Invoice Price for 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning - How It'll Be Calculated

[Snakebitten]

I'm very fortunate to have a long-term relationship with my rural dealership and the buying experience has rarely been taxing in any way.
It's the kind of relationship where my wife would bake a bunch of Banana Nut Bread and a few folks at the dealership would actually be on her list.

I'm not saying that if I used an ice-cold shopping technique and leveraged it against them that I couldn't beat them down or find a better price elsewhere, but they are there for me every time I needed something for 20+ years. I know for a fact that they know me well enough that they skip the "script" and don't even waste their or my time on stuff like dealer add-ons and such. (that IS in their script. Locking lug nuts, window tint...)

I'm just saying that if I bought direct from Ford, it wouldn't be all gain and no loss for me. I need PEOPLE to make things happen sometimes. Person to person.

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[Maxx]

Does Tesla pass some kind of savings to the buyer or do they just sell the car with a higher manufacturing profit than they would with dealerships.?

Even if what you are implying is true and the cost to me is the same. I would rather profit goes to the entity that innovates and produces a product rather than a non-productive entity that adds to the stress and time I spend to make a purchase: I know even if Tesla is overpriced, it is over priced for everyone and I don’t have to do tons of research to know how to negotiate for a better price.

Second, once there are production model, the dealers expect to receive manaqins that will be available for customers to touch and test drive. These will be units that are not for sale and must be retained by the dealers until Ford allows them to be sold. This is similar to what Ford has done with the Bronco and Bronco Sport and other OEMs have done as far back as the early 1990s with new models.

Are you saying before orders open, I will be able to go to my dealer and see all trims and options? If the answer is no, that adds little value.

I'm just saying that if I bought direct from Ford, it wouldn't be all gain and no loss for me. I need PEOPLE to make things happen sometimes. Person to person.

And what happens when that person leaves or that dealership closes? I need a process I can count on instead.

 

[sotek2345]

Are you saying before orders open, I will be able to go to my dealer and see all trims and options? If the answer is no, that adds little value.

Probably not before orders open, but likely (for the vast majority of people) before your production date is scheduled so you will be able to change your order if needed (while keeping your place in line). Once your order is scheduled, that is when the configuration is locked in.

 

[GarageMahal]

Probably not before orders open, but likely (for the vast majority of people) before your production date is scheduled so you will be able to change your order if needed (while keeping your place in line). Once your order is scheduled, that is when the configuration is locked in.

I still cannot go to a dealer and see all of the available Bronco trims (in one place). I don't think the Lightning will be much different.

 

[Snakebitten]

Response to post #32

There are people who leave and people who come, just like any business. But they are people just like me. I get to know them.

It's the same at my favorite places to eat.
Even at Kroger, I know my grocery stocker, the ladies in the bakery, the checkout clerks.....

Admittedly I live rural in a town of only 25,000 or so, but after 35 years I am "doing business" with my neighbors and friends.

Just an example of what a relationship affords: So I purchase my wife a new Titanium Focus in 2011-12. It's a strange orange/yellow/gold tri-coat paint and she loved it! Shortly after purchase, someone in the parking garage of the hospital in the city she worked at keyed the passenger side door. It broke her heart. When the dealership (people) found out about it they took the car to the body shop and completely resprayed the right side of the car. I got to see how much they actually disassembled the car and treated it like a thorough professional paint job. The painter explained how much he disliked the paint because of the difficulty of getting it right.

After picking up the car fully expecting to pay for the work, "my guy" at the dealership said to tell my wife "hope she is still in love with the car". They didn't charge her.

Turns out that banana nut bread must have meant a lot to those folks, if you know what I mean. As well as the loyalty of buying vehicles from them for many years and sending friends and family.

Again, I realize none of this applies to everyone, and probably not the majority for that matter. But it's the reason that the Tesla sales model isn't as appealing to me as it might be to most.

 

[greenne]

So what I got out of this is... Our wonderful dealer sales model bestowed upon us by lobbyists is costing every consumer an extra 10%.

You're assuming Ford would sell the vehicle for 10% less and not pocket the money for themselves. I don't make that assumption

 

[Maxx]

Shortly after purchase, someone in the parking garage of the hospital in the city she worked at keyed the passenger side door. It broke her heart. When the dealership (people) found out about it they took the car to the body shop and completely resprayed the right side of the car. I

Keep in mind the one that keyed the car to begin with fit in the (people) category as well. I don’t argue at all there are still some uses for humans as long as you have a people personality and ample supply of banana cakes in hand but for us introverts a good robot and and a fast charger can do so much more. It would be nice for Ford to give us both the option to purchase our trucks the way we like.

 

[DadBald]

You're assuming Ford would sell the vehicle for 10% less and not pocket the money for themselves. I don't make that assumption

Ford already has profit in their invoice price, otherwise they wouldn't keep making vehicles. Sure they may charge more if they need to assume some extra roles the dealership currently serves, but it wouldn't be the full amount I wouldn't think.

 

[Snakebitten]

Don't give up on us humans just yet.
The misguided few that would key someone's car can't be allowed to win.

But yea, it would be ideal if the consumer had a choice to buy their F150 from a self checkout lane, Or a full service lane.

I watch both at the grocery store now.
And although I loath self check out, I have used it when my purchase was simple and I was in a hurry. The hurry part is rare though.

 

[rdr854]

Even if what you are implying is true and the cost to me is the same. I would rather profit goes to the entity that innovates and produces a product rather than a non-productive entity that adds to the stress and time I spend to make a purchase: I know even if Tesla is overpriced, it is over priced for everyone and I don’t have to do tons of research to know how to negotiate for a better price.



Are you saying before orders open, I will be able to go to my dealer and see all trims and options? If the answer is no, that adds little value.



And what happens when that person leaves or that dealership closes? I need a process I can count on instead.

No, I am saying once formal production begins - which could be after your order depending on your place in line - I would expect the mannequins to arrive at dealerships. This is based upon past behavior from Ford.

 

[personalt]

You're assuming Ford would sell the vehicle for 10% less and not pocket the money for themselves. I don't make that assumption

How much are you paying the salesperson to sit there? Average car salesperson sells 10 cars to month. Assuming 20 workdays per month that is two days of pay per car. Assuming 75K per year and 200 work data that is $750 in pay per car sold. Also ford is still competing with GMC etc. So they need to keep MSRP competitive.

 

[Losi]

There has been a good deal of discussion on this thread about the frustration many feel in negotiating with dealerships; with this in mind, I was going to ask if anyone has tried an online seller like vroom.com as a way to purchase a vehicle w/out the fuss (used of course—sorry to derail the thread but I thought it was at least tangentially related to some of the comments here).

 

[Snakebitten]

Not the Lightning.
It's EV certified Ford Blue Oval only

 

[jefro]

I know there used to be and maybe still ways for military members to order and buy a car though the base exchange. They would order it and have it sent to a dealer where they wanted the car.

My main complaint about Tesla and no dealer is the issue of State lemon laws. Like a credit card company you won't be able to sue Tesla unless you get a CA lawyer, well maybe TX now. But in either case the issue of dealer laws in many states are to help the consumer usually. A guy at work was sold a minivan that he found out had been wrecked. His lawyer took about 10 seconds to get it replaced with a loaded model costing $10K more for his trouble.

 

[EaglesPDX]

Like a credit card company you won't be able to sue Tesla unless you get a CA lawyer, well maybe TX now.

That's not what OR lemon law lawyers told me when I was going after Tesla. It's in the state it was sold. Tesla does biz on OR, Tesla OR has to appear in court otherwise I could seize Tesla assets in OR if they failed to appear and I won the case by default. We settled with Tesla which agreed to do a repair it was claiming was not warranty.

On the issue of MSRP, the real importance there has to do with the state rebates as in OR it has a $50k limit MSRP for a $2,500 rebate. BUT OR only counts the base price, no options, so my $52k Tesla qualified for the $2,500 rebate. Other states may have car price limits. There was talk of the new Federal EV tax credit having a price upper limit.

Specific to the F150EV, per the price sheet published here, doesn't look like the XL Lariat version which priced out at $76k will have a qualifying ($50k base price) vehicle unless OR raises the limit which it might do if the Federal law jumps it to $80K to qualify for credit.

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