Dana Ford in Staten Island has one for sale

[EVTruckGuy]

When the dealer puts in a bunch of fake orders and then prioritizes them to get trucks on the lot.

How would a dealer do that? Dealers can't put in any orders.

The reservation holder has the place the order online, then a dealer has to finish the process by submitting it online.

Dealers can't just submit orders without a reservation holder.

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[sotek2345]

How would a dealer do that? Dealers can't put in any orders.

The reservation holder has the place the order online, then a dealer has to finish the process by submitting it online.

Dealers can't just submit orders without a reservation holder.

The dealer could have put in a bunch of bogus reservations (either made up names, or names of employees/ family) when the system went live last year, then prioritizes them, converted to orders, and reported them as "abandoned" so they have trucks on the lot.

 

[Amps]

Other than inflation the economy has not changed all that much. With the recent huge Fed interest increase it will change, and might soon impact car and home sales, which is the plan. So we may see your theory come true, but not yet.

Auto loan rates for low to mid-band FICO scores already pretty much doubled since 5/19/21.

 

[FlasherZ]

How would a dealer do that? Dealers can't put in any orders.

The reservation holder has the place the order online, then a dealer has to finish the process by submitting it online.

Dealers can't just submit orders without a reservation holder.

Some dealers have great experience with Ford's reservation processes and saw the dollar-signs. early.. With a few $100 "bonuses" to employees / family members, it is relatively easy to get a number of them reserved on launch and then the dealers get to determine priority for their own orders. Current rules are on the dealer's side, although Ford is trying to battle by raising the rate at which dealerships must deliver to the originally-named customers in the reservation. Even without dealer priority rankings, getting in at the front gives the dealers a chance to get an early version and sell it for healthy profit -- even if they have to title it and then sell it as used with a warranty.

Even if they didn't get in the first round of reserve-and-prioritize, they have other options available to them... last-minute ADM to force buyers to abandon for resale is just one way. Mike Levine has already said that even though Ford execs try to intervene on behalf of customers, the dealership has all the rights here and if the dealer's going to stand firm, there's little Ford can do. Ford has limited tools at its disposal - and I hope they're using what they have.

Frankly, I think Ford is letting the dealers burn themselves right out of business. It'll take a while, but Tesla has already made a hell of a dent and Ford's experience just goes to show what preserving the dealer model means from the scum-of-the-earth.

 

[PV2EV]

Auto loan rates for low to mid-band FICO scores already pretty much doubled since 5/19/21.

And that is a direct impact to many on this forum. However. when you consider the starting point, it could be worse, and when it doubles again, that is going to really hurt sales, and bring down prices (or slow/stop the increase) which is the point.

 

[PV2EV]

Some dealers have great experience with Ford's reservation processes and saw the dollar-signs. early.. With a few $100 "bonuses" to employees / family members, it is relatively easy to get a number of them reserved on launch and then the dealers get to determine priority for their own orders. Current rules are on the dealer's side, although Ford is trying to battle by raising the rate at which dealerships must deliver to the originally-named customers in the reservation. Even without dealer priority rankings, getting in at the front gives the dealers a chance to get an early version and sell it for healthy profit -- even if they have to title it and then sell it as used with a warranty.

Even if they didn't get in the first round of reserve-and-prioritize, they have other options available to them... last-minute ADM to force buyers to abandon for resale is just one way. Mike Levine has already said that even though Ford execs try to intervene on behalf of customers, the dealership has all the rights here and if the dealer's going to stand firm, there's little Ford can do. Ford has limited tools at its disposal - and I hope they're using what they have.

Frankly, I think Ford is letting the dealers burn themselves right out of business. It'll take a while, but Tesla has already made a hell of a dent and Ford's experience just goes to show what preserving the dealer model means from the scum-of-the-earth.

One thing to consider, specifically about a large portion of our truck's intended customer base, is that many truck owners don't live near a big city. The nearest Tesla location from me is 95 miles, and I live near to the third largest city in Oregon. This helps maintain a use case for dealers.

 

[Amps]

And that is a direct impact to many on this forum. However. when you consider the starting point, it could be worse, and when it doubles again, that is going to really hurt sales, and bring down prices (or slow/stop the increase) which is the point.

I agree with the macroeconomics/Federal Reserve point. I think we are still in the early times of MMT having to come to grip with Mr. Keynes. My speculation in this thread is answers to how does a dealer end up with an abandoned Lightning order this early in the rollout.

 

[Rob G]

One thing to consider, specifically about a large portion of our truck's intended customer base, is that many truck owners don't live near a big city. The nearest Tesla location from me is 95 miles, and I live near to the third largest city in Oregon. This helps maintain a use case for dealers.

I would say more a use case for service centers.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

They emailed and they had one for sale yesterday and another for sale today. Both Lariat, the unit that sold was white and the other is this one.
Smoked Quartz Lightning Lariat

Perhaps someone nearby can grab it.

For the record... Dana Ford is the dealer I ordered from. I live about 3 miles from them.

I was the 2nd person to order from them, and as of right now, my F-150 still isn't scheduled to be built until August.

I posted a few weeks ago that the dealer had 6 on their website, so I stopped by twice... on the second visit, I saw a Lightning on the sales floor and the salesperson said they were waiting for the customer to show up and pick it up.

I joked with him that it seemed odd that somebody who was waiting a year wouldn't run over the moment they got the call that it arrived... and that if the customer didn't show up, I'd be more than willing to swap orders and take that one.

I've speculated for a while that dealers who weren't allowed to order trucks for "Inventory" are simply placing orders then claiming the customer didn't show up.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

If that’s the case, can’t really be upset with them, for people who don’t have an order that’s the premium they have to pay

I paid MSRP for my Mach-E from Dana.

That said, I think they made a lot of fake orders for Lightnings so they can claim they were customer orders that people didn't claim... then sell them above sticker.

So, while I'm not bothered that they're getting extra on that truck. What bothers me is that customers like me are waiting for legitimate orders. Even if this was a "real" customer who actually cancelled an order, it would be nice if they offered it to one of the other customers who placed a real order first.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

How would a dealer do that? Dealers can't put in any orders.

The reservation holder has the place the order online, then a dealer has to finish the process by submitting it online.

Dealers can't just submit orders without a reservation holder.

They had the same rule when the Mach-E came out last year, yet Dana Ford had about 50 of them on the lot. I'm fairly sure 50 people didn't cancel their orders, but I don't think it would be hard for a dealer to place 50 reservations from people who claim to be customers.

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