For those of you who have ordered...

$50 over dealer cost

I ordered my 2005 Mustang GT fully loaded with a guaranteed price of $50 over factory invoice @ http://www.louisburgford.com

My dealer called me in to place the deposit with 1000$ off msrp, two month's ago

I got 300 under invoice

I have gaurenteed x-plan pricing with a $500 deposit. Also I have an understanding of no 'paperwork' charges.

OSU05stangfan said:

this is probably a dumb questoin...is there any difference between invoice and dealer cost?

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Not a dumb question.

The answer is YES there is a difference between the invoice and what the dealer really pays for the car (cost).

First there is what is called the "Holdback". This is a rebate that Ford gives the dealer to help them finance the cost of having cars on their lot. Holdback is 3% of invoice. The holdback goes to the dealer who ordered the car, This is one of the bottlenecks in having dealers swap cars.

Next there are monthly volume incentives. If a dealer makes a certan sales volume for the month they get an extra rebate from Ford. Monthly volume incentives are a closely guarded secret.

Then there is the annual volume incentive, like the monthy incentive, but happens once a year based on the dealer sales for the entire year.

There is the Blue Oval Certified rebate, for dealers that meet Ford's Blue Oval program there is another 1% rebate. This is probably going away.

Finally there is "dealer cash". This is similar to customer rebates, but they are given to the dealer for each car they sell. Some models do not have dealer cash others do. Usually fast selling models do not have dealer cash, but slow selling models will, because Ford wants to incent the dealers to get rid of them. Dealer cash is usually a closely guarded secret, neither Ford nor the dealers will ususally admit to what it is. Dealer cash usually changes on a monthly basis.

Lets look at an example:

2005 Mustang GT MSRP $25,0000
Dealer Invoice $23,000 (my estimate)
Dealer Holdback $750
Blue Oval Certified: $250
Monthly sales volume incentive: $500 (just my guess, don't know for sure)'
Annual sales volume incentive: $200 (again just a guestimate)
Dealer Cash: $0 - I wouldn't expect any dealer cash on 2005 Stangs until August 2005 when they need to clear them out before the 2006's arrive.

Actual dealer cost: $21,300.

This is why a dealer can sell you a car at or below invoice and still end up making a profit.

Good to know....

Question, was it a bad idea for me to not mention pricing at all when I placed my order? I don't plan on paying anywhere near MSRP as the dealer didn't even know what half the options were. I had to explain it to him. With all the work I've done to get this car... maybe Ford should give me those incentives, the dealer didn't do anything to sell me the car (other than write down the wrong order codes twice)...

Enfynet said:

Good to know....

Question, was it a bad idea for me to not mention pricing at all when I placed my order? I don't plan on paying anywhere near MSRP as the dealer didn't even know what half the options were. I had to explain it to him. With all the work I've done to get this car... maybe Ford should give me those incentives, the dealer didn't do anything to sell me the car (other than write down the wrong order codes twice)...

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If it were me, I would have gotten some sort of committment in writing that ties your price to either invoice or MSRP. Eg, $500 over invoice or $1,500 under MSRP.

Any customer, like you, who knows more about the car they are going to buy than the salesman, should skip the salesman and go right to the Fleet Manager (or internet sales manager). They work on a lower profit / commission structure than the regular sales people. If they salesman is providing a service to you - educating you about the products, convincing you why you should buy their product another vehicle - then he (she) is doing their job and deserves to earn their commission. If all they are doing is taking an order, then they don't deserve to earn their full commission. Which is why you should go directly to the Fleet or Internet sales departments as they are order takers (not sales people) who work on lower margins. Also in the fleet and internet departments you will be less likely to be pressured into buying high profit add ons that you don't want such as fabric / leather protection, paint sealant, extended warranty, etc.

pricing

Got an 05 GT coming at X-plan, no deposit needed(small town), expected delivery is sept 30th +




2005 GT(ondaway)
2001 F350 4x4 v10
1991 explorer(wont die)
1981 f150
1970 pro Street shelby cobra
1965 A/fx comet
1961 f100 swb unibody(for sale)
1991 dodge shadow short track car

As far as I know. Everyone is saying
$50 under invoice, 300 over... I thought X-plan was the best any civilian besides a Ford employee could get???

I have been following this forum for a few weeks now. I would like to know if anybody in the Atlanta, Georgia area knows of dealers who sell at or near invoice? I called the guys in Kansas and they said they can order one for me BUT delivery is going to be Late Dec - Early Jan. Can't wait that long so any help would be apprecaitted.

Thanks,

351CJ said:

If it were me, I would have gotten some sort of committment in writing that ties your price to either invoice or MSRP. Eg, $500 over invoice or $1,500 under MSRP.

Any customer, like you, who knows more about the car they are going to buy than the salesman, should skip the salesman and go right to the Fleet Manager (or internet sales manager). They work on a lower profit / commission structure than the regular sales people. If they salesman is providing a service to you - educating you about the products, convincing you why you should buy their product another vehicle - then he (she) is doing their job and deserves to earn their commission. If all they are doing is taking an order, then they don't deserve to earn their full commission. Which is why you should go directly to the Fleet or Internet sales departments as they are order takers (not sales people) who work on lower margins. Also in the fleet and internet departments you will be less likely to be pressured into buying high profit add ons that you don't want such as fabric / leather protection, paint sealant, extended warranty, etc.

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I went to the manager and he's the one that sent me to the person I dealt with. I told the manager I wanted to order a 2005 Mustang and that I knew all the options I wanted. The only thing I had to ask the salesperson about is the quality of the leather they put in the Mustangs. Beyond that I knew more about how to order my car than he did. I was told "Should cost around 26,000 and should be here around the end of September. We'll call you when it gets here."

Invoice does NOT reflect actual dealer cost.

99BRINGIT said:

Invoice does NOT reflect actual dealer cost.

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I thought that's what I said about 9 posts up.