So looking at our current situation with '05 build complete, current inventory, gas prices, '06 line starting etc. Based on past experience, where do you see these deals headed? Current 3k below invoice and 0%? What other incentives could be used in the coming month's? Stopped by a dealership near me today and saw 31 SD's on the lot. That's just the 250/350's. There were at least 20 450/550's.

Right now I feel the 3k below invoice is pretty fair. Any speculation on what we might see in the next few month's? I'm in the SE PA region.

Thanks for any opinions.

Bob

 

1) I speculate that the deals and rebates will never get better than they are right now, so buy a truck from me tomorrow. You do, and the rebates go to $5000 next week, so you're furious with me.

2) I speculate that rebates will go through the roof in July, so you wait to buy one then. Except the rebates go DOWN in June, and the truck you really wanted in May is now gone, and there are no more like it, so now you're furious with me.

Speculating is a "lose-lose" for me every time, which is why I don't do it. I really wish people would stop asking me to predict the future; if you can tell me right now what the price of Ford stock will be on August 8th, 2005 at 1:30 in the afternoon, then I'll give it my best shot on what rebates will be then, too.

 

Sorry Jeff. That really wasn't what I was asking for although I can see after rereading how you took it. I'd really like to know the terminology, if any, of what else could be offered. Dealer incentives etc. in general terms. What has been done in the past in general in a like situation. I fully understand your position. I was just trying to gain a little knowledge of the car sales business overall. Won't use "speculate" again.
Thanks

 

Ok, I'll throw my own .02, for whatever the heck anyone thinks it's worth. On another thread, I ran a locate for a shadow grey PSD Crew in the State of Tennessee, and found 2 in stock...in the whole friggin state! That's a popular color, and a popular model- to have 2 in the State tells a huge story, and it isn't "there's a gazillion on dealer's lots and they ain't moving."

On our own lot, in the Pacific Nwst Region, we've got 4 PSD Crews, and about as many SCabs, but you can see the horizon curve over the F150's. Throw in a few V10's, and you've got a total of about 20 SD's in stock. At the current rate of travel, we'll be completely out of them before the end of the month.

If we were a small dealership, it'd be one thing- but we're 4th, by volume, in the Northwest Region. Now lets look at GM, because that's, I think, the driving force. GM's been rebating the socks off of the Silverados, and it's working. If I held up a crystal ball, I'd say Ford's going to be forced to increase incentives on the F150, but I doubt SD's are going to get much better. That opinion, and about $3.00, will get you a latte at Starbucks.

 

FWIW, I've seen Ford offer higher rebates, dealer cash, X-Plan rebates, free options (no-charge automatic on Focus right now, for example), no-charge extended warranties, 0% financing, etc... Whether or not the market dictates using anything like that again- who knows. The American automotive sales market is just too volatile to try and predict where things are going to go. The more I learn about Ford Motor Co. and its corporate policies, the less I know...

 

Were the majority of them the V8 model or just base models? When I looked out of curiosity last week at my selling dealership there were a LOT less SDs than there were when I bought mine (late Feb) and the majority of them are V8s. Wow, I've never seen that many 450s/550s in one place!

 

Here's a link from Forddirect.com. If it doesn't work, use the zip 19382 and look at Fred Beans Ford.

http://www4.forddirect.fordvehicles....By=&statetoken=

 

I see that 24 out of 31 are 5.4s - not surprising and it's the same thing I see. I noticed there were no V10s, maybe they are more popular than the diesel in that area. I for one would never have bought my SD with the 5.4, I traded my F150 witht eh 5.4 because it just couldn't pull weight.

I searched my local dealership (Folsom Lake Ford 95630) and came up with 56 SDs, about 1/3 were 5.4s. They must have had all the diesels in a storage lot last time I visited. I narrowed it down to my specific F250 type and they had 5, none in the color I got.

 

I see that 24 out of 31 are 5.4s - not surprising and it's the same thing I see. I noticed there were no V10s, maybe they are more popular than the diesel in that area. I for one would never have bought my SD with the 5.4, I traded my F150 witht eh 5.4 because it just couldn't pull weight.
We took two extra 5.4's at allocation end just so we wouldn't lose the allocation- but Ford had extras at the end of the year. Since the engines were wrong, we made sure everything else was right (color, equipment, etc).

I searched my local dealership (Folsom Lake Ford 95630) and came up with 56 SDs, about 1/3 were 5.4s. They must have had all the diesels in a storage lot last time I visited. I narrowed it down to my specific F250 type and they had 5, none in the color I got.

That's a big inventory! But the Sacramento market is a lot bigger than many folks realize. I remember when US99 turned into a 2-lane highway just south of Sac, and stayed that way to the Oregon Border. Now Sac's quite a bit larger than Portland.

 

Folsom is about 12? miles outside of downtown Sac as the crow flies, maybe more. Funny thing is if you go up in a small plane and look down from 3000 or 4000 feet you realize that the area between West Sac and Folsom and everything in between now look like a single large city. There is no division between the suburbs here anymore. And Folsom is rapidly joining its next over town , El Dorado Hills. The empty space between them is now maybe 1/2 mile.

Sac and surrounding hasn't been a little cow town for quite some time now...
And BTW, Folsom Lake Ford is 1 of maybe 5 large volume Ford dealers in this area...

 

I guess it all depends on what your looking for. If your model/color and options are available in bulk throughout your area, then waiting wouldn't hurt. My PSD King Ranch Dark Copper Superduty 4x4 fully loaded was hardly available 1 month ago in my area/state. So I decided not to wait and bought then. I located my truck drove 90 miles and looked it over, the next day I drove up to purchase it. What I found was almost tearful. I got there and it was no longer in the same spot. My salesperson couldn't locate this truck even at their own dealership. After the General manager calling the sales manager at home, we found out that it was set-up for a dealer trade (4 mustang gt's for this one truck) on a stateline ford dealership 200 miles away (almost out of the state of Florida). It was still on the property and I quickly negotiated my price and drove it home. Close call. I am happy with my decision no matter if ford creates better rebates. Early bird catches the worm.... and I am a happy, happy bird....