN number, and have an insurance card faxed to the dealership.

Here's the truck I just bought:

https://www.f150forum.com/f3/first-p...-years-160056/

I got exactly what I wanted for what TrueCar says is a "great price": $40K and change.

Notes:

o TrueCar used to be called "Zag" so you might hear your quote referred to as the "Zag price".

o Consumer Reports uses this same system when its subscribers sign up for it's car-pricing service.

o both the salesperson and the F&I guy work on commission. The salesperson gets a very small commission (maybe only $100) for an internet sale, and the F&I guy will get nothing if you refuse his extras. Be firm, but be nice to them because you won't be leaving much on the table.

Good luck!

jheizer

Yeah I was on the low side, but trying to get them down from where they were stuck at $1k over x plan. They just kept saying they came at me strong with the first offer and would not budge from there even though they knew I was ready to walk out the door with the truck right then.

PinGorilla

8K - 10k off sticker would be about the best price you can get. This includes the rebates.

CorvetteDreamin

Whatever you do... don't waste your time driving to the dealers to walk around and shop.

1) Get "out the door" prices from each dealer's Internet department.
2) Make sure they have the truck. As odd as it sounds, they may list a truck that either a) isn't in yet or b) was dealer exchanged to someone else.

For number 2, I had THREE dealers all play games with a truck. I found the VIN and Googled it to find out which dealer actually had what I was looking for (lucky probably). But one of them just said, "What does it matter if we can get you the best price?" Um, it matters because there's no guarantee they can actually get it and I'm not wasting my time with a dealer who waits for my to sign a buyer's order before they have a truck in their possession.

Agreed, $8-10k is about right for discounts off sticker.