Ask a Ford salesman anything (Incentives, Inventory, etc)

[Nik00117]

I'm not familiar with the state laws and stuff, but I fail to see the problem in you driving to CO trading in your car at their dealership and driving off with the car you want there. You might be subject to CO TTL and so forth which may, or may not be less or more then your TTL fees.

[imccrea]

Originally Posted by Raven0215

We will see how it goes with the new dealership. I wouldn't have another car to drive if i sold mine and since I would have to order what I wanted it would be hard to make all the timing work out. If it wasn't for those issues then colorado isn't really that far of a drive/ and or flight for me.

Let me know what you have to trade and I'll see what I can do. Shoot me an email.

[Raven0215]

Originally Posted by imccrea

Let me know what you have to trade and I'll see what I can do. Shoot me an email.

Everything went alright with the new dealer today and I got the car ordered. If something goes wrong then I will be contacting you. I appreciate all your help. I wish I would have stumbled across this forum sooner and I might have just gone ahead and done the deal with you. I think the trade might have been a hiccup as it is a high mileage car 135k but only a 2008 civic. Put about 36k a year on for work.

Thanks again,

[pwk5017]

This may have been covered, but what are typical dealer/documentation fees? Can you ask the dealer upfront what these fees are before visiting the dealership? Do thte fees vary. I am going to purchase a 2012 tonight and I am going to make a gametime decision to either do xplan or negotiate. xplan puts it at 20,100, dealer invoice looks to be 19,477. Its a 2012, so I am hopeful I would get it at or very close to invoice, but the dealer fees etc. are the only unknowns in my equation. Suddenly, if they counter to 19,700 and hold firm on that and there is a $500 dealer fee etc. that I dont know about, I am higher than xplan, and I would have wasted 45 mins of my life. Any help on determining this unknown would be excellent.

[imccrea]

Just ask them, if their dealer fee is higher just do x plan

[lddavis]

Doc fees: Not to preempt imccrea, but the answer is that they vary hugely from state to state and dealer to dealer, sometimes from customer to customer.

Some states impose a cap on doc fees. (In California, it's $85; average dealer doc fee is $56.) Ford imposes a $100 cap for X-plan purchases. A quick web search tells me PA has no cap on doc fees, but you should check for yourself.

Some states require that if a dealer charges a doc fee, then all customers must be charged the same doc fee. Not capped, necessarily, just consistent.

And some places are the wild west, where they just make up any number they like.

Yes, you can ask up front, and you should. When pricing a car, the only number that matters is the price before tax, tag, and title. It's not a deal to get a car for $100 under invoice when the dealer adds a $795 "doc fee" to make up for it.

On the flip side, I don't really care how they want to account for their money. Dealers can and should make a profit; I expect that. I don't need to audit admin fees, doc fees, prep fees, fuel charges, advertising fees, lot fees and all that. Those are all too often just ways to pad the bill, and let them talk about a low vehicle price when the actual price isn't low at all. The only level playing field when the fees can all vary is to look at the total price.

So yes, always ask about all the fees and what the final vehicle price is. (I except tax/tag/title because those are fixed by the state. Anything the dealership sets they should disclose up front. And they can tell you the registration fees, too.)

[pwk5017]

Well, no dice on the focus. I went in at 18,000 hoping to secure it in the low 19s before incentives and they went to 20,300 and held firm. $212 dealer fees too. Whatever, not the end of the world, I might go back in a month and a half if they still have it.

[imccrea]

Originally Posted by pwk5017

Well, no dice on the focus. I went in at 18,000 hoping to secure it in the low 19s before incentives and they went to 20,300 and held firm. $212 dealer fees too. Whatever, not the end of the world, I might go back in a month and a half if they still have it.

If MSRP on their car is $20,075 give or take $200 that is about $1,100 below invoice before incentives which is double of what holdback is.

I'd sell it at $19,000 but not $18,000. Must've been a small dealership to not take a deal on the last day of the month for Ford.

[pwk5017]

Yeah, I was pretty surprised they didnt do the deal. I thought ending in the low 19s would have been fair for them, and a good deal for myself. They get the holdback cash and whatever other manufacturer discount/kickback. If I was negotiating for a 2013, I would have expected to get more than 700 off list!

Sort of sucks, because that just might have been my only shot at a new focus. I think I am going to be back to searching in the used market, because I cant find any new manuals that fit my criteria, and I just cant do the full $21k without the incentive cash back. Historically, does ford run anymore big time incentives, say, around thanksgiving-christmas?

[SlateTheGreat]

Hello,

So I'm bringing my 08 auto sedan in again for transmission repairs. The dealership has repaired it once about a month ago and its having issues again. This is the 3rd total time they've repaired it, twice for the transmission within a month. How hard is it to get a dealership to buy the car back because of faulty parts or inability to repair?

EDIT: Trying to get into a 2012 5 speed