hey all,

I'm currently looking to buy a new F150, which will be my first truck. I want a black or red STX F150 with regular cab, flareside, power windows/locks, and a 5 speed manual. I have made telephone call after telephone call to dealerships within a 300 mile radius and have come up empty handed everytime. I can't find anything close to what I'm looking for; they usually tell me its the fact I want a standard that's making this search so difficult. This led me to believe that perhaps the only way I'm going to get what I want is to order one, something I've never done before and have always suspected that you will usually get screwed big time when you order a vehicle. Can anyone give me some tips on how to order to a custom truck?

 

I just did it, got the same deal if I was to buy one off the lot. The dealers prefer selling one they already have, but a sale is a sale. I went the x-plan route which made it easy, but you can still negotiate a truck's price by "building" one at the dealership. Just go and build one at the dealer, and online. If you order one you still get all incentives offered at the time of delivery that would be offered to the current stock.

 

no real difference in price, actually less than those on the lot, the dealers I used knew up front that I wanted what I wanted and that they would not have.

I used the usual price lists, worked the deal to my spec's and price and placed the order. In 4 weeks the dealer called, said truck was on transport and would call when delivered.
I had to put $500.00 down to secure the order, the contract stated that if not how I wanted the money would be returned.

they called and truck was off their lot 4 hours after it was unloaded from the truck

it was so fast that they did not even put the dealership sticker on it. Of course the deal also stated that there was to be no dealer sticker on it.
In fact on of the shop staff noticed and was going to get when I drove off.

I got the price I wanted, the stuff I wanted and even the discounts and incentatives in effect at time I left the lot.

I also was to pay cash, but financed since there was an $2000.00 additional discount off the bottom line.

I want the truck the way I want it, I do not want a truck that has set on a lot for months, driven by who knows, not properly cared for. tires taht get flat spots.

At least I know who has driven mine

 

Sounds like the same reasons I went the ordering route. In addition to the no dealer sticker, I am having them keep the plastic on the seats and steering wheel. I'm going to be so **** with the KR leather.

 

According to KBB they don't come configured like that.
A Flareside has an Automatic as standard equipment.
If you have to have a stick you have to go Styleside
and
if you have to have an Flareside, you have to go Automatic.

This may be why you can't find one.

Also, do they still offer the 4.6L with a stick
or to get a stick are you confined to the V6?

Haven't followed the new models that closely.

 

When you order a new truck, how much below MSRP can you reasonably expect to pay if possible? What are the tricks to getting the salesman to knock off some of the price? This is my first to buy a vehicle by myself and I don't know how to properly deal with a car salesman, so I am worried that they will try to take advantage of the situation.

 

Yeah I noticed that also, but I figured that perhaps they could still do it since the truck is being ordered, not bought off the lot. If I can't get that it's no big deal, but I really like the way the flareside looks. It gives the truck a more compact, sporty look, which is what I'm going for. As for getting a 5-speed STX with 4.6, I know for sure I'm out of luck. I'd have to go with the 4.2. Getting an automatic is out of the question; I've driven a standard my whole life and I'm not about to change.

 

nah, it don't work like that.

If you can't 'build' it on a site like www.kbb.com/, or Edmunds or the Ford site then you can't get it.

You are going to have to decide what features are most important to you and build around that.

I wanted a stick too but, it wasn't in the cards.
I would have to have given up too much to get it.

 

I ordered mine, now I'm just waiting! The process was a good one for me. I was like you I couldn't find a truck with the color, options I wanted. Decided to order one. Didn't even make me sign anything so If I change my mind, I'm not stuck buying the truck. I would say that if the dealer wants you to sign a contract saying that you guarantee you will buy the truck when it arrives you should walk out right then and there. That happened to me so I just went to another dealer. Good luck!

 

I'll give them a deposit. I wont sign any paperwork until I can get a vin. I've had vehicles that were supposed to be across town that never appeared.

 

My dealer tried to get me to sign an agreement to buy and I refused and started to leave, and they changed their tune and offered to take a $500.00 to order the truck and we wrote it up on a piece of dealers letterhead that if the truck was not exactly like I ordered, they were to hand me my money back.

The agreement I refused stated that if I ordered, I had to pay for.

I might have been skating on thin ice, but the words were they way I wanted.

On building the truck, if you can not build on line at fordvehicles.com chances it most likely can not be built. Edmunds allowed me to build on and it had some errors, it allowed some options that could not be done, i think this was just computer glich, 2 months later edmunds would not let me do it.

Kelly blue book mirrored Ford's own site, same results

you need to build the truck on-line to see if possible and use their pricing as a guide dealing with the dealer.

If dealer states that you can not special order, go find another dealer

If salesperson unsure of build, ask to talk with the person who enters orders.

After the salesperson helped price the truck, he took me back to see the lady that ordered the veicles for the dealership and she built the truck and said it could be built, then we discussed the price.

THe dealer I used, I think wass the exception, of the 7 other dealers, they tried to sell only what was on the lot, or would not confirm if possible to build, or would not deal price wise.

after mine arrived, a couple of salesmen could not believe how the truck looked and was built, my sales peron told me later that he had sold about 12 trucks spec'd the way mine was, apparently in our area, what I wanted was what others wanted.

 

Tyler, I've pruchased 5 new Fords since 1983, 2 Broncos, 2 F150's, and an Aerostar AWD minivan. Paid $500 over DEALER invoice on all of them. They got their "hold back" (1.5-3%) and $500. Do your home work, when I bought my 04 F150 in Dec 03, I had already researched the vehicle, built it on Carsdirect.com and Edmunds.com then sent the same spec to various dealers within 100 miles. I then took their quotes and the Carsdirect and Edmunds info to my LOCAL dealer. He looked at the info and said he would match it. We spec'd the truck out, I signed nothing and gave NO deposit. Ordered the truck in Nov 03 bought it/picked it up Dec 28, 2003. One Dealer in Sacramento, CA actually said NO negotiating, FULL MSRP only as the new F 150's were supposed to be the hot item at the time, that was Surburban Ford. Good luck take your time and do your research, get what you want! Regards, Bob B.

 

I have an '07 FX4 on order, supposed to be delivered around 4/1/07. This is my first experience ordering one, and it was painless. I went to kbb.com also and 'built' the exact truck I wanted. kbb.com lists both invoice and MSRP prices so you know where you are with price. I'm paying $100 over invoice no matter what I get, and had to put nothing down on the order nor did I have to sign anything.

The only chance I am taking is with the currect factory incentive. It ends 4/2/07. The salesman claims if the truck is delayed and does not come in in time I could purchase it site unseen (yikes!) if they have a VIN. However if the incentives are extended or increased - all the better for me. If I miss it all together I'm gonna be bummed and probably buy something off a lot at the last minute ($3K is a lot of greenbacks).

 

Hopefully you aren't too far from the plant as shipping is where the delay comes in. When a VIN starts down the assemby line it is out the door in 19 hours.
I am 25 miles from the plant.
I ordered on March 10.
It was built on March 25.
It was at the dealership on March 31.
The crazy thing was the engine was built in Canada on March 23rd, shipped, installed in the truck and out the Norfolk door in 48 hours.

If you either lose the incentive or can really buy sight unseen and get the incentive, I would do that to get what you want rather than buy off the lot, unless it's just a matter of color or some piddly difference.

 

Well the most specific is the Flint (grey) leather interior, and a 6.5' bed with the crew cab. I have found out that approximately 99.9% of all FX4's have black interior seat color (at least within 600mi of eastern IA). I don't want black for sure. I'd go with a Lariat with tan before that, and those are all over.

Ryan