Why not offer X-plan to all preorders?

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To avoid any ugliness with ADM, why not offer X-plan to anyone who preorders? The X-plan price can be $5 off MSRP or something trivial, but would reduce uncertainty for preorders.

Buyers cross-shopping a Model Y already expect fixed pricing and that’s probably the best way to approximate it with a dealer network.

Someday, dealers will get allocations of vehicles and can wheel and deal all they want. But for preorders, they’re basically just a delivery drop-off point.

Not to say x-plan guarantees a problem-free deal, since I was using it while buying a 2001 GT and had a salesman and his “manager” throw the keys to our potential trade-in on the table and storm out the office for not taking a bad deal, leaving us to find our own way out of the closing dealership. It was kind of cool to see the room where they stored all they keys to every car on the lot though. We ended up buying through the fleet department and I learned my lesson not to talk to regular sales staff.
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ejss

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It would be nice to see A/X/Z plan buyers not get screwed over by dealers. You know, respect the people whose families work for their company. I, for one, haven't had to deal with ADM before in my area, but I also haven't ever bought a car as upper echelon as this (brand new Mazdaspeed 3 was the closest, which is still half the price of the GT). There are plenty of Ford dealers in the KC area, and the one I chose, my in-laws have given them plenty of business. So hopefully I won't run into that issue.
 

malba2366

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Looks like they have made the dealers agree to maintain MSRP initially. I think they are trying to match the Tesla sales process as closely as they can so that they don't alienate buyers with dealership games.
 

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Looks like they have made the dealers agree to maintain MSRP initially. I think they are trying to match the Tesla sales process as closely as they can so that they don't alienate buyers with dealership games.
Smart move!
 

8Urchvy

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I ordered a GTPE July of last year...Villa Ford in So Cal...it came in, no issues, they honored X-plan...clean purchase, no issues.
 

Jimrpa

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First, A/Z is an employ/retiree plan, so let’s knock that off the discussion.
X-Plan is intended to be a program that Ford offers to business partners with whom they have significant relationships. Businesses will frequently extend courtesies like this to employees of their significant partners, when they can. For example, airlines will allow employees of other airlines to fly (under very rigid restrictions) for very discounted prices). Ford also gives employees a small allotment of X-Plan PINs each year that they can distribute to friends and family. It’s a goodwill thing. It lets people give family members a bit of a gift and it promotes company products.
Ford, and the dealers, are for-profit enterprises. They do make money on X-Plan sales, but the margin is much less (I have ZERO inside knowledge, I’ve just been told by both Ford employees and dealer owners than neither side lose anything on X-Plan). They just don’t make very much. This is why Ford doesn’t put some of the low volume, high profit cars on X-Plan, and why Ford just doesn’t say “Everyone gets X-plan”. It would destroy the business case for dealerships and significantly reduce Ford revenue (which is needed for things like investment in new product).
If you REALLY want X-Plan pricing, it’s not tough to find a way to get it. Just do a bit of research ?
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