It is simply amazing how different some dealers "operate".

So all this week I sent out emails to the internet sales people of my local area Ford dealers with my exact specifications and the price I wanted to pay. For the record my exact specs are listed here https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...-disagree.html

I gave them the spec, the x-plan price I expected with discounts and awaited replies (BTW internet sales reps are generally faster, easier to work with and give best prices if you do not already know this).

So anyway I get first contact from "dealer 1" where they say that they have found my exact truck and to come in to talk about price. We get within literally $200 dollars of my price when I learn that they do not actually have the truck on the lot and they must trade for it from another local dealer. The want me to commit right there even without the truck, which I would not do. For the record, dealer 1 was easy to deal with and played no games, but not having the truck really hurt their position.

This obviously tells me that I can probably do even better with the local dealer who has the truck since that dealer would get the dealer hold, the only problem is I do not know which other dealer has it.

About 2 hours later as I prepare to literally drive the "lots" I find out who has the truck because the internet sales manager for "dealer 2" calls to tell me he has my truck on the lot (he emailed the sticker and it was the same VIN as dealer 1 sent me).

So I set an appointment to come in. Only when I arrive this morning they start ****ing me around for about an hour and treating me like I am a wide eyed 18 year old (I learned long ago do not negotiate anything you are not prepared to walk away from). Additionally they are well over $1,000 above the price I told them in advance that they needed to beat (and that dealer 1 already agreed to).

They informed me that they would not be able to go any lower and we parted ways. I got about 5 miles away when I got a call that they were within $500 of "dealer 1" and by the time I got home, had a second call stating we were $400 apart.

At this point, its principal for me, dealer 1 was straight forward and easy to work with, dealer 2 is playing all the old sales games that I have no tolerance for.

So to make a long story short, dealer 2 (who has the truck) will now not "dealer trade" the truck to dealer 1 (or any other dealer for that matter) so they are in effect holding it hostage, which is somewhat humorous as this may just force me to wait until 2010s come out, which I would probably be grateful for in the end.

Not really sure what I will do, I like the truck but the principal of the matter is that dealer 2 should by all accounts AT LEAST be able to match the dealer 1 number since they have the truck and will get the dealer hold money. I hate being screwed with and I know that I am, regardless of how good the price is (which is certainly not bad).

Guessing the next 72 hours will be fun

 

Tell them you will go at their $400 price (to dealer 1) as long as they Line-X the bed and throw in a few free oil changes. That's a fair deal.

 

No question, I am just have principal issues, they were so typical of everything bad you hear about dealers and sales people.

Actually for any Family Guy fans, the sales rep really reminded me of the sales guy that sells Peter Volcano insurance (among other things).

 

I don't know how they are dealing there, but you should be able to do better than X-Plan pricing. One good thing about X-Plan is they can't tack any extra fees. All they can do is a maximum of $75 doc fee.

But, you have to do what is best for you. Good luck.

 

Believe me, I know what you mean about how dealerships can really mess with you. I guess I'm lucky; I've bought my last 5 fords from the same dealership. the sales people change, but their honesty has always been great. I always shop around, but decide it's not worth saving a few hundred dollars to have to play head games with the other dealerships. My worst experience was a couple years ago when I was buying an Escape. I had found a different dealer that had exactly what I was looking for, but when negotiations began they insisted I buy it that day due to the incentives ending( which was a lie). When I refused they conviently misplaced my keys. You shoud have seen the look on the managers face when I walked out to my vehicle, pulled my spare set of keys from my pocket, and drove away. I then went to my honest dealer, explained the situation, and they went, picked up the Escape I was interested in, got my keys and told me that If I wanted to deal I could, or that I could walk away. Needless to say I bought from them.

 

Are you a costco member? If so, make it easy on yourself: go to their website and enter the truck you want. In 24 hours, you'll have invoice pricing from 3-4 local dealers without hassle. It works, believe me..thats where i started. Cuts through all the bs. Only highest rated dealers can participate. If not, go to the Ford website, build your truck and locate it. Then go to dealer #1 and tell him this info so he can trade for it. If dealer 1 is willing to trade, there MUST be some profit in it for them, so it may even be better for you to go direct to one of the located dealerships, even if they are 200 miles away. Because of the limited number of builds, the exact truck you want can likely be found at multiple dealerships.

 

"You've just wrote volcano insurance everywhere and down on the bottom you wrote, he's signing it, I can't believe he's signing it". LOL!

You figure with all the hurt being put on the various different companies they would be rolling out the red carpet for anyone wanting to deal. I personally am skipping over an 09's and hopefully the 10's are better looking but you could proably find some killer deals on 08's and below. I'm not too good for a used truck with low miles.

 

[QUOTE=MDK;3635994I personally am skipping over an 09's and hopefully the 10's are better looking [/QUOTE]

I can guarantee you they won't be remodeling the F-150 again for 2010. Perhaps for 2012 or 2014. Not that long of a wait if you think about it, the years sure do go by fast.

 

Chargerrich

If you are X-plan then the price is the same. As long as it is the same truck at dealership 1 and 2 the X-plan will be the same no matter what. Dealer 2 CAN NOT charge you more for the truck than X-plan price listed on the invoice. Now if there is a bedliner added or tint they will charge you for that and the Doc Fee for X-plan is $75.

 

so your holding out on the truck you want over $400 thats like less then 1% of the total cost.. personaly I;d buy tbhe truck I wanted and use the other dealer for service. Principple aside you go after what you what and 400 on a $40000+ truck is peanuts

 

Don't forget about using www.FordDirect.com to search inventory. It's usually accurate within a few days of actual inventory.

 

While I completely agree with your logic, keep in mind that the $400 difference came after 2 hours of them telling me that they offered me the best price possible, let me leave, called me once on the way home with a $500 discount (which means their "we cant go any lower" statement was a lie) and then waited another hour to offer me yet another price to get me to $400.

By this time, I was already home and more than a little aggrovated.

 

CR - unfortunately, by going to the 2nd dealer, you have them thinking there is customer interest in that particular vehicle and they are unlikely to dealer trade it as they think they can sell it. And, they also know that you are working with the 2nd dealer as well. In the past, I've purchased several vehicles through dealer trades and the one thing the dealer acquiring the vehicle for you always needs is for the customer not too tip off the dealer they are planning on getting you vehicle from. You may have to find another truck to your specs. as it's doubtful dealer #2 is going to help dealer #1 sell a truck. That is exactly the reason dealer #1 would not give you the VIN or location of the truck fearing you would just go there directly. Good luck and keep us informed!!