mdrew9

Tried to purchase a FX4 today at my local dealership here in CT. I ran accross some other dealers like www.fairwayford.us in Ohio which offer 25% off FX4s and 27% off XLTs and Lariats. When I presented this to my dealership here in CT they said they couldn't touch it. The MSRP on the truck I was looking at was $48k 25% of that is $12k. This dealer was offering $44k - $2,500 in incentives or $41.5. That puts us $5,500 apart.

I called Fairway Ford on my way home and they said they would be willing to sell their trucks with that pricing. BUT I'm responsible for coordinating shipping (obviously I'd be willing to pay that) and its only available on in stock vehicles. I'm looking for an FX4 with cloth and 6.5 bed, they have only loaded FX4s with 5.5 bed. If I purchased from them I'd have to compromise.

Which brings me here, is this just a pipe dream? I'm not sure how Fairway Ford does it, or even another dealership in Auburn, MA offers $11k off instock XLTs and Lariats. But why can't my dealerships touch these?

If anyone did go 500 miles away for a vehicle, did you fly there drive home, drive out drive home? Ship? How did it work for you?
Thanks in advance.

schizbomb

Fairway could be a higher volume dealer allowing them to sell for less margin. I got roughly the same deal they're offering on my XLT last summer.

As far as traveling, if you got 2 people driving could work, but if its just you, seems better to fly and drive back.

Good luck man

c-one

On my 2013 FX4 purchase, I started off with the closest dealer. Then I found the biggest dealer within 100 miles and played them against one another. I wanted to buy from the small local dealer but I was'nt paying more to do it. Good luck.

Yuke's Retrofits

I Work at Herb Chambers Ford in Braintree, MA. PM me if interested

Aggie*86

I flew from San Diego to Baraboo, Wisconsin to purchase a new 2006 Pontiac GTO in Brazen Orange Metalic. It was towards the end of the model year ( last year for GTO) and it was a one year only color of which they made 1148. It was an excellent experience. The dealership was in a small town. Up there ther are alot of hobiests and you could tell this dealership was run by people who really like cars. They picked me up at the airport which was about 45 minites away. The GTO was on the showroom floor when I arrived paired with an orange Corvette. A number of salesmen told me they were sorry to see the matched pair being split up. They were surprised i had come all the way from CA for the car. Paperwork took less than an hour and they were true to there word. It was March and there was snow on the ground but the roads were clear. I had a blast driving it back to San Diego. It was a road trip I will never forget. There are still dealers out there that approach the buisness in the right way and treat the customer right.

shazam

No doubt high volume dealers have a certain cost advantage to small dealers, but really, any dealer ought to be pretty close to the next in terms of what they can sell you the car for. You can research the cost on Edmunds and Truecar (using the bar graphs of actual sales on Truecar). If it were me, I would visit the high pressure places first for the test drive and perhaps to test the waters on the price. If they aren't moving, cut it short and go to the "quality buying experience" place for the nitty gritty.

Last time I checked you could get a $500 discount if you were a member of the American Quarter Horse Association for 180 days. So if you are kind of kicking around the idea of buying a Ford truck you should join (about $36 as I recall).

mdrew9

I have looked at all invoice pricing and I am familiar with incentives in my area and even have an additional new grad discount for a masters I finished last year. These incentives are still not enough to get to where the high volume dealers are. As I noted above we are still $5,500 off I will let you know what happens as I look further into high volume dealerships.

Scrappy Doo

iTrader: (1)

You could just fly to ohio and drive it home. Or it would be between 500-900 to ship it home on a truck.

These are both assuming no trade.

I have a good relationship with my local dealer, but he is going to have to come close to Fairway price or I am making a roadtrip from MN to OH for my next one.

swflford

I bought an FX4 from Fairway last week and I am in Southwest Florida. Did the entire transaction via mail/email/telephone which, in my opinion, is the best way to buy a vehicle anywhere. None of the pressures of the sales floor, manager/salesperson/finance person dance. Contrary to popular belief, it is far easier to negotiate price when you are not sitting in the dealership.

If you are going to pay the same price (or more) for a lesser equipped vehicle locally, I'd just bite the bullet and suffer with the heated/air conditioned seats, moon roof, navigation, 20" wheels ect. from Fairway Ford I was in the exact same boat over the last month, tried every local dealer and even offered to pay over $1,500 more locally but still nobody would touch it

Don't bother flying out and driving it back. Shipping the vehicle is a piece of cake, trucks haul thousands of vehicles a day all around the country. There aren't really any great deals to be had shipping but there are plenty shippers who will try to stick you for a couple hundred extra. Just go to Montway.com and get a quote. They are fast, professional and fairly priced. Shipping to Fort Myers FL was $689

Alternately, you could check Mac Haik Ford in Texas. They also have some very good advertised prices and sometimes offer lesser equipped vehicles with cloth seats and such.

swflford

It is smart of you to do your homework first

I know a lot of people in my area who "have a good relationship with" our local Ford dealer as well. They just walk in and assume they are getting a great deal since they "buy so many vehicles" or whatever. When the tell me what they pay for their vehicles I can see why the dealers are so friendly The 'deals' they are getting are not deals at all. You know the old saying in the selling business, "If you can't make money off of your friends then you just can't make money."