Factory ordering truck?

Fordlover wrote:
If you have been able to beat the X-plan price without falling into the trap of fees/surcharges game, then congratulations, you're a 1%er.

That I am :)

Steve76eb wrote:

Fordlover wrote:


Can't speak for the other discount programs, but at least with x-plan it is almost always the best deal. Dealer profits on X-plan sales are razor thin,

If you know how to negotiate and have the time you can get a better deal. You do know that dealers get paid, typically about 2% to participate in these X-plan type programs. The price next to the X-plan price is the employee price. It is usually $1500-1700 cheaper and they are not such good guys they are selling the vehicle to the employee cheaper than they purchased it for. You do also understand the "invoice" price they are showing you is truly not the invoice price they paid for that vehicle. "Invoice pricing" is the best car buying scam since the internet came along.

The X-plan price is a nice price, but not the best price the dealer can do. Don't believe them when they tell you that you are stealing this vehicle from them. They are still laughing all the way to the bank.

Yes, I'm fully aware of holdback and how it works. I worked at a new car dealer and learned quickly enough to know that I didn't want to make a career out of it.

Ford doesn't pay dealers to participate in X-plan, you are thinking of the A-Z plan. That's the only time Ford sends the dealer a check, because the A-Z plan price is lower than what the dealer pays for the vehicle.

Dealers will quickly lose interest in a 'buyer' who is bound and determined to get their purchase price down to 200 above the dealers cost. The amount of time (which equals money) this requires in negotiation plus real costs to the dealer like prepping the vehicle, inspecting, detailing, filling the tank, and they are typically happy to walk away from the negotiation table. The typical exception to this rule is if they really want to get rid of a vehicle. Examples are the SVT contours, Pontiac Aztek, 2013 models still on the lot in 2015.
If a dealer sold every vehicle at a 200 dollar profit they'd go out of business. If you have been able to beat the X-plan price without falling into the trap of fees/surcharges game, then congratulations, you're a 1%er.

smkettner wrote:
Tell the dealer you want the same discount on the truck you want.
Show your build sheet and let him find it or place an order.

Best advice yet... It's what I did.. I got a 2500 Ram bighorn screw sb cummins with the luxury package, chrome, a few extras for 41... Sticker was 52

I have not purchased through the Costco auto program, but have done research there and used that pricing as the most I would pay anywhere. We ended up ordering our truck and Dave Smith in Kellogg Idaho beat others pricing. We traded in our previous rig (not the best trade in price, but since we only pay sales tax on difference when trading, selling it private would have had to make up difference in tax). Costco pricing beat GM supplier pricing at that time (Dec 2010).

I ordered my new Transit T250 van and got it in about 11 weeks. Paid invoice less rebates and incentives. Sure I probably could have got a little more off it but he ordered it without a down payment exactly like I wanted it. Saying if I did not like it I did not have to take it. Of course I loved it.

Fordlover wrote:


Can't speak for the other discount programs, but at least with x-plan it is almost always the best deal. Dealer profits on X-plan sales are razor thin,

If you know how to negotiate and have the time you can get a better deal. You do know that dealers get paid, typically about 2% to participate in these X-plan type programs. The price next to the X-plan price is the employee price. It is usually $1500-1700 cheaper and they are not such good guys they are selling the vehicle to the employee cheaper than they purchased it for. You do also understand the "invoice" price they are showing you is truly not the invoice price they paid for that vehicle. "Invoice pricing" is the best car buying scam since the internet came along.

The X-plan price is a nice price, but not the best price the dealer can do. Don't believe them when they tell you that you are stealing this vehicle from them. They are still laughing all the way to the bank.

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
Yep and the only reason a dealer sells a truck at $13,000 off sticker is because no one is buying it. As in the clown that orders them does not know how to equip a truck and it now is costing him lots of money sitting there.

Truck was a Platinum level FX4. They come with about everything one would want except the high price of $71k

Look at Dodge/Ram. Up until the last year or 2 they routinely had sales with many trucks being $12-14k off. Thats how they sold those. No one was going in an buying them at MSRP or a couple grand less. The always waited for the big sale Dodge had every 6 weeks and then went down an bought.

Steve76eb wrote:
One thing to keep in mind is that X plan, Supplier(GM), Affiliate Rewards(Dodge), are not always the cheapest, especially if they are having a sale. Those plans only work with factory rebates and not dealer rebates/discounts. If there are no sales going on they can be a nice price.

For example, this weekend the local Ford dealer had a F350 4x4 Platinum for $13k off. It would actually be more expensive by about $3k to purchase by X plan because you would be losing out on the dealer discount. It pays to shop and know how these plans work because they are not always going to be in your favor.

When Ram has their $12-14k off sales it is always going to be cheaper than using the AFF price.

Can't speak for the other discount programs, but at least with x-plan it is almost always the best deal. Only exceptions are things like left over last years models that the dealer has been unable to sell, so the dealer has to take a loss. Or a single 'loss leader' that the dealer advertises to get people in the dealership, but only one lucky person is actually able to buy, if they are lucky. Dealer profits on X-plan sales are razor thin, and typically only fleet guys are happy to do them. Most general sales guys will try to talk you out of an X-plan purchase, with promises of a 'better deal', I don't know about you, but I completely believe everything a salesman says 100% right?

For instance, my Explorer was two years old when I bought it, but it was brand new as a demo (no demand for 4x4 explorer in Houston). Sticker was 32,000. X-plan would have been about 28K and I paid 17K with a full factory warranty. This beat the heck out of the X-plan pricing, but was a very unique vehicle buying opportunity. And the dealer took a huge loss on the truck.

Yep and the only reason a dealer sells a truck at $13,000 off sticker is because no one is buying it. As in the clown that orders them does not know how to equip a truck and it now is costing him lots of money sitting there.

3oaks wrote:

While that may be true, I never found a new vehicle on a dealer's lot equipped exactly as I wanted it or the color I wanted. When purchasing a new vehicle I want it the way I want it, not the way the dealers had previously ordered them. I don't trade that often, so if it sometimes means spending a little more to get a vehicle equipped exactly the way I want it, so be it.

Good for you