I ordered a 99' 250Ld and a 2002 Taurus Wagon, both on the X plan. If I pay that kind of money I get what I want. Downside would be if it came with bad paint etc. Both where perfect.

 

I've ordered my STX right from the factory as well. For what I wanted, no dealer in the area had any '07's at that time, so it was a perfect moment to order exactly what I want, rather than just settling for whatever was immediate.

 

...i originally wanted to get a 2006 this fall but getting everything i wanted turned out to be difficult.
I wanted this combo.....

FX4 Scab w/ 6.5' box
Black & Black
Black Leather interior w/ 40/20/40 leather & no center console
Solid rear window
FX4 Plus
3.73 LS w/ 20" alloys

...couldn't do 'er in an 06 so ordered an 07. I ended up making a couple changes 'on the fly' aftyer it was ordered. The rear defroster wasn't available on the FX4, the power fold mirrors are early 2007 availability on FX4 so i had to scratch them & i dropped the Sat-Nav package because of it's lack of integrated Sirius. These things only apply to Canadian F-150 FX4's.....the US options i think have all this stuff available. Got pretty much most of what i wanted though.

:santa:

 

I have two Ford dealers close to home. Both are "small town dealers" that have ten to twelve new F-150's on the lot at any one time. For me, one of these dealers had fallen into disfavor for two good reasons...

1. service problems on my 99 Ranger; could not & after several tries, would not fix belt noise
2. not willing to deal on new F-150 even during an advertised "$300 over invoice" sale.

Screw 'em.

Went to the other dealer and started driving different F-150's until I decided what I wanted. This took maybe 2 months to do. Got an occassional call from the original salesman we met but no big pressure routine.

Went in one day and talked to the service manager.... both about his shop and about the other dealer's shop. Now these outfits are in extreme competition with one another and you expect them to talk smack but I found out what each shop was known for and how they treated their customers. I also have the personal experiences of several friends and co-workers to reference.

When I made the decision to buy the salesman worked to find what I wanted but kept trying to sell me something on the lot. Told him twice I did not appreciate it before it finally sank in for him. This was the low point of the entire experience and it wasn't that bad, he was just doing his job.

Then, he surprised me... he made a command decision to simply bring out the Manager right then and there (no going back and forth) and we all sat down and walked through the deal. I defined the EXACT truck that I wanted with all the specific details. The Manager printed off the order form. As we went down the hard copy I kept circling the dealer's cost figures knowing they were getting the kick back. I did not even offer $100 or $300 over invoice. They did not even flinch. We settled on the dealer cost, I wrote a check for $500 deposit, told them what I needed for trade in on the Ranger (I had researched what KBB would tell them) and they ordered my truck.

The only risky part of the whole deal was the application of the rebates in place at the time or order. They were a sweet package and I wanted the deal to depend on the rebates but they said there was an outside chance the rig would not arrive in time to qualify for the rebates in place at signing. Rebates were good for 6 weeks. I took a chance, the truck arrived a few days afetr the rebates expired but they never said anything and wrote it up as if everything was valid.

Happy camper here. I would recommend the order route if you can wait 6 to 8 weeks.