Ford to Exert More Control Over EV Sales at Dealerships With Non-Negotiable Pricing

[FrankThompson]

But MSRP will be set to compete with other manufacturers. I really hate that we need to negotiate pricing and always feel like I lost, even when getting a good deal.

It is likely that MSRP will also change more frequently.

I agree with this. No more "I can adjust the value of your trade in to cover it" crap. I hate the four square math. Rap dealers play.


What I love about current dealer of choice is he is fair and honest. He puts price on each vehicle and that's what you pay. No high pressure sales nothing.


Currently those prices (even for f150s) are below sticker, but even if they weren't it's just a refreshing way to shop.

I May be in the minority here though.

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[Snakebitten]

I'm not an all or none guy when it comes to dealerships.
There are some that are transparent and you are treated as an appreciated customer. And then there are those....... Well, let's just say that Ford would be better off taking their sign down and no longer being associated.

 

[vandy1981]

Sounds great now but once it's implemented it's here for good and the end result will be no one pays less than MSRP ever.

I doubt that. There would be nothing stopping Ford from continuing rebates or coupons if there is a supply-demand mismatch or if they want to meet a sales goal. The current system is dependent on a lot of random factors including the mood of the on-duty sales manager and the barometric pressure.

If you thought you got an unbeatable deal on your truck after haggling for 7 days and making the sales manager cry, odds are that there's someone within a 100 mile radius--or even within your same dealership--that got a better deal and free floor mats ten minutes after walking in the door.

 

[rdr854]

I'm not an all or none guy when it comes to dealerships.
There are some that are transparent and you are treated as an appreciated customer. And then there are those....... Well, let's just say that Ford would be better off taking their sign down and no longer being associated.

I would not say that this is limited to Ford. The vast majority of OEMs have dealers that they wonder what the dealer was thinking when it did what ever. The issue is that it is too difficult for the OEMs to terminate a franchise agreement - which is both good and bad. This is because while you want to eliminate bad actors, you also don’t want OEMs to be able to terminate franchise agreements will-nilly. Allowing the latter would not be fair to the franchisees who have to make substantial investments into their businesses. We need a system that is fair to all parties and encourages dealers to do the right thing.

 

[monsterlag]

We need a system that is fair to all parties and encourages dealers to do the right thing.

What a pile of horseshit!

The “right thing” for the dealers to do is milk people for all they got. Expecting an industry built on fleecing people to self regulate is delusional. It’s so bad that it literally caused one of the oldest car makers in the world to make changes.

 

[RossRR]

Looking forward to all the dealership defenders on here.

Dealers can't get cars to sell from manufacturer so they either charge more for the cars that they do sell or they lay staff off. Mine chose to lay people off and sell to me at invoice because that is their policy for custom orders. Hard to complain about that but I'm sure glad I'm not working for a dealership.

Be careful what you wish for. Ford in recent years hasn't been known to be the one looking out for us little guys. I think the end result is that Ford will make more money on each car sold which means that we will be paying more money for each car sold. I would bet that I will not be able to buy another Ford at Dealer invoice pricing when all is said and done.

 

[monsterlag]

Dealers can't get cars to sell from manufacturer so they either charge more for the cars that they do sell or they lay staff off. Mine chose to lay people off and sell to me at invoice because that is their policy for custom orders. Hard to complain about that but I'm sure glad I'm not working for a dealership.

Be careful what you wish for. Ford in recent years hasn't been known to be the one looking out for us little guys. I think the end result is that Ford will make more money on each car sold which means that we will be paying more money for each car sold. I would bet that I will not be able to buy another Ford at Dealer invoice pricing when all is said and done.

I am not sure what you are suggesting, they are still making a profit while paying the dealer. How would cutting out the middleman not help? It will literally increase their margins immediately.

Discounts and rebates are there to encourage sales and Ford can do that without a dealer.

 

[jfried]

I will say, it's funny what 2 years have done to the industry.

2 years ago, the vast, vast majority of transactions took place under MSRP.

The concept of "no negotiation" would wreak havoc in the purchasing process as buyers expect to need to haggle.

Fast forward with supply shortages, and everyone loves the idea of "the price is the price".

 

[Snakebitten]

^^^ So true!

The world is upside down, but it's like we don't know it.

 

[F150ROD]

2 years ago there was also Tesla who made the buying process easy without having to negotiate hours and hours to get under invoice. I have never had a problem paying MSRP as long as I knew there were no rebates available.

“We’ll give it to you at invoice but you have to finance with us”

“We’ll give it to you at invoice but the alarm and Pro protection is already on the car”

I purchased my F-150 XLT with $9k in discounts but had to order it. By the time the truck got to the dealer The Who semiconductor shortage was taking place, dealer automatically added $10k in “market adjustment”, I spent about 3 hours until they finally gave in took the adjustment off but said the alarm had to stay. Never again, I’m ok with MSRP.

 

[RickLightning]

Nothing has changed with Ford, yet. They floated an idea last week, that's all.

 

[metroshot]

Funny, when I ordered the MME, just before placing my $500 deposit, I noticed even my current Lightning dealer had an $3,000 ADM.

My Lightning dealer has a $0 ADM on the Lightning but not on the MME !

I had to switch over to a different dealer in order to find a $0 ADM MME.

 

[BLoflin]

Everyone is different. But I've purchased around 20 vehicles in the last 25 years (mine, spouse, kids, etc). Always buy new and NEVER buy off the lot... why, cause I want what I want (color, options, trim, etc). Also I know more about the vehicle before I walk in then any salesman I every dealt with. So I don't need a big lot with lots of inventory and a salesperson trying to talk to me about some feature.

So for me I would be perfectly fine with the Tesla model for all Brands. Either online or in person order process, doesn't matter. 1 test drive vehicle of each model, if I really need to sit in it. I can look at the trim levels on line with pics and 3D or 360 vids. Consistent pricing (as they aren't pushing old inventory at end of month, etc). I'm fine with throwing out some temporary rebates or specials, available to everyone, if certain models are not moving like they thought, or market is down.

For me, being eligible for X-plan (and dealers around here taking X-plan) makes it less stressful, as no real negotiation and if considering trade-in also, takes that mis-direction out of the negotiation. I do understand someone could negotiate a better than X-plan, but it's rare, or it's for a compromise model on the lot that needs to be sold (i.e. not exactly what you wanted). I also understand Ford has now started to declare certain models not eligible for Xplan. Interestingly it appears it will be all the models that are in the new EV side or Ford.

 

[GABAR]

I knew it was only a matter of time before these greedy dealers paid the price.
I hope Ford sticks it to everyone of them with severely reduced or zero allocations on popular models.

 

[jfried]

2 years ago there was also Tesla who made the buying process easy without having to negotiate hours and hours to get under invoice. I have never had a problem paying MSRP as long as I knew there were no rebates available.

Everyone is different. But I've purchased around 20 vehicles in the last 25 years (mine, spouse, kids, etc). Always buy new and NEVER buy off the lot... why, cause I want what I want (color, options, trim, etc). Also I know more about the vehicle before I walk in then any salesman I every dealt with. So I don't need a big lot with lots of inventory and a salesperson trying to talk to me about some feature.

So for me I would be perfectly fine with the Tesla model for all Brands. Either online or in person order process, doesn't matter. 1 test drive vehicle of each model, if I really need to sit in it. I can look at the trim levels on line with pics and 3D or 360 vids. Consistent pricing (as they aren't pushing old inventory at end of month, etc). I'm fine with throwing out some temporary rebates or specials, available to everyone, if certain models are not moving like they thought, or market is down.

For me, being eligible for X-plan (and dealers around here taking X-plan) makes it less stressful, as no real negotiation and if considering trade-in also, takes that mis-direction out of the negotiation. I do understand someone could negotiate a better than X-plan, but it's rare, or it's for a compromise model on the lot that needs to be sold (i.e. not exactly what you wanted). I also understand Ford has now started to declare certain models not eligible for Xplan. Interestingly it appears it will be all the models that are in the new EV side or Ford.

To be fair, every single person on this forum would be classified as an "enthusiast". The "Tesla Process" is easy for "enthusiasts" -- because we do often know more about the car than the person selling it, are willing to wait for exactly what we want (or think many months ahead), and have the wherewithal to get the value out of our existing car without being dependent on a trade-in.

That process doesn't necessarily recognize a large, large proportion of how cars are sold though.

For every one of "people like us", there are probably multiple people who walk into a dealership, not knowing exactly what they want / need, but come in with a few parameters (seats? size? colour? down payment? monthly budget? etc.) and let the salesman guide them to that process.

Are you going to get the best deal doing it that way? probably not. But getting the best deal isn't everyone's #1 priority. It's also important to consider that this approach does line the dealers pockets more often than not, but lining the dealers pockets does help Ford.

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