I purchased a new truck a few weeks back. I got an additional $750 rebate that the dealer kept, that they said was a "dealer coupon" they use to minimize their losses on ad trucks... are they blowing smoke or is this a legit thing?

 

Every time I hear ads with rebates they always say rebates assigned to dealers, and you are supposed to negotiate that rebate in your deal. So I would have told them knock that off the cost or no deal. I have never had a dealer keep a rebate and not give me that much off the price. Where was the rebate coming from? Ford?

 

there is a dealer holdback rebate that the dealer receives when they sell cars. some are hundreds of dollars and some are thousands. the dealer rebate they get is supposed to help with building maintenance and what not. its very rare but some dealers will give up their holdback to help you get into a vehicle but you may not realize whether or not they do it for you.

 

I've also heard of a national advertising add on. A dealer retaining a rebate means they take the amount off the price and get reimbursed from Ford. If they don't then Ford sends the rebate to the buyer via check.

 

What he is referring to is likely dealer money. It is similar to a rebate, but it is not advertised. The dealer gets the money on the sale, regardless if they pass it on to the customer. Right now there is at least $1000 in dealer money on F-150s. This is why some people are getting prices below invoice minus holdback (at or below X and A plan).

 

I bought an ad truck, so the final price after rebates and dealer discounts was already determined. The ad read the truck would be $30k - up to $4.5k in rebates. When the papers came through, it read $30,750 - $5,250 in rebates.

 

If you go to fordvehicles.com and request a brochure by mail you might get a $750 rebate coupon in the brochure. I did. I talked to a few dealers and they all knew about the program. I just mentioned I had a brochure coupon and they said no problem and took another $750 off the price I had already negotiated. One dealer said it was a repeat customer rebate (but I don't think so) and mentioned that other dealers would claim the rebate on your behalf and not tell you.

 

That's what I was wondering, I got one of these in the mail a few days after my deal! Is there a way to find out from Ford if this was the case?

 

I can think of two ways to check this out:

1) When I bought my truck, one of the papers I signed was a sheet assigning the rebates to the dealer. It listed the three I knew about and got ($2500 Ford, $1000 Ford Credit, and $750 Ford brochure). However I did not get a copy of this piece of paper, maybe you did.

2) One dealer said he didn't actually need the brochure, all he needed was my last name and zip code and he could look up the code (called a VINCENT code). You could probably take the brochure to another dealer and let them look up your customer code (on the brochure coupon) and VINCENT code to see if it has been redeemed.

 

Ok I lied - I did get a copy of the piece of paper, just found it. It shows the Ford vehicle rebate (Program # 11766), the Ford Credit Rebate (Program # 11768), and the brochure coupon (Program # 33142) which is the same # listed on the coupon that came in the brochure. So look at the coupon that came in the mail. In the customer name block, the first line has the Program # (33142 in my case), and the second line is your customer number (mine is 11 digits). The code is also in the fine print at the bottom of the coupon and is referred to as a VINCENT code.

If the program number in your brochure matches your incentive assignment sheet, then that's what they did !! Let me know what you find...

 

I never got a breakdown of the rebates, and Ford Credit only has the papers I have. I was able to contact Ford by using their number from the website, and they confirmed the coupon had been used.

I contacted the dealer yesterday, and while they disagree that they misled me, the manager said he is willing to offer me up to $750 in aftermarket upgrades. I will repost when it is all finalized.

 

FINAL UPDATE:

The dealer did right by me, they followed through with their offer of add-ons. They added the Factory Security and System as well as the Stowable Bed Extender.

Thanks for all the input!

 

tslagle,

Let me know how you pulled that off. I'm working on that right now because I also had a coupon that was overlooked in my deal.