Hey guys I have a few more questions. Firstly how many people here have ordered their trucks? What was your experiance? I'm having a hard time finding what I want, so I'm considering this option. Also, do the new trucks have ESC as an option? I asked the sales guy but he was clueless... Thanks again for the help this is an awsome site!

-Matt

 

I ordered my 2004 XLT Scab 3 days before they went on sale because dealers were only stocking the higher end FX4's and Lariats. If you can withstand the wait (mine was 6 weeks), then order it. The odometer had 10 miles when I drove it home. It was cool thinking this truck was built just for me. I had no problems ordering it and will order again if need be.

 

Mine was on the lot with everything I wanted/could afford at the time.. No ordering needed for me!

 

Go check out Ford's online build and price feature on fordvehicles.com you can see if you can get the features you want.

As for ordering, it's not really a big deal. Be sure to know what it's going to cost you if you opt out of the truck after it's ordered. Most dealers will refund the deposit on the vehicle if you've ordered something that they can easily sell if you don't buy it. One problem with ordering is you will get the at delivery time incentives, not what's advertised on the day of order. So you might get a better deal or not....

For my money, find a decent local dealer. Tell them what you must have on the truck and let them locate one for you. I've found that dealers that offer great deals on their inventory, wont offer you as good a deal on a swapped vehicle.

Hope some of this helps.

 

Thanks for the replies guys! I've used to search dealer inventory feature on Ford's website, but haven't found what I want. I've also visted like four dealers with no luck, so ordering seems to way to go. I assume though I won't get as good of a deal on an ordered truck vs. a truck on the dealer lot.

 

I have ordered all 3 of my F-150's (1997, 1998, 2004). The first two were flawless, the third had a little spot in the paint, and has developed rattles and an engine whine to drive someone insane, and now the heater fan or something in the heat/ac system is squeeking. So 2 perfect F-150's out of 3 isn't bad, and I plan on ordering the new model the very day they let me so I can get rid of this rattly '04 model. Good luck!

 

I settled for the 2004 s/crew xlt i own now-DON"T GET CLOTH! I wanted leather, but settled-regrets..regrets. As for the notion that you won't get the best deal on the ordered truck, you should actually get the best deal by ordering RE:the dealer is making instant money when your truck arrives and you sign/pay for it---the other way the truck may have been on his lot for an extended amount of time(90 days or more) and he has spent money on floorplanning(the intrest he pays on his dealership inventory loan) therfore it has already increased his lowest number/price in the lot model.

but above all---DON'T SETTLE!!!

 

It's funny you ask, because I've been waiting to order for over a year now. And I finally committed to a dealer and made my order yesterday. I've visited alot of dealers in the last year. I have learned alot taking my time and doing my research, and I think I've saved myself some brokers fee and 3-5K in cost between Dealer Invoice and MSRP. I'm glad I waited this long, and I made my order yesterday on an 07 FX4 with every option possible. Got a great deal, (before incentives, which I have to wait to see upon delivery), and at dealer invoice price. I contacted many dealers via email with my specific order list attached to the email, and even provided them the exact option codes for each stand or optional line item. The best dealers came back at exactly the same dealer invoice price. Other dealers gave me MSRP, or near MSRP pricing. So do your homework, find out dealer invoice pricing, and accept dealer invoice price. If you not dealing with a trade-in or credit problems, then go direct to the Fleet Manager. No haggling with him. Oh, and the good dealers told me that a deposit wasn't required, and I didn't even have to sign or commit for the order. If I didn't actually buy the truck upon delivery, they would just sell it on their lot. So no absolute committment was needed. Only one "not so good" dealer asked me for a deposit and my signature to order. I'm not signing/committing/paying anything sight unseen!!!!
Write back if you want to know more.
Woo Hoo! 2007 FX4 Black, 6.5' bed, SuperCrew, Black Leather, FX4 Luxury Package option, 20" Wheels/Tires, 5.4L Flexible Fuel, 3.73 LS. Probably be delivered in Jan-Feb after initiating order yesterday.

 

Oh yeah, and I waited for Job #2, so I can get FX4 Luxury Package and Power fold mirrors.

 

I ordered a 2007 Ranger in October, but had serious regrets because I have an '06 Ranger right now, so I am getting an F-150 instead. Dealer is cool, only took a $500 deposit on the CC and I signed nothing. He's helping me with the F-150 instead and is willing to apply the deposit to the new truck. Lead time quoted was 10-12 weeks (because of holidays).

I've spent numerous hours on the fordvehicles.com website, so let me give you some hints because I have browsed the invantory of every dealer in Califonia and Nevada.....probably in excess of 3 times each, and even more for certain dealers.

*Go to www.fordvehicles.com
*On the top of the screen mouse over (but do not click) on "dealerships".
*Drag down to "locate a dealer" and click. Or go here: http://www.fordvehicles.com/dealerships/locate/ )
*Enter your zip or city and California and click search.
*The website returns the 50 closest dealers to the zip/city you entered.
*Pick a dealer you like from the list. If you are running windows, right click on "Browse Invantory" next to each dealers name to "open in a new window" (if you dont open each dealer's invantory in a new window every time you go back to seach another dealer, you have to execute the searach again, so it's easier/faster to just close the window and open the next dealer in a new window.)
*Search for Year, Truck and F-150 (or whatever you are looking for).
*pick a truck you like, and click on the description.
+When the description opens up, click on the box that says "View window sticker", View the vehicle and/or print the sticker (I suggest you write down the dealer's name on the sticker when you print it. Sometimes the dealer name does not print in the header field...it takes hours to trace your steps back when you realize you cant remember who had the King Ranch with the pink vinyl interior window sticker you printed.
*move on to the next truck.
*Move on to the next dealer.
*Repeat for about 40 hours on end, like I did untill you get close to what you want.

Take the window sticker of your dream truck to your local dealer and have them get if for you via dealer trade. Or better yet.......go to www.carsdirect.com fill out the form on line and when the rep calls you tell him you already found the truck you just need him to get it for you and avoid the whole dealer hassle. You should check out the website regardless, because you should never pay more than what they quote (most dealers cant beat it). The price shown on the website is really what you pay w/ no B.S. Their prices are really good w/no hassles. If you cant find what you want, I highly reccomend you order from CarsDirect.com. We ordered my Wife's Mercedes thru them. The rep was able to find a white car that was scheduled for build, and replace it with our order (also white) and we had our car in 8 weeks.......shipped from Germany. I sold cars for a few years and could probably negotiate a better deal than anyone, and if I was going to order I'd use them.


More hints to help you save countless hours:
*I suggest you choose "all" for the year to search for, that way it will return 2006's and 2007's. There are still a boatload of 06's left and Screws have $5500 in rebates. You can't really search the '07's unless you specfry "all" in the year. (I think this is a ploy to unload the 06's)

Huge hint:
Go to Las Vegas, Nevada and search the dealers there. Three of the four delars in Vegas have OVER 600 f-150s EACH ..That's over 1800 trucks in one county.....and guess what...??? Every one I looked at had "California Emissions" on the window sticker, so it could be brought over here!

You want hard to find? I want a Green XLT regular cab with a V6 and auto and a tan premium interior......................I found 8 in Vegas !

Hope that helps. PM me if you have any questions.

 

Thanks for the great replies guys! I've searched the dealer inventories of almost every Ford dealer in the Bay Area (about 15) online and couldn't find what I want (Bright Red Screw w/ tan cloth cap chairs 5.5 ft bed) So I think I'll go with the ordering route, because I really don't want to drive all the way to Vegas to buy a truck...

 

beings you want the tan int with red it might be a little harder to find one on a lot. you would have no prob finding what you want with grey. I know I was picky with what I wanted and after going through the online inventory I found 4 dealers with red xlt's that had the 5.4 3.73ls option but only one was 2wd with the single pane back window which is what I wanted. red on tan is rare. and depending on what options you want might be impossible to find. at least if you order it you'll get what you want and none of what you dont

 

Dealer inventories are shown are only for the dealers that choose to participate and pay money to do so. My closest dealer chose not to participate and none of his inventory shows up on a search.

 

I ordered my FX4 and would do so again in a heartbeat. You get exacktly what you want and nothing else.

 

Dont drive to vegas! If you see somthing you like have your dealer trade for it, or go the Carsdirect route.

Edit: there are 4 of them at Ford Country in Vegas.