Got to thinking, and need to ask an HONEST dealer.
Do you know of one out there?
When you (as a dealership) get a truck in from the Factory, it doesn't have a full tank of gas, does it?
I was just thinking about my 2 test drives at a local dealer (get THIS!) BOTH trucks were on Empty, but they only had 18 and 13 miles on them, respectively.

So WHY is the Fuel charge on "invoices" (not the REAL ones found on kbb, edmunds, etc) from the factory? IMHO (and limited understanding), there is false advertisement, atleast locally of this fuel being charged on the invoice, but the dealerships *advertise* that they include a FREE tank of fuel with purchase. Funny how the fuel fee on that aforementioned invoice is higher than what it'd cost me to go fill up the EMPTY tank.

I STILL can't believe I have been asked TWICE to put fuel in a truck I wanted to test drive and bring the receipt in for re-imbursement!

If you don't lose skin, life, or business-sense from it, please let me know. Because either the trucks do come EMPTY from the factory, or someone is siphoning LOTS of free fuel off these local lots at night, and I'll be sure to invest in a locking gas cap after I get mine!

So: Do they?

 

It's weird- sometimes they have gas in them, but most of the time there's just a few gallons. The charge you see on the invoice is for the amount of gas Ford pays for; they re-imburse the dealer for that many gallons, so it's a wash. If any dealer tells you that THEY pay for the entire tank of gas, guess again. Hell, I remember when Ford tried to charge the dealers to put ANTI-FREEZE in the radiators! That lasted a couple months, and Ford backed down after we all screamed.

 

what's Anti-Freeze?

 

ha ha.......GOT YOU, didn't I?
You have GOT to be kidding me! How long ago was that? Either of these fees are ludicrous to me. But that's just ME. I appreciate the info Jeff; thanx for giving the insight.

WHY even have it separate? But then again, WHY increase the price of a vehicle just so you can provide "incentives", eh?

Shoot, they may as well have "assembly fees", "lunch-provisionary fees", "cigarette fees-for-the-salespeople-who-can't-seem-to-comprehend-that-it's-idiocy-to-stand-outside-the-front-door-smoking-while-greeting-potential-customers", "leering fees", "proper air-pressure fees", "proper paint-drying-time fees".

Okay, I'll stop! But #%$#, WHY?!

Oh, THAT invoice? Well you see sir, it's not really the REAL invoice, because we have to charge you for that FREE tank of fuel we're giving you, and oh, by the way.......you know that commercial you saw during the football game? Yeah, you need to help pay for that too.

C U S S W O R D S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





and a WHOLE heck of a lot of 'em!


oh, and I'm sorry and SURELY mean no disrespect to anyone who accurately portrays such a reality.....but when it's advertised as a complimentary tank of fuel, it MAY be a wash for the manufacturer and dealership, but I don't feel so clean being forced to eat that brown stuff as a result of the misrepresentation by the salespeople I'M so fortunate to deal with for my purchase.

 

We often ask that same question at our Corvair club meetings......

Yes, this Ford salesperson does indeed own a Corvair. 1965 Monza convertible- may I brag a little bit? Scored 94 points in the last Concours event it was judged in, took first place in its class at the national Corvair meet last year in Carlisle. Won "best convertible" at a car show in Buffalo this past summer. Okay, enough bragging. If someone can explain IN PLAIN ENGLISH how to do it, I've got some JPEGs I'll post. Assuming, of course, anyone on a FORD TRUCK website is interested in looking at a Corvair, for crying out loud.........

 

Hey 1956MarkII- Yup, I'd like to see your 'Vair. The '65's were great looking cars, I really like them too! Just because it's a Ford site doesn't mean we can't appreciate cars or trucks from other manufacturers, right? I have a 2003 F150 King Ranch, plus a 1970 Dodge Coronet R/T and a 2001 Camaro SS. And, I really want a new (2005 or 2006) Mustang. What a hot looking machine, make mine a GT convertible! Do you have a '56 Mark II- one of the best looking cars of the 1950's?!. One other question, my King Ranch is a Super Cab, not a Super Crew, and it's the only one I've seen. Did Ford make very many of them as Super Cabs?

 

I don't have acces to production numbers, but I've NEVER seen a King Ranch SuperCab- they have to be quite rare. '70 Coronet R/T, eh? SWEET!! I love Mopars from those years; I've owned several of them. Gotta love the sound of that starter, too- like nothing else on the road! When a Mopar starts up from that era, you immediately know what it is!

As for the Mark II, no, I'm afraid I don't own one. Just a dream car, and you're my new best friend for seeing what I do: truly one of the most elegant, attractive and noteworthy cars of the 50's. You could STEAL them up to a few years ago- when Elvis' white '56 went up on the auction block, that all ended. When you look at a '56 Caddy/ Imperial/ Packard, and a '56 Mark II, it's hard to believe they were all made in the same DECADE, let alone the same year. And the man in charge of bringing the Mark II to market? William Clay Ford, Sr., the current Ford CEO's father.

 

I knew that William Clay Ford, Sr. was involved in the Mark II styling (seems like he picked up on Edsel's talents), and I'll bet Bill Jr. was involved in the 2005 Mustang. I think it's the best looking Mustang since the 1970 Mach 1, which I like better than the '69 because they cleaned up the grille by removing the two outer headlights. I agree with your comment on the '56 styling, although I really liked the '56 Packard Carribean. 1956 was the last year of the "real" Packards, '57 and '58 were Packard-bakers, and ugly. The Caddy Eldorado looked too bulky, but the Imperial did have the hot 354 Hemi in '56. I heard that Ford even ran in the 368 V-8 on test stands, and checked for leaks, etc, before installing the motor in the car. It's amazing how long it took for the collector car market to realize how special the Mark II's were, they we almost hand built customs. On your 'Vair, do you have the 140 HP, 4 carb engine? I had a friend years ago that had a '67 with that engine, it ran very well, and got very good mileage. I thought that Chevy killed that car about 5 years too early, by 1973-74 it would have been just the ticket, you remember the first gas crisis. The Corvair was a much better car than the Vega! Because you get all the dope from Ford, have they announced availability of the '05 GT convertible? Are they planning any special (ala Mach 1) editions for 2006? And, let's see that Monza. Thanks, Glenn