Buying A Ford and Saving Money
How To Save Money On Buying a Ford!
This is Part of “How to Save Thousands On a New Car Purchase” Link Below if you would like to read it.
Over the years I have purchased multiple Fords in three different states: Illinois, North Carolina and Florida and the process was very similar in all three. Here I want to share my experience when purchasing my cars and help you save money. I am not affiliated with any of the services that are in the “Car Buying Guides”. I am sharing these posts in the hope that they can help someone save thousands and not be over charged.
Just to clarify all dealerships and sales people the same. There can be great companies and I have come across many fantastic salespeople that I would enjoy doing business again.
When ever someone tells you something it is always a good idea to research it. Even with the information that you get here on HowToSaveAPenny I say research the heck out of it. If you find a better way to save money I say AWESOME! And, if you feel that you have a way to help someone save even more money and want me to share it, you can send me over a message (Here)
Note:
You should know that prices change and can change often. Above all, know that Pickups are known to be heavily discounted (usually $10,000 or 25% much more than cars). So when you do your shopping pricing and discounts will vary. I recommend reading our “New Car Buying Guide” to help find the price on your car and one that is up to date.
The Best price Lie
Even though my Nissan experience was a bit more of an instantaneous shock. The experience that I received at a few Ford dealerships has to be some of the biggest shows of unfair pricing that I have encountered. To make clear, I currently own two Fords and enjoy them. I believe they are great cars and have nothing against the car, just the buying process.
Just like always I make sure I always go to multiple dealerships. Shopping around can be the biggest way to save many thousands. After going to 3 dealerships I decided to stop and lock Ford that we have used for service and was quite surprised on the pricing we were offered.
Price?
At that time TruCar was showing that the average F-150 was selling at about $10,000 below sticker (They are always about $10,000+ off of sticker). When I decide to purchase a car I always aim for the best deal. Clearly here I find TruCar a fantastic tool, but I always aim for a price even below that. After visiting a few dealerships I decided the minimum discount that I could accept would be $10,500 off the MSRP. This discount was pretty standard across most of the F-150’s.
No Negotiations…?
Basically Wow, is the only word to describe it. As normal, the salesman will offer you a bottle of water and sit you down at their desk. Here the salesman asks if we liked the car, and of course we said yes. The salesman then just started to sell the car. As if we already agreed to this. “I sometimes think back and think Maybe I looked like I wanted it too bad?” Anyways I had to stop the salesman he was already wanting me to just sign and go talk to the finance office. Seriously we were at his desk for about 10 minutes. This Included the time it took him to go get the paperwork on the car. I literally had to interrupt him and say we haven’t even spoken about price.
I Offended Him! (Maybe?)
This was almost comical in the way it happened. The salesman said that he thought we liked the car. Of course we did, we just first have to go over pricing. Agin acting like I just called him obscene name, he asked us what do we expect. First, I asked what is the price he is offering. Finally after dancing around the price we would pay, the salesman tells us our number. It was about $2,500 above Sticker! To clarify, this truck is stock (no lift kits/tires). Truthfully this was becoming a bit bizarre. Of course it became quite clear I was not going to be buying this truck. But I just had to find out what they are trying to sell me!
These are the numbers that the dealer gave me. The discount was for almost every F-150 even lower priced trims.
The Dreaded addendums…(just for starters)
Let’s continue. The Salesman asked us what are we expecting he already discounted the truck $500 (not $5,000). First, I told him I have purchased multiple cars and I have never paid over sticker. Second I wasn’t paying anywhere near sticker. Finally for the first time he tells us about the addendums that all dealers add to their vehicles (THIS IS NOT TRUE). Granted the addendum wasn’t $5,000, but it was still $3,000. It included nitrogen filled tires, extra detail, and a $150 bed liner. If you would like to read more about unnecessary addendums click the Link Below.
Learn About Over Priced Addendums!
Terrible Price!
| Salesman’s Price | My Intended Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $50,135 | $50,135 | This Dealership actually advertises the MSRP Including their addendum in an attempt to mask it. |
| Addendum | $3,000 | $0.00 | |
| Discount | -$500 | -$10,500 | This at the time could go up to $12,000 |
| Price | $52,635 | $39,635 | Pickups have bigger discounts than other cars |
| Dealer Fee | $599 | $599 | This can rarely be removed But some dealers have $1,000+ Fees so know them |
| Other Fees | $6.50 | $6.50 | Tire and battery fee |
| Sub Total | $53,240.50 | $40,240.50 | |
| Tax 7% | $3,726.84 | $2,816.84 | State (6%) and County(1%) |
| Title | $375.85 | $375.85 | Normal Charge |
| Total | $57,343.19 | $43,433.19 | THATS A DIFFERENCE OF $13,910 Not including interest |
| Loan payment | $1,056.06 | $799.88 | 5 Year Loan at 4% |
| Total Interest | $6,020.52 | $4,560.09 | |
| Total cost | $63,363.52 | $47,993.09 | THATS A DIFFERENCE OF $15,370.43 |
The Lost battle 🙁
At this point I had already given up, and I told my father, lets just go somewhere else. But, just like any other dealer they asked what kind of pricing was I looking at. Expecting to be sort of thrown out, I just told him (what can I lose right). First I said that I have never paid an addendum (he said all dealers charge. THIS IS NOT TRUE). Second, my max price for the truck was $10,000 under sticker. Again like any dealership, the salesman says just let him talk to his manager.
I Must Be Wrong Right? (I will place what I paid a few days below)
This is the truth. The manager sits down in front of us and asks us how are we expecting to get this price and where did we even come up with these numbers. Of course I told him that just about every dealer is currently offering $10,000 off nearly every F-150. He seemed to be offended by this and told me that its just impossible. No Dealership would give $10,000 off a brand new F-150. I said most dealerships have the $10,000 off. He plainly just told us sorry they couldn’t sell us the car.
What Happened?
This really was a bizarre experience. I can still only come up with two scenarios of what really happened here. I must have really looked like I was going to buy this Truck at any cost. Or everyone at the dealer just had no clue of the prices being offered at just about every other dealer in the area.
Without jumping to any conclusions. If I had been an uneducated customer (easy target) I could have lost many thousands, very simply.
Was I Wrong and What Did I Really End Up Paying?
I will start by saying that I could have possibly gotten a better deal at the time. But I found the Exact truck I was looking for. The next one was out of state or I could order one that would arrive a few months later. So the question is, was the dealer above right and I was wrong? Here is my purchase below.
What I Paid
| MSRP | $50,550.00 | Actual MSRP |
| Addendum | $ 0.00 | none |
| Discount | -$11,015 | I found this fair |
| Bead Liner | -$150.00 | Free I needed one anyways |
| Sub Total | $39,385.00 | |
| Dealer Fee | $599.00 | Normal Amount |
| Other Fees | $6.50 | Tire and Battery |
| Sub Total | $39,990.50 | Not Bad so Far |
| Tax about 7% | $2,799.34 | Have to pay |
| Title | $375.85 | Normal |
| Purchase Total | $43,165.69 | Total paid |
| Actual Savings | This Dealer vs Full Price | |
| Discount | $11,165 | |
| Tax savings | $792.05 | Only part of the discount is taxed |
| Interest Savings | $945.10 | 5 year 3% I Used a larger down payment but we will use 100% financing. |
| Total Savings | $12,902.15 | Not bad |
| Dealer 1 | VS | Dealer 2 |
| Free Bed Liner | ||
| Addendum | $3,000 | Saved because not Charged At Dealer 2 |
| New Grand Total Savings | $15,902.15 | Not bad for a 20 minute Drive |
Conclusion
The best thing you can do is shop around and are sure you do you research. As you can see in just this one example I could have paid $15,905.15 Dollars more.
This page is an example I talk about from another post. If you would like to find out how much you should be paying for your car read our guide on How To Save Thousands On A New Car
Side note: You should know that you can still get better deals than I got. Prices can fluctuate and just know that pickups usually have big discounts on them.