Hi all,
I need a new truck. I have a '94 Ranger XLT 4.0 w/203k, and we have a baby coming in May, so I need to upgrade.

Yesterday I went at lunch to one of the two big Ford dealerships in town. I spoke to the lady who had called me about a so called "private rebate" (which turned out to be $924).

Anyway, she was fairly young (30s I guess) and had only been working there a few months. She showed me most of their selection of 2004 F-150s. They had 15 or so. I had narrowed it down to a few supercab XLTs based on what I saw on their online inventory. They had orange tags hanging from the mirrors with the "sale prices", which I soon found out to be the price after the $3500 + $1000 (ford credit) rebates were applied, for a total of $4500 (that doesn't include the private rebate).

I found out that if I took their low 0% financing that I would not be eligible for the $4500 in rebates and would only get the $1000 private rebate. If I chose to take the cash back, I would pay the price on the mirror tag but would be subject to the higher financing rates.

One truck in particular, a true blue supercab w/ 5.4 V8, 3.55 gears, captains chairs w/ center console, broke down like this:

31,680 list
- 3500 cash back
- 1000 ford credit rebate
- other discounts (??)
-------------------
23,353 mirror tag price
- 1000 private rebate
-------------------
22,353 + tax tag title fees (279.00)

= 22,632 final


Without the $4500 rebates the price was:

27,853
- 1000 private rebate (at low APR charges)
-------------------
26,853 + tax tag title fees (279.00)

= 27,132 final


That's just one example of one truck. The other dealership only has 5 or so trucks according to the website and I don't expect to get very far there. The only real difference between the two that I've seen is that one is in the "city" and one is in the "county" (tax difference - 4.5% city and 3.75% county).

I spent some time yesterday afternoon checking the inventories of Ford dealerships around the area; the ones in surrounding cities (1 hour away or less) didn't offer much of interest.

So I went yesterday after work and had the lady pull the invoice; the price on the invoice that she showed me was 26,575. However, I'm not sure if what she showed me was correct because she couldn't find the invoice for the exact truck I was looking at; instead she found one with the exact same price as the one I liked (31,680) and showed me the invoice for that one. I'm not sure if the invoice would have been any different for the blue truck. Again, I'm not sure if that was some sort of tactic or not.

I forgot what the X-plan/A-plan prices were.

She tried to pressure me into buying before the 31st because she said that the sales managers "would be more willing to work with me" because they all get firm bonuses for any vehicles sold before year end. I also have that private rebate that supposedly expires on 1/3/05.

She kept telling me that she had just sold a guy a truck for under invoice, but I'm not sure if they were willing to go that far on the one I liked. If they did, I could get it (after all my rebates) for 21,000. That would be a good enough deal for me to take it! I'm no cash customer though.

The KBB on my ranger is around 3200 private party / 2500 trade-in. It's loaded but it has a couple of places where the clearcoat is peeling off and it has 203k. Been a really good truck.

What do you folks think?

Thanks for reading!

 

I bought my truck for dealer invoice less rebates (total of $5,000 on the regular cab) and my price was very near what you best price was ($31,000+ list, paid around $22,500). You're better off with the rebates and then changing financing in 3 months or financing most of it through another institution. I had to finance $7,000 for 3 months to get the final $1,000 rebate from Ford Credit and the interest charge was a little over $100. I sold my old truck myself.

 

$21,000 is something the dealer can do, but they have to be interested. Don't let the month pass by without making that offer to them. There is extra money for the dealer from Ford on an 04 this time of year, so the dealer can go below invoice and still make money. I'm sure the invoice price was close enough for your use, within a buck or two.

 

What is the best way to check NADA and what sort of money does the dealer get back for 04s?

The lady emailed me this morning and told me that she sold the truck I had looked at and test drove Wednesday. I emailed the VIN back to her so that she can confirm that she sold the one I looked at.

Yesterday I went out to the other dealer in town and spoke with one of their salesmen....they have very little instock inventory but he found one somewhere else that is very similar to the one I drove. In fact the only difference I can find is that this one does not have reverse sensing system.

He wouldn't talk rates to me until I did some of the paperwork, that wasn't something I was willing to do on a chance last night so I left with the VIN. I wonder if I can find it myself? He said he'd sell it to me for 22000 after my 4500 in rebates. After tax tag tile and doc fees it would be like 23400.


David

 

Are you looking at a supercab or supercrew? I paid 22k for my supercrew and feel like I got a good deal. I say if it's a supercrew at 22k with no higher than 7% interest, go for it.


Edit: Sounds like a good deal for the true blue 5.4 supercab.

 

The salesperson at the first dealer actually emailed me back and told me that they sold a different truck and actually still had the one I test drove.

I'm going out there to talk to hear in an hour....I'm gonna stick to invoice and hope it works out.


David

 

"You're better off with the rebates and then changing financing in 3 months or financing most of it through another institution."Originally posted by osbornk

There is nothing that says you have to wait to refinance after 90 days!! my dealer told me the same thing and after i found that he lied to keep my tow and go rebate i checked of the FMC rebate and was told there was you penalty for refinanceing early!

But the dealer gets charged the 1000 dollars if you do.

 

No deal.

I went back this afternoon (to the 1st dealership) to talk money; the invoice price they showed me (this time with an actual copy of the invoice) was over $1000 more than the price the salesperson gave me yesterday. One of the sales managers came in and threw down the price and wasn't budging no matter what I said; I really had a nasty feeling about the place and the deal. So I left. No sense wasting our time.

I told the salesperson a few days ago on my initial visit that I had X-plan, but I expected to do better without it, so I didn't bother checking the X price until after I was shocked by this invoice price today.

The X-plan price was a bit more palatable, but still brought the truck's bottom line to $23.6k including tax and rebates. They said I wouldn't have to pay doc fees w/ X plan....still. The dealer I went to yesterday showed me a comparable truck (didn't have reverse sensing, captains chairs, but it had limited slip) and said I could have it for 23.1k after tax and rebates, and that's without me mentioning the Tow & Go discount. He may have factored that in, but he didn't say anything about it.

I suppose that it just wasn't meant to be. I'm a very picky and analytical customer; salespeople must hate my guts. Oh well.