Ford's Lightning; How they ruined a great product.

[Silenze]

I have no faith in my dealer honoring price protection. I have not ordered a charger or any accessories. I fully expect to walk away from my order. They can find some other sucker to buy a 60k pro.

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[ScubaSteve_TheReal]

After reading from page one to the end I see we all have mixed feelings. For me I love my 2023 Platinum and was happy to drive almost 160 miles to make the deal in January 2023 from an out of town dealership who had a cancelled special order. My local dealer service and parts are amazing and they will be a pleasure to work with. Supply and demand issues plus Ford Motor Company learning the EV market is definitely exciting to be a part of. I’m told patience is a virtue, so I guess I need to practice my patience lol. Another happy lightning owner.

 

[USA EV]

I have no faith in my dealer honoring price protection. I have not ordered a charger or any accessories. I fully expect to walk away from my order. They can find some other sucker to buy a 60k pro.

Price is now in line with other EVs [that are less capable]. I wonder what would have happened if Ford had started the Pro at $60K and XLT at $65K. Somewhat less buzz for sure, but still under Rivian's $70K at the time. And they may have ended up with a more realistic/sustainable/profitable list of reservation holders while generating a lot less ill will. Also makes the other price points "more attractive" (less offensive).

 

[shutterbug]

You state that you can use any dealership's service department. That's if they let you. They can easily refuse to do business with you. They can refuse to sell parts to you, and refuse to answer questions. They aren't required to do any of that.

My dealership will not perform EV battery service on vehicles not purchased from them, even if they vehicle belongs to an existing customer, because they can't handle the volume. Customers come first, you would be turned away for battery service. I have 1/2 dozen within 30 miles or less.

I wouldn't want to deal with a dealer that turns away potential customers from their service department. When I bought my MME, I wasn't happy with how the dealer dealt with a couple of minor issues. Mostly it had to do with their concept of service appointments (you bring the car in on the appointed day, and then they will look at it in a week or two). I Found another dealer that treated me well. I then bought the Lightning from that second dealer. The Lightning buying experience was better too.

If the dealer's service department "can't handle the volume". That just means they are refusing to invest in hiring/training their mechanics. Who wants to deal with scum like that?

 

[shutterbug]

The Tesla CyberTruck will sell every truck they can build starting in 2024. Probably for years. Their buying experience is 10X better.

And they still won't be able to fit a door

 

[dannynoone]

Painless MSRP transaction with my dealer on my July 2022 deliver of my Lightning Pro. Brad Howell Ford in Kokomo did a wonderful job! And Ford built an amazing vehicle for $41k. The value is unreal at that price level. I might be hesitant at current pricing though.

 

[Bills R Electric]

Painless MSRP transaction with my dealer on my July 2022 deliver of my Lightning Pro. Brad Howell Ford in Kokomo did a wonderful job! And Ford built an amazing vehicle for $41k. The value is unreal at that price level. I might be hesitant at current pricing though.

$41,000 was an unreal value.
At the new price $61,869? Totally different decision.

Enjoy your Pro!

 

[Bills R Electric]

Price is now in line with other EVs [that are less capable]. I wonder what would have happened if Ford had started the Pro at $60K and XLT at $65K. Somewhat less buzz for sure, but still under Rivian's $70K at the time. And they may have ended up with a more realistic/sustainable/profitable list of reservation holders while generating a lot less ill will. Also makes the other price points "more attractive" (less offensive).

The "marketing" of EVs is damaging brand images somewhat, IMO.

Overpromising never sits well with buyers. Both current and future buyers.

Timelines suck. Manufacturers shouldn't promote vehicles that won't be here for 2-3 years. It creates a lot of friction and anxiousness. And prices should be somewhat reasonable, even if they are losing money on each vehicle initially. Isn't the goal to have loyal customers and sell lots of vehicles in 2025, 2026, 2027 etc?

Plenty of potential buyers have been turned off by the whole process, price increases and lack of availability.

 

[RickLightning]

If the dealer's service department "can't handle the volume". That just means they are refusing to invest in hiring/training their mechanics. Who wants to deal with scum like that?

Love how you know their situation, and revert to "scum like that".

In fact, mechanics quit and go elsewhere, or move.
In fact, mechanics have to take multiple classes to be certified as Ford EV techs, and those classes have registration limits, so there is a waiting list.

I've seen no sign of their lack of investment in EVs, and they are signed up for the top tier, and on the dealer's council that advises Ford on Model e.

 

[ScubaSteve_TheReal]

Painless MSRP transaction with my dealer on my July 2022 deliver of my Lightning Pro. Brad Howell Ford in Kokomo did a wonderful job! And Ford built an amazing vehicle for $41k. The value is unreal at that price level. I might be hesitant at current pricing though.

Congrats on your lighting..!!
I love mine and for what you paid I can’t see you really really not loving yours. Amazing vehicle Ford has built and an amazing EV.
Totally a gimmick price loss leader however for Ford at that initial pricing. Thing is a few people hit the lottery and got them for the gimmick price. Great publicity stunt, unfortunately for Ford they severely underestimated the increasing build costs and are now pricing them at more realistic prices. Even at todays current MSRP prices they still are priced at the high end of a value price I still believe. Prices will start to come down again more in the near future before they go back up.
It’s all about costs as inflation continues to rock the World.

 

[astricklin]

Painless MSRP transaction with my dealer on my July 2022 deliver of my Lightning Pro. Brad Howell Ford in Kokomo did a wonderful job! And Ford built an amazing vehicle for $41k. The value is unreal at that price level. I might be hesitant at current pricing though.

This is where Ford really screwed up. I was originally anticipating $47k with the options I wanted. My order ended up being $53k for the exact same thing but without the color I really wanted (Atlas Blue was dropped for 23) and less equipment (specifically no smart scales). Now if I don't take delivery, but want to get another one later this year or next year, I'm looking at $67k. 20k more than what was originally advertised. No thanks. I'm thinking I'll try and find a 22 XLT that has way more equipment (and has the smart scales) for the same or less money.

 

[Garyl]

Price is now in line with other EVs [that are less capable]. I wonder what would have happened if Ford had started the Pro at $60K and XLT at $65K. Somewhat less buzz for sure, but still under Rivian's $70K at the time. And they may have ended up with a more realistic/sustainable/profitable list of reservation holders while generating a lot less ill will. Also makes the other price points "more attractive" (less offensive).

A Ford Lighting Pro and a Rivian R1T aren't even in the same zip code. A loaded Lariat or Platinum compare to R1T.

 

[shutterbug]

Love how you know their situation, and revert to "scum like that".

In fact, mechanics quit and go elsewhere, or move.
In fact, mechanics have to take multiple classes to be certified as Ford EV techs, and those classes have registration limits, so there is a waiting list.

I've seen no sign of their lack of investment in EVs, and they are signed up for the top tier, and on the dealer's council that advises Ford on Model e.

Every situation is different, but investment also includes paying mechanics enough so they don't want to quit, and having enough trained mechanics so when one quits, it doesn't stop the service department from providing service. It's been over 2 years since MME came out, so quiet a bit of training should have happened by now.

Two years ago, when I need to have an issue diagnosed with my MME, the mechanic working on it on Saturday had just come back from training on Friday. The other dealer wouldn't even commit to a date when they would look at my car, and just wanted me to leave my car for some undetermined amount of time before they would look at it. AFAIC, that's scum.

 

[USA EV]

A Ford Lighting Pro and a Rivian R1T aren't even in the same zip code. A loaded Lariat or Platinum compare to R1T.

That's why the Pro would have been $10K cheaper then and is $20K cheaper today.

It's also true at the same time that the R1T was underpriced then.

 

[TechTutor]

After reading all this I can't even remember what the point was at the start. I didn't even want the truck. Put in a reservation on November 11th with the thought that I'll never get my invite or at least it would take a year or two. I thought maybe late 2023 or early 2024 I may be ready for the truck. I was happy in March 2023 when Ford said all orders have been taken for MY 22 and I would have to wait for MY 23. Then a month later i get my invite. I'm happy I hit the lottery and pulled in the 23 Pro at 22 pricing but i'd be pissed if I reserved day 1 and got beat out by the likes of me.
Also my dealer was good. Told me no markups from day 1. Just the price protection took some work.

Well, I am one of the folks that got beat out. I had day one reservation but never got invite to order the Pro with max tow I needed for my small business. I’m even in NY state which is ZEV. Go figure. Had to buy a fossil fuel burner. Take that, Governor Hochul ! I’ll keep killing the environment until someone builds a truck for us poor working folk.

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