I'm also trying to figure if it is worth the wait for the money. Just looked at a 2003 Fx4 Lariet 39.505.00 dealer will take 31.484.00. It just seems hard not to take the deal. I believe the 04 will be over 40k for the same options. eight thousand off sticker is hard to pass up for looks.

 

"...eight thousand off sticker is hard to pass up for looks."

Don't forget about their new 3V V8. While it doesn't have quite the peak horsepower or torque as Chevy and Dodge's respective V8's, Ford's OHC technology as well as the implementation of VCT means that you get most of that power (torque) way down low in the RPM range.

I do agree with you, though, $8,000 off the sticker price is a great deal!

 

Look at the expected life of the truck (100k?).

How much of this expected lifespan has been expended? There should be a premium paid by the dealer for the use of these early miles.

Additionally, this is no longer a "new" truck, in the strict use of the term, use this to your advantage.

I got 5k for 4500 miles, and $2500 more for the privilege of breaking in my baby.

Once this is settled, begin price negotiations. The dealers profit has been paid, in mileage. Help them to understand this.

Arm yourself with your own research, in print. I used the KBB price developer on their site. This matched the invoice of the dealer to the dollar. The salesman produced his own invoice upon demand(on the spot). The fact that he was willing to show me the invoice, and his prior statements were accurate to the invoice helped us to strike a deal. When I bought my 2001 KR Screw, it was a dealer demo. I was offered 3k for the 4500 miles on the vehicle, I countered with $1/mi. = $4500 dollars, rounded up to 5k. The salesman got it worked out.

This was before we got down to the brass tacks.

I got the truck for $35,500, this included the Lift(rancho 4"susp), wheels, and tires(Weld Roadhawk 16.5"x12" and BFG AT KO's 35"x12.5"). I bought the 100k bumper to bumper warranty(farce) to help alleviate any unforseen problems(it says Ford right on the front of the truck, I don't ned any bigger warning than that to get a warranty.).
The warranty, and Ford in general, have been a big dissapointment to date however.

I don't know for sure if I got a good deal. I believe I did, I feel comfortable with the research I did, and have a sense of good faith with the salesman, I want the man to make a buck, just not all of it off me. He made $500, the dealer lost 2K from invoice+their profit margin.

So, basically, I got my truck 2001 KR pkg (loaded) in 4x4, 100k bumper to bumper warr., with lift, wheels, tires, lojack, and alarm, for $37,700

Sticker was $43,800

The worst of it is the interest rate I got, 5.9%, I bought it Aug, 01, went to Ireland for business, returned after the 9/11 attacks, saw the 0.0% interest, called Ford and asked to refinance under the new rate( I would easily qualify per f.i.c.a. rating). Ford declined to let me re-fi with them, so be it, bad place to take a profit from, the 9/11 attacks that is (god bless all the victims and families.)
But pretty lame by Ford though, so be it.

 

RCAMAN:

WHAT!!?? You havent even DRIVEN an 04 yet! Oh well, your loss. What makes a chevy hold thier value?

 

Well APT you do what you want with your $$$$$
There is no way I would buy a used 5.4 or a new one
I would wait for the 2004s unless I was not going to keep the truck that long
BTW
Ford is reportedly going to go with new engines in 96-97 since the modular Tritons are being passed by the Chevy and Dodge V8s

 

Huh?

 

I did, twice. I bought a '99 with the 5.4l and got 68.5k before selling it to my in-laws. It's a great truck that'll be around for a long time. Now I have a 2003 with the 5.4L and don't expect any problems form it either. My brother has a '97 5.4L still going strong.

Ford sells 1.2 million 5.4L engines per year. There may be a design issue, but the likelyhood of something going bad is still tiny.

Quote:

BTW, Ford is reportedly going to go with new engines in 96-97 since the modular Tritons are being passed by the Chevy and Dodge V8s

I don't understand what you mean. I think you mean 2006-2007, but I haven't heard of Ford dropping the engine design.

 

Thanks to all for the feedback. I found a deal on a new 03 super crew and it is less than the one with 7,500 miles on it, of course it has a few less options but they are the ones I wanted.

Here's the lowdown 03 Super Crew XLT 5.4L engine, 4X4, Tow package, cab tube steps.

 

Side bar in TRUCKIN MAG said Ford has wrong out about as much power as they can from the TRITONS and with the Dodge HEMI ( A lot left for power increases) and the Chevy Vortecs ahead of FORD in the power game Ford is supposedly going to new engines in 97
Another Side Bar said the New Lightning may not come out until 96

 

are you sure it is 96?? That was 7 years ago. make sure your not hitting the 9 instead of the 0.

 

I don't disbelieve you, but that article (sidebar) doesn't make much sense to me. Chevy is not ahead in power with the current Vortec motors. They have more horsepower at higher engine speeds, but nowhere near the torque level for Trition motors. With the weight of trucks going up so much, we need more torque.

Also, how do they get the assesment that Triton motors are fully tuned vs. Hemi that is not? The Hemi is a heck of a motor, but it is optimized to run on 89 octane fuel. Just about everyone on F-150online knows that a Superchip that is optimized for premium fuel gets 20-25hp more on the 2v 5.4l, probably a bit more with the 3v. If aftermarket can do it (emmisions leagally), so can the OEM. 50hp from intake/exhaust/chip with the current motors is a lot of room to play that Ford coukd also do. The Triton is not optimized in any format from a Ford Factory. And there is always the easy way to bump power, increase displacement. I'd love to see a 3V 5.7L-6.0L engine in light guty pickup. Even with Ford's mild tuning, over 400ft-pounds. You'd crimp on the V10 in HD trucks, though. Too many politics.

I really do hope you (or tha mag) mean 2006-2007, as the 97 I believe becuase that is what Ford did. That is when they went to the Triton design in pickups.

goalie88

Congrats on the new truck!