I know why Ford can't sell all Lightnings on dealer lots.

[JustBuyATesla]

Sorry changing subjects a bit here, but my dealer experience was disapointing, i'll get to that in a minute. For background, this dealer is in royal blue NJ and with a demographic that has whole-heartedly embraced EVs. I also knew the owner of the dealer so you would think if nothing else, the floor salesman would know any feedback (Pos or neg) would get back to the owner.

But multiple times during the process (which was so slow I spent way too much time 1:1 with lots of sales folks making conversation), the salesman would make snide comments on how he hates EVs, how he thinks they are a fad, how they are ruining jobs, really bad for the environment, etc, etc, etc. As an example, at one point I asked him if he's ever taken it for a test drive and his response without missing a beat "never, I have no time for EVs" ... all this as i was buying an $80k car from him which he told me many times he was making no money on --- as I was able to kill the $5k dealer mark-up (I know there is some truth to that but I will challenge the zero number).

All I'm saying is while senior folks at Ford might be all-in on EVs, the rest of the company clearly doesn't seem to have the same view.

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[SCOBEV]

Dealer Markups are a thing of the past. Plus Ford has a $7,500 incentive/rebate on Lariats purchased from 10/3/23-1/2/24

I bought a NEW 2023 Lightning Lariat Extended Range off the dealer's lot 9 day ago to add to my 2ea 2023 Tesla Model Y's . Lightning deal numbers below.

$81,840.00 MSRP
$2,500.00 Dealer Discount
---------
$78,340.00 Cash Price of Vehicle
$399.00 Admin Fee
$249.00 Electronic Registration Filing Fee
$1.50 Florida Lead Acid Battery Fee
$5.00 Florida New tire Fee
---------
$79,994.50 Taxable Subtotal
$4,849.67 Sales tax, 6% + extra $50
$234.39 Florida Title Registration, Tag Fees.
---------
$85,878.56 Grand Total
-$8,250.00 Rebates ($7,500 factory incentive and $750 PCO)
- $339.76 Ford Pass Points from previous truck purchase
---------
$76,488.80 Out the Door, Due on delivery
- $7,500.00 Tax Credit
=======
$69,988.80 Net Cost after Tax Credit

Are you sure you get the tax credit? I thought it was only attainable if MSRP was below 80k.

 

[flyct]

Are you sure you get the tax credit? I thought it was only attainable if MSRP was below 80k.

Federal Tax Credit is based on MSRP Before the Destination and Delivery charges needed to be < $80k for Lightning. For my truck the price before D&D is $79,845.

 

[flyct]

From IRS Site https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/topic-...mitations-for-the-new-clean-vehicle-credit#q3

 

[mme_and_lightning]

Wow, I found this helpful. I truly appreciate that you found the precise IRS information.

I can't get the tax deduction myself because I need some options taking the price over 80K. However, I'm glad Ford did get under the 80K for a lot of people.

 

[flyct]

Wow, I found this helpful. I truly appreciate that you found the precise IRS information.

I can't get the tax deduction myself because I need some options taking the price over 80K. However, I'm glad Ford did get under the 80K for a lot of people.

What are the options that you “need”?

 

[mme_and_lightning]

What are the options that you “need”?

This is important to her because the truck is for 3 hour or so trips with our kids and grandkids. My wife found the rear seats for long drives to be a bit less comfortable in trims not the Platinum.

I thought we could get beveled seat cushions; no go. She works and makes money too so how can I deny her.

 

[flyct]

This is important to her because the truck is for 3 hour or so trips with our kids and grandkids. My wife found the rear seats for long drives to be a bit less comfortable in trims not the Platinum.

I thought we could get beveled seat cushions; no go. She works and makes money too so how can I deny her.

You‘re a smart man. !

 

[mme_and_lightning]

You‘re a smart man. !

It's like, why work late if your boss doesn't know. I am copying this post you did and giving it to my wife. Proof.

 

[Randall Stephens]

This is important to her because the truck is for 3 hour or so trips with our kids and grandkids. My wife found the rear seats for long drives to be a bit less comfortable in trims not the Platinum.

I thought we could get beveled seat cushions; no go. She works and makes money too so how can I deny her.

Could buy platinum seats for the rear…

 

[delynn10]

Had a frustrating dealership experience today.

Received a message from dealership that the lightning we had placed a deposit on had arrived yesterday. The dealership is 2 hours away, but I happened to be driving by there on the way home from work. Test drove it last night with a scheduled follow up from sales rep this morning to complete the purchasing process.

Had an approved loan from USAA ready to go this morning and provided the dealership with a "dealer funding request".

The feedback I have received today (after several back and forths) has been that USAA is difficult to deal with and that the truck can't be released until the dealership recieves the funds from USAA, i.e. there would be no way to complete the process today. I was encouraged to look at other financing options. And although I thought something might be getting lost in the shuffle (dealership is super busy and sales person inexperienced) I hesitantly agreed to look at other financing.

The financing options presented were not as good as what we have secured with USAA. Plus we are vets and when all things are close to equal prefer to give the business to USAA.

I've bought at least 3 vehicles over the last half a dozen years via an approved USAA loan with a dealer funding request. Never had an issue and was in and out of the dealerships quickly with the new vehicle. The dealership literally just fax's the funding request, purchasing agreement, and title docs to USAA then recieve a wire of funds over the next 1-2 days.

Anyways, didn't realize it was going to be so hard to spend 70K+ and pick up a truck today but was unable to make that happen.

I believe the way things were left with the finance rep was that we would come in and sign the purchase agreement and title app tomorrow with pickup or delivery of the truck TBD...

Other people in the world have real problems so have to keep it in perspective, but arghhhh.

 

[mme_and_lightning]

It is disappointing for sure. However, USAA will get the $$$ to your dealership and all will be good. I need to think about the dealership side too. They want their money before turning over a 70K truck.

I do hope you can enjoy the Lightning just a little more for the wait.

 

[flyct]

Had a frustrating dealership experience today.

Received a message from dealership that the lightning we had placed a deposit on had arrived yesterday. The dealership is 2 hours away, but I happened to be driving by there on the way home from work. Test drove it last night with a scheduled follow up from sales rep this morning to complete the purchasing process.

Had an approved loan from USAA ready to go this morning and provided the dealership with a "dealer funding request".

The feedback I have received today (after several back and forths) has been that USAA is difficult to deal with and that the truck can't be released until the dealership recieves the funds from USAA, i.e. there would be no way to complete the process today. I was encouraged to look at other financing options. And although I thought something might be getting lost in the shuffle (dealership is super busy and sales person inexperienced) I hesitantly agreed to look at other financing.

The financing options presented were not as good as what we have secured with USAA. Plus we are vets and when all things are close to equal prefer to give the business to USAA.

I've bought at least 3 vehicles over the last half a dozen years via an approved USAA loan with a dealer funding request. Never had an issue and was in and out of the dealerships quickly with the new vehicle. The dealership literally just fax's the funding request, purchasing agreement, and title docs to USAA then recieve a wire of funds over the next 1-2 days.

Anyways, didn't realize it was going to be so hard to spend 70K+ and pick up a truck today but was unable to make that happen.

I believe the way things were left with the finance rep was that we would come in and sign the purchase agreement and title app tomorrow with pickup or delivery of the truck TBD...

Other people in the world have real problems so have to keep it in perspective, but arghhhh.

I understand your frustration. I had the exact thing happen to me with a Ford Dealer but with PenFed Credit Union In 2018. I traveled 2+ hours to the dealership and they refused to release my truck until they received funds from PedFed. I called PenFed and put the dealer on the phone with them. They still refused. They told me that they would accept USAA but not PedFed. I’m a long time USAA member and called them, completed an app on the phone and was immediately approved at 0.1% higher rate. I picked up the truck about 1 hour later than initially scheduled.

When I bought my Lightning about 2 weeks ago I wrote a $76,488.80 personal check to a small town dealer that I never did business with before and they didn’t care. They didn’t even verify the bank account. In fact they didn’t deposit the check for 5 days.

When I bought a Tesla earlier this year they wanted a cashiers check

 

[Jim Lewis]

The feedback I have received today (after several back and forths) has been that USAA is difficult to deal with and that the truck can't be released until the dealership recieves the funds from USAA, i.e. there would be no way to complete the process today.

Maybe the fact that you're two hours away from the dealer had something to do with it. I live only ~4 miles from my dealer. I'd had a long correspondence by e-mail and phone since my May 2021 reservation with various folks at the dealership. They knew me pretty well as "that guy full of questions." So come May 2023, I planned to pay in full by electronic transfer from my checking account, but I didn't allow for the time it takes to process the payment and get it to the dealer electronically. When I showed up in the sales department and related my lack of anticipation to the finance officer, he asked to see the e-mail confirmation on my iPhone from USAA that the payment process had been initiated and let me drive away with the truck on a Friday afternoon even though the dealership wouldn't be able to collect the loot until Monday or Tuesday of the following week. As I examined my FordPass app on my iPhone and was impressed that it showed exactly where my truck was sitting out in the driveway, I wondered if the dealership could see that too and knew exactly where to get the truck if they didn't get their money the following week! And perhaps if they saw it leaving San Antonio, I would have had the gendarmes on my tail!

 

[mme_and_lightning]

Hey, I got lucky today. I've been waiting for a lot order from my local dealer to arrive. However, an antimatter blue arrived yesterday that was a custom order that the Reversation holder did not want. My local dealership asked me if I wanted it. I said if we get a reasonable price.

I showed my local dealer a similar Lightning reduced 10K+ elsewhere and they match the reduction. Yay. Got my Lightning a few months early and I like the color.

So it is the tale of two dealerships. One was not so good and did not get me business, and one was great and sold a truck in about 4 hours.

So now is the hard part, between my MME and Lightning, which to drive. Decisions, decisions. Either way a win-win.

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