is 6 months a long time for a used 2003 F150 to still be on the same dealer lot? truck is in great shape also.

 

Reasons for a vehicle to become a lot ornament: ( In my opinion that would be any vehicle that is for sale for over two months on a lot )

1. overpriced
2. overpriced for the location in its part of town
3. has "issues" such as bad paint, leaky fluids, signs of maintenance neglect or is "needy" such as tires, glass replaced, interior work needed.
4. not really a popular vintage ( two seater only, low cargo space etc, gas hog )
5. too high of mileage
6. has "exotic" paint job that is not liked by all people, just a few

To name just a few. all jmo

 

Most dealers have a 90-day turn policy on used. There's a simple reason for that- Kelly's updated quarterly, so after six months you're sitting on two book changes and probably $3-4000. That's ugly.

 

We have a dealer that is sitting on a 2004 F250 XLT CC 4x4 PSD that is still brand spankin new..... Several friends have tried to negotiate on it, but they still want a ton for it. $45K sticker and they turned down $37K 6 months ago. What should this truck sell for when it is surrounded by 2006 versions?

 

That's easy- go to any of the typical websites for used values, put in that truck with ZERO miles, and see what you get. I'm thinking upper 20s to low 30's for price. It ain't gonna be $37k, that's for sure.

 

You know the name of that tune though, Jeff. As long as it's floored, nobodies payplan gets dinged for the loss. So management will sit on the danged thing until you-know-what freezes over. Or they get lucky. Bet it's a 5.4.

 

I'd be concerned about possible oil and transmission leaks at this point. The truck has been sitting so long, it is bound to have issues. If I bought it, I'd insist on a complete inspection of all major components of the vehicle and have all the fluids changed. I'd probably spring for an extended warranty as well in this particular case.

 

Got a Chevy dealer just down the road that still has a couple of '02 pickups (both loaded cc 4x4's, 1 duramax and 1 6.0) , several '01 and '02 Tahoes, and an '00 Suburban..... Same story, they won't even try to sell 'em - they'll tell you right up front that they're old enough to have issues, and they can sell you a current year one for only $2 or $3K more. I can't make any sense of it - guess they'd rather keep paying interest than to take their hickey?

 

They have a 2000? Still for sale as a new auto?

 

Well, it's never been sold - had 30 some miles last I knew. They can't sell them as new, they're well out of the three year warranty, and they won't finance like new. Actually, they aren't really trying to sell them at all, as far as I know. Anytime I or anyone else I know of has ever asked about them, they'll price 'em, but they're way too high, and they seem to know it and not care. I don't believe they've even been moved in a couple of years...

I'm assuming they can't still be floor planned? But at the same time, if they had to buy them, I'd think they'd really want to move 'em... It's one of my pet mysteries, I guess.

 

Warranty starts when it's first delivered. If they're still new (not delivered to a retail customer), the warranty clock hasn't even started ticking yet.

I'm smelling an absentee dealer here. The typical salesmanager gets paid a percentage of the gross profit of his department. A new unit that's floored (or even isn't) doesn't generate a profit or loss- it just sits. Once it gets sold (presumably at a huge loss), the number gets booked.

The first thing that needs to happen, IMO, is someone needs to get fired for not minding the store. When a unit hits 200 days at our store, we bonus the socks off of it to get it gone. Works every time.

 

Maybe so, Ernie, but I don't think so. It's always been represented as a local, family owned dealership. This is a small town (pop. 6600) and these folks have been here forever. There's maybe 1 or 2 salesmen off and on, but otherwise this family runs the show. Could be outside money behind it that nobody knows about...If so, it's well hidden, though.

I've bought several vehicles (new and used) from them over the years, mostly because they'll always give more for my trade ins than anyone else. On a cash deal, they tend to be a bit higher than the big dealers, but I don't mind paying a couple hundred more for what I'm buying if I'm getting a grand more for my trade in. They've always taken good care of me though - for a Chevy, or if they have what I'm looking for used, I'll go there everytime.

As far as warranty's, that's just what they told me. It's been a couple of years, but I looked at the Sub and the Tahoes before we bought our Expy, and it seems like there was warranty on some, but not others (like on the '02s but not the older ones). However it's entirely possible that they didn't completely understand - this is a really low volume place.

 

I don't really have any experience in this regard, but I've noticed there's a lot of pickups sitting around both on dealer lots and private sales since the fuel prices went up. Combined with the incentives to buy new and the possibility that it's a low-volume dealership, perhaps the 03 F150 in born2's post is just an anomaly???

 

I agree with duc_grrl there. Six months, particularly these past six months, wouldn't really scare me. Sorry born2, I wasn't tryin' to highjack your thread, like I said, it's just one of my pet mysteries.

 

Our 05 Expy XLS had been sitting on the lot for 6 months. Got it for 10k under sticker.