Burnout524

Hey all,

I will be in the market to replace my '04 Ranger (excellent, trouble-free truck - just not family friendly!) soon and I have been looking at new F150s. This is only the second new car I have purchased (had a crummy experience buying the Mazda) and I'm just a little unsure of the best strategy to get the best deal.

First things first - through my employer, I am eligible to buy via the X Plan. Has anyone here had any experience buying through the X Plan? Is it worth it or can I get a better deal haggling with the dealer? I'm assuming I can get any of the incentives that are available "retail" customers.

Which brings me to my next question - if the X Plan vs. non-X Plan pricing is close, I might as well custom order the exact truck I want. If I custom order a truck (not through the X Plan), can I negotiate on the price or will I pretty much be stuck paying MSRP? Also, if I custom order, will I lose eligibility for any additional incentives? I notice that there is a $1,500 and another $1,000 cash back incentives going on, but the fine print says "from dealer stock". I'm lucky that there's also $2k cash back for Ranger Owner Appreciation (may need to take advantage of that before it ends!).

Does anyone have any advise on what worked/didn't work for them and what path I should take?

The next issues are the whole Ecoboost vs. 5.0 and the SuperCab vs. SuperCrew decisions!

packplantpath

I don't know for sure, but I think x-plan is non-negotiable. Either you take that price or you do not. And I think it is a nice price. Pretty sure you can take x-plan and all the incentives as well.

As far as the engine/trim/scab/screw, that will lead to endless pointless debating. Drive both. Assess your needs, and pick one. Can't go wrong unless you do not properly determine your needs for towing in the future.

Wanted33

Burnout, welcome to the forum. Check on prices both way. But, in most instances you can get abetter deal without the x-plan. Most dealers in my area will sell at invoice minus incentives. Keep in mind though that "doc fees" will add to the out the door price. Some have outragious doc fees, so check these first as they are usually non-negotiable. My dealers fees are $499. Then you have "ad fees" (I know the fees never seem to stop) which we all pay now. These were approx. $600 on my truck. Or course then you have tax, tag, title, and sales tax to add to the bottom line. Do your homework, check all the dealer web sites in your area, and if possible play them against one another.

You can special order your truck, negotiate the price, and still get all of the incentives. However there are times that you can get a better price on in stock trucks. In my case I always special order, because usually the dealers trucks don't have quite what I want. But that's just me.

Be patient, do some legwork, some computer work, and get your best deal. Good luck.

P.S. Don't be afraid to walk if the sales person isn't where you want them to be. Some good websites to look at for reference are, www.kbb.com, www.autotrader.com etc. Their invoice prices do not include doc fees, ad fees, or any taxes. Usually the dealer will quote his invoice price with only the ad fees included. Also, go to www.ford.com, use their build & price thingy, and while your there order a F-150 brochure. Sometimes they will come with a $750 off coupon, beware they do have an expiration on them so don't order to early. They usually arrive in 10 - 20 days, and then approx. 4 - 6 weeks before they expire. That's not an exact science though. Every little bit helps.

Here's my deal:
Ordered 2013 Platinum
MSRP $47,490
Dealer discounts, factory incentives, and $750 coupon from brochure totaled $8,450 off the sticker. I was a happy camper.

jollyroger331

If you need something family friendly I would personally recommend the supercrew. I've had both and have the screw now and would never go back even when the last kid is gone.

shazam

Join the American Quarter Horse Association. There is a usually a $500 rebate for those who have been members for six months. Since you are ordering, and probably not tomorrow, there is a chance you will come in under the wire by the time the truck is delivered. If not, you have an interesting magazine for the coffee table.

I would find out who the "quality buying experience" dealer is in your area and who the high pressure dealer is. A Ford is a Ford. Life is short. Buy the car from the guy who won't make your life miserable. That's the "quality buying experience" dealer instead of getting into a psychological warfare battle with the high pressure dealer. Don't kid yourself. Those guys are trained to the nth degree about how to break down your sales resistance. Edmunds and Ratemydealer.com have some info that will point you in the right direction. Or just ask around. People in the area know.

I like the Truecar.com website. They have actual sales to look at. Direct your gaze to the left side of the Bell curve for a zipcode in the big city closest to you for the truck with the options you want. That's about where you want to land.

I wouldn't get into a discussion about the legitimacy of this doc fee or that advertising fee or how much a discount from MSRP is appropriate, or whatever alphabet ordering plan is available. The only number that matters is the total price that a willing buyer is willing to pay a willing seller, period. Since as an orderer making a payment on the spot you are basically financing their inventory, they should be willing to offer you a good price. I would bring the subject of doc fees and whatnot up at the beginning of the negotiations. You: "Are there any document fees or advertising fees" Salesman: (vaguely) yes, they are required by the metro manufacturer's agreement" (whatever that is). You: "Well, understand any price I discuss has to include everything except tax" Or, even make a joke out of it: Salesman: "how much were you looking to spend?" You: "Sadly, I can only afford $500 for the truck. But at least I can pay $30,000 for the doc fees."

My car was totaled, so I had to move fast. So I made the colossal mistake of dropping by the dealer in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. I got used as a kind of warm up punching bag for all their tricks for the upcoming weekend by the sales staff that had nothing better to do. If I had it to do over again, I would show up in the middle of the week but about two hours before closing time. You have done your research so you know what the right price is. Tell the man exactly what you want and when he asks you what you want to pay, name a price maybe $1,500 or a couple of thousand dollars below what you expect to pay. For some reason, they always seem to trot out some deliberately poorly photocopied document to sign. Refuse to sign anything but the completed sales contract and tell him that's all you want to sign. The reason you offer a little less than the real price is that nobody likes to be told "take it or leave it" even if it really is a bottom line price they would accept. Make a couple of moves towards the real price. When you get close, offer the real price, tell him that has to be the total final price ex everything but tax and license. Bring your checkbook and be prepared to write a couple thousand dollar check anyway, towards your ordered vehicle. When they finally bring out the document with the "non-negotiable" doc fee, tell them you want the agreed upon price and to work it backwards to make the price come out the same. If you have to walk, you walk. Make sure the written terms are as described, sign and write your check. Its been quite a while since I had the luxury of ordering a car. I would make them put in language that applicable rebates at the time of delivery belong to you.

P.S. I wouldn't give up a good Ranger except at the point of a gun. A small truck is hard to beat as a second car. They are just super handy. Sadly, they are going the way of the Dodo bird, because they are nearly as expensive to build as a full size truck, but people aren't willing to pay a new car price for them.

smokeywren

X-Plan is a very good no-haggle price. It's a hair over invoice on an F-150, but it's no haggle, and the dealer is limited on the amount of doc fee he can add to the X-Plan price.

You can order a new truck under X-Plan to get exactly what you want, and pay the X-Plan price minus nationally-advertised rebates/incentives plus TT&L. Ford now allows the dealer to tack on a small doc fee, but it's reasonable - nowhere near $500. And under X-Plan, you get any and all Ford incentives that are available on that vehicle on the day you take delivery. In addition, your dealer can lock in any current incentives in case they go down before the truck arrives. So it's a win-win. In my case, the dealer also locked in the $750 coupon Ford sent me when I ordered the brochure - in case my truck didn't arrive before the expiration date on the coupon.

You can also order the new truck without the X-Plan, but then you'll have to negotiate the price of the new truck as well as the trade-in value, and then the dealer can add a huge doc fee that Ford won't prevent him from adding. Plus he can add other ADP (additional dealer profit) items to your deal and you'll have to fight to keep them off. $200 wax job? $150 Scotchgard job? Ford doesn't allow such nonsense on an X-Plan deal, but without X-Plan you're on your own.

With an X-Plan pin, the dealer has to show you the invoice for any truck in stock. The invoice includes several prices, including the X-Plan price. That price, minus any rebates or other Ford incentives, plus TT&L and the small doc fee is your out-the-door price for the truck. Everything's above the table except the value of your trade-in.

Speaking of your trade-in, if they don't offer you enough for it, then sell it to Honest John's Used Trucks down the street. I've done that several times over the years and saved over $1,000 each time.

Just like the other incentives, your dealer can probably get Ford to waive that dealer stock requirement and order what you want if he doesn't have what you want in stock.

Don't even talk to a salesman. Go straight to the fleet manager and ask for him/her by title. Or in a small Ford dealer, I deal directly with the dealer. Your first question to the manager is "Will you order me an F-150 on the X-Plan?" If he says yes, then your dickering is over as far as the new truck is concerned. If you have a trade-in or lease return, that's a different transaction, and you're on your own to dicker over that value.

Yes, some dealers will beat the X-Plan price by a little, but if it's my local dealer I know the X-Plan price is a good price, so I allow him to make a buck so he'll still be in business the next time I need a local Ford dealer.

Click on the following link to see the current X-Plan rules. When you get your X-Plan PIN, you'll be able to browse the X-Plan website and see the latest version of those rules, as well as see the X-Plan prices for any for Ford or Lincoln you want to build&price.

http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/...-rules-275779/

Not a problem. Order the EcoBoost SuperCrew with the 6.5' bed. You'll love it. Mine is a Lariat Plus with Platinum White paint over tan two-tone. Ordered under X-Plan. Beautiful truck with all the toys I could want. Your problem is choosing the rear axle. If you order the 3.73 limited slip with XLT or Lariat trim, you automagically get both the max tow pkg and the HD payload pkg added to you order. 3.73 e-locker will get you the max tow pkg but without the HD Payload pkg. 3.55 or the standard 3.15 or 3.31 axle will get you neither the max tow nor the HD Payload pkgs.

I have the e-locker. Works great. You only turn it on when you need it, and all the rest of the time it acts like an open axle.

gregsf150stx

MAX doc fee with X-plan is $100.....

So, if your dealer has a outrageous "DEALER FEE", like some in this area as high as $499..... using x-plan could save you a few $$$ off the bottom line.

On my invoice, x-plan was only $200 over invoice..

smokeywren

Notice I edited that statement this morning. Last night I asked Mark Kovalsky to update that thread to include the current X-Plan rules, so he did it immediately. Thanx, Mark. So the current X-Plan rules are now in that link. And yes, the max doc fee under X-Plan is $100.

red1994ford

I would say if you have the x-plan go for that. If not, shop around and where ever you go have printouts/quotes from other dealers of similar trucks.

And look at the various configurations of trucks to best determine the one for your needs. I can tell you as a SuperCab owner, if I had a family and regularly had people riding in the backseat I would definitely opt for the SuperCrew based on convenience and comfort.

I would recommend the 6.5' bed no matter what cab you go with because that extra foot makes a huge difference in what you can haul, especially if you put a toolbox in your bed like me.

Burnout524

Thanks for the info everybody! It's helped a ton!

As far as X Plan vs. haggling, according to Edmunds, the True Market Value price is only about a thousand off of the X Plan sticker price - so going the X Plan route may be the way to go. My dad recently bought a new Honda Accord at a local dealership where every car is a fixed price and he said it was the easiest vehicle purchase ever. No haggling may be the way to go!

It's also good to know that I would be able to get all the incentives on an ordered truck, regardless of what's in the fine print.

I like the idea of the American Quarter Horse Association, shazam! I don't really know what a Quarter Horse is, but spending $40 to save $500 sounds like a deal to me! lol I've seen that incentive and always thought it'd be one of those I wouldn't be able to take advantage of (i.e. Police Association or recent College Grad deals). Same thing with ordering a sales brochure!

As far as SCrew vs. SCab go, I may have to re-visit the SCrew. I was leaning towards SCab to save some money (and we don't have kids yet, so it'll be a while til we need leg room on a daily basis), but jumping up to a SCrew with the 6.5' bed will get me an extra couple hundred pounds in payload, even with the base rear end! The toughest load I usually subject my little Ranger to is almost a yard of topsoil and I'm sure an F-150 will handle that a whole lot better (almost hitting the bump stops!).

And yes, it's going to be hard getting rid of my Ranger, I actually have a few people I know who have expressed interest in it...so I'm definitely not going to give it away to some dealer!