Ok so me and the wife have decided to get a new 2017 f-150 because our current truck 2006 is getting up there in miles 160k and with our business we need to to get something new even though at first we were thinking of trading our 2014 fusion in to get the new truck but have now decided to keep it, sell the 2006 and apply that $$$ to pay off most of what's left on the fusion loan.

So we started last week going to a local dealer we go to for reg maintenance on the fusion. They seemed very pushy about the "deal" they are running on the xl sport... Now our current truck is an XLT fx4 flairside with leather which we like but for some stupid reason for has decided that no one wants leather in an XLT so it's not an option.

So we test drive this xl sport while they look our trade over. It's an ok truck... Not exactly what I was leaning towards but it might work ok. While we our on the drive he says this truck leases for low $300's per month no $$$ down for 36 months. Doesn't seem too bad but when we get back to the dealership he runs off to find out how much our trade is worth and comes back with $8k and it needs 2 new tires! Ummm why, the tires are relatively new as in last September new! But regardless at this point we are several thousand upside-down on the trade and more then we wish to be.

So then I start looking online... Come across some 2016 still instock and a hefty discount so I start to Inquire about one that is discounted about $11k. He takes basic info and says let me get some pricing together (only a loan since it's a 2016) and he will email me shortly.

About an hour later I get an email "we are working a deal and I will let you know if it falls through". Then 20 min later I get "sorry it sold"... That's it nothing more just it's sold! This is coming from a so called mgr too! Now over my years which I am just under 40 my family has bought it's share of vehicles and even my father in law use to sell cars so I know how it work but I was very surprised that this guy didn't include other vehicles available or even ask if there was anything else I was interested in. So I sent a response and asked what else he had in red or white which is what we liked. To this day right now I have yet to receive a response from him!

Another dealer... Has a truck that I inquire about to find out it is a demo. They ask if I would be ok with that and I say sure for the right price.

This is another 2016 so loan only... But the pricing ends up coming in at over $2k more then I can buy a comparable 2017 for that has no miles! I tell her this in an email today and we have sent a few emails back and forth regarding a couple of 2017's. XLT leasing out at $450 a month which is ok.

So I went to the first dealer once again to give them a chance on a XLT they have... It is almost a perfect fit for us but it doesn't have a couple options that I wished it had but can live without as well.

So I ask for the sales guy we had worked with the first time and he comes out saying he is busy now but he can help you... Turns out I know him from the service department but he is now in sales. So I tell him I want to get a lease price on this truck, no money down, 36 months and 10.5k a year. He pulls it up, runs off to the mgr to get the price for me. Comes back with a $530 payment... I'm puzzled because I know what they show the price on there site for this truck and I adjusted the rebate amount and figured it as about $450 all in. So I look at him and say I also want to know the cap cost and residual/buyout at the end. He goes and gets it and it turns out the price is $4000 more then what they have the truck on there site. I don't say anything but then also ask for a price on a lariat. He gets that for me and I leave.

While I think this through I decided to call one more dealer... They have a lariat at about $10k off MSRP. So I talk to a sales guy tell him what I am wanting more information about. He says let me make sure it is here and I'll call you back in a few. He does and it's there so I'm straight to the point. 36 month 10.5k miles 0 down lease payment on this truck. Here is my email address that you can sent the info over to. He says give me a little while and I'll get it over.

Little while later I get an email from the mgr to the sales guy with what I requested but the price is a few thousand more then what's online. I respond quickly with a screen shot of the price and ask why is it different? He responds and apologized that it was wrong and this is the updated pricing. And what was amazing is it was actually about $700 less then what was shown online!

At this point I verify that the prices are including all fees which they do... He has it broken down with $0 down $500 down and $1000 down

I hadn't responded right away and about an hour after the corrected prices he sends a follow-up email making sure I got it. Now this guy actually knows how to be a sales guy!

So we talked it over and we are ok with putting $1k down but really would like to get the payment a little lower. So I call him up this evening thanking him for the information and that everything looks good. But we are looking to be at about $525 a month and will put the $1k down as well... That being said they have to figure out how to reduce the price by about $1000 as well and it will equal the payment we would like. I also haven't mentioned to him that we are xplan so technically should only charge us $100 doc fee. I feel pretty confident that it can be done one way or another since there are places to make up the $1000 on there end.

So while this all took place during the day I text messaged​ the dealer I visited earlier today asking why the price was $4k more then what they show online. His response was lease prices are different then a purchase price! Also lease rebates are different too. I ignored the price difference because that's a bunch of BS but the rebate is only $250 less on a lease which I told him. He said if we made it back in tonight he could print it all out for us... I told him ok but we were unable to make it back in anyways.

I just wish this was as easy as our fusion purchase was... We just walked in... Looked at 2 cars drove 1 of them. A total of 4 hours in and out driving home with our new car!

 

When you have a justification for a price you should always provide it. I know I know, if you keep quite you might be able to use it later! It really just slows down the process. Many (most) dealers will start at full sticker, or close to it, if you don't give a reason upfront for them not too, such as "you're showing it online for X". Also, why didn't you just tell them you were X plan upfront? It seems to me you're holding back alot of information, that if you used correctly, would help you skip several steps.

If you're using X plan, you don't get to go around and negotiate, other than for your trade value. It's just math. If you're looking for a better deal, then you're not buying under the X plan program, so the protection goes out the window. At this point in the process you're likely beating X plan pricing, so just make sure the price with added higher doc fee is still better than X plan.

Fusions don't have near the markup as the trucks do so X plan on them is closer to the finial figure anyway.

If you're X plan, don't hide that. There is nothing wrong with then saying "I've seen it on TrueCar/your website/dealer down the street for less than this". They might explain the doc fees or something, but yes, you can do a little better than X plan regardless of all the other junk. If you don't know what you want, that's step one. Drive a few and don't even bother getting pricing. Try to work up a relationship with a single sales person you like to work with. Let them know that you will be their customer. IMO I'd go so far as to tell them you aren't going to shop against them. Become their darn friend. It's really not hard to like a sales person, we're nice folks. Okay, so now you know what you want. Research phase. For me that would be a 3 minute search on TrueCar, other folks like to hunt the end of the earth and confuse themselves. Whatever. 3 min later you know what a good local price is. It will be near or under X plan in most cases. Trade... KBB Fair is a good starting point for a real value of your truck "But mine is so nice", chances are it's not... KBB Fair.. I'm not saying you have to take KBB fair, but that's probably a realistic number. If you have major deductions then you'd have to account for them too. I would try to sweeten it from there, either a little off the truck, or a little on the trade. Okay, so now you're going in knowing what the truck should cost, and what your truck is worth. You'll have to fidget with the numbers a little to account for leasing rebates being different often than purchase rebates, the offset from invoice should be the same. Now you've literally shown up at the dealer you like with the friendly salesguy you like, and all you have to do is a little bit of math. MATH. Nothing more. Use the internet to set your expectations, not to hold as secret info. It's too easy to get a great deal in minimal time without all the emails and phone calls all over. The only reason I would ever visit a second dealer if I were shopping for a car is if they genuinely pissed me off. The less info you give them, the more of the process you get to go through. Sharing info doesn't put you at a disadvantage, it means you can get to the point much quicker, show yourself to be an educated consumer, and likely squeeze for a slightly better deal because they know you're actually going to buy from them and have reasonable expectations.

 

We were between a XLT and if it's the right color and or options... I mean we weren't interested in a black at all so that removes alot of options.

The dealer I stepped foot into advertises there trucks at deep discount but didn't use that price and jacked it up $4k for the lease cap cost! Other then rebates there is no difference if I pay cash, finance it or lease it. Of course they can play the the finance rate on the back end for either one. When we first went to this same dealer last week it was just to take a look... Not on a serious level but just to get some prices... It went a bit further then that but still we wanted to do our research before making a decision.

As for the fusion, it was a year old factory vehicle and trading out 2009 chevy Malibu. Regardless it was a painless process and the easiest vehicle purchase I had ever made out of 15 I have made over the years. Well maybe the Malibu was up there as well but that was because I did it with a buddy of mine and he is the GM at that dealer so I didn't have to negotiate as the price was better then I could find anywhere.

I am in negotiations on 2 trucks at 2 different dealer's. One is at the same dealer we got the fusion from. Straight leases no trade. That dealer has one that has a few more options that would be nice like sync connect but we are talking about $2700 more on the truck then the other one. Can that $2700 be made up somehow I don't know but I'm going to try to get it down some more. Lol

 

The $2700 is more than the margin at X plan for most trucks, certainly those in the XL and XLT range, so no, it can't be made up there. You could stretch the term to 39 months. Last year I bought a new bike, one with pedals. I found one I liked, it was of good quality and simple. I'm not an avid biker by any means, I just wanted cheap in town commuting between farms and such. Anyway. I liked the bike and mentioned it to a friend who knows bikes. Well of course he has a guy. They offered me a really great deal on a leftover. It came to the same price as the one I wanted, but was clearly a nicer bike. I didn't really want a nicer bike though, I went to the first local shop I had worked with and told em. I said, I want your bike, I know it's not a leftover, and I know there is less margin. What can you do for me? The took about $100 off and I found a way to fit it in my Fiesta and took it home. For you, it's the same thing in reverse. You like the nicer one. Don't be afraid to tell them. It's two different trucks, but if only they could find a way to make the payment for their nicer one closer to the payment on the cheaper one they'd have a deal with you. It won't be the full $2700 cheaper, but once they know you're not shopping, and that you're buying, they'll find a way to work out a deal with you.

So I mis understood I guess. I saw you're flipped on the old truck, are you just keeping that one and it's not part of the picture?

I'm not sure what all truck you have, but I did a KBB on a 2006 FX4 Crew with leather and trade in came around $5500... Private party is $8k Even taking it up to excellent is only $10k. I would do some research on this because unless I'm missing something, it's going to be very hard to get several thousand more out of it, and you might be better off trading for $8k. Honestly it's possible they even over allowed on purpose out of the new deal already, but chances are they'd stick to it. Selling private part for top dollar for a subpar truck isn't an easy thing to do.

 

Well part of the $2700 can be made up with us putting $1k down so now we are at $1700. I didn't mention that in the other post lol. So really we are talking $1700 and I might be able to negotiate the doc fee as well so that is a few hundred there as well. And no it might not be able to be made up but it never hurts to ask that's for sure lol. Sticker is about 60k and cap is about 55k. Other truck is about 58.5k and cap is about 49.5k.

As for our old truck... It is a 2006 fx4 extended flairside with 160k on it but when it is washed up it looks like it has 60 on it. Interior has no tips or tears, non smoker etc etc. Only bit of rust it has is on the bottom lip of the tailgate.

We have tossed around the idea of just trading it off so we don't have to worry about selling it but we would rather sell it and take the money to pay down the fusion and pay it off much sooner that way... Basically within about 10 months or so after we do that.

 

Are you leasing with the intent of owning longer? For about $1500 you can get leather added after market, and I've seen some look really nice. As much as I'm a utility guy, I do like leather seats, I just couldn't pay for the tech that comes with them, but $1500 is fair for the interior upgrade IMO.

If you're $1700 apart just see what they can do for you. They should be able to get close if you're at X plan for both. If you've already stretched below that then you're likely out of space. The sales guy in me says "$1700 is only about $50 a month to get the truck you want. That's not even two cases of good beer."

 

Your 2006 would sell here in South Texas for $10k in a day if it's that nice.

You can have leather installed in the XLT. Personally I wouldn't spend any money on accessories or modifications if I was leasing. If you want leather, have the dealer add it though a vendor and have the cost worked into your lease payment. The only bad thing there is that you have to pay the full amount for the leather, vs a lease payment in which you agree to pay a certain percentage of the new price, then turn it in after so much time.

 

Well it's official we will be picking it up later today. Got another 500 off plus the 1000 down so it isn't that bad. Looking forward to playing with all the new features!

 

Good to know lol. That would be great if we can get $10k out of it. Once it's detailed it will look really good! My detailer is amazing especially with red!

We ended up with a lariat so no worries about leather now lol

 

Congrats! I'm glad you got the one you really wanted!

 

Thanks!

Yes we did... Well at first the wife wanted to do an XL sport with the special lease they are offering... But she ended up loving this truck so lol

 

I feel very fortunate that my local dealer gave me $2k off msrp to order, and then kept their word when it came in.