Buying without wait

[circle11]

Not sure if this will help anyone, but will post my buying experience here. When a dealer told me that I can't even get on the waiting list right now what I did is I emailed like 7 dealerships within an hour from me asking them to call me if they have a car someone decided to not buy (credit issues etc). The whole process between contacting them and buying took about 2-3 weeks. I was getting a call with real availability every 3 days or so. Some were a color I did not want, a trim I did not want etc. Some were good, but I could not come to the dealership same day, and later in the day they would tell me it is sold. So looks like they really get sold the same day or next day.

The one I ended up buying: got a call in the morning, was at the dealership in a few hours. According to the person on the phone (internet sales) there was no markup on top of the window sticker price. When I got there, they did have the car I wanted, but added a $6K markup. An hour of negotiation - multiple mutual offers, threatening to walk out, negotiating trade in value - all the typical car dealer games, we found a happy middle. Ended up paying a $2K markup.

Bottom line: got the car I wanted within 3 weeks of deciding to buy it so this strategy works. Of course, you may have to settle with not ideal trim, color etc. But with a bit of patience you will find what you want. Hope this helps!

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[yngwenli]

Not sure if this will help anyone, but will post my buying experience here. When a dealer told me that I can't even get on the waiting list right now what I did is I emailed like 7 dealerships within an hour from me asking them to call me if they have a car someone decided to not buy (credit issues etc). The whole process between contacting them and buying took about 2-3 weeks. I was getting a call with real availability every 3 days or so. Some were a color I did not want, a trim I did not want etc. Some were good, but I could not come to the dealership same day, and later in the day they would tell me it is sold. So looks like they really get sold the same day or next day.

The one I ended up buying: got a call in the morning, was at the dealership in a few hours. According to the person on the phone (internet sales) there was no markup on top of the window sticker price. When I got there, they did have the car I wanted, but added a $6K markup. An hour of negotiation - multiple mutual offers, threatening to walk out, negotiating trade in value - all the typical car dealer games, we found a happy middle. Ended up paying a $2K markup.

Bottom line: got the car I wanted within 3 weeks of deciding to buy it so this strategy works. Of course, you may have to settle with not ideal trim, color etc. But with a bit of patience you will find what you want. Hope this helps!

Was this a Select trim of the car? I see you have Premium in your tag though.

Can you share what state since I think some states are easier to find cars with no ADM or very low ADM. That's a decent ADM for a Premium (if that) and it ensures you get the full $7500 fed tax credit.

I see my dealership having 15+ Selects In Transit.

 

[Gopher Adventure]

Wow, there are very few cars making it to my area at all. 15 coming in! That’s insane, there’s not 15 coming in within 100 miles of my place. Luckily, I’ve got one on order (no build date yet), but this is helpful info as I’m trying to get one sooner so that I’m guaranteed the Federal Tax Credit. I’m seeing anywhere from 5-15k markups at the dealers if one becomes available and I’m just not willing to pay that…and I’m a crappy negotiator. Lol. Best of luck to everyone trying to lock one down.
Tony

 

[circle11]

I was actually looking for a Select, but ended up buying Premium. From what I understand, this is a pretty basic trim for Premium, Total MSRP on the window sticker is $50,400. I definitely feel that I could buy a Select this way too, a couple of those calls were about Select (still getting calls). Looks like they are getting these cars someone gave up on relatively often. Like I said, they wanted 6K markup initially (one other dealer wanted 15K - lol), but came down about an hour of back and forth. I kinda wanted extended range and would not mind paying extra for that, but did not want 4x4. That would probably complicate my search.

The state is Florida.

 

[RickMachE]

In addition to ADM, you paid based on a sticker that was likely increased in late 2021. So the dealer and Ford were already getting a few thousand more. Of course, there are few cars out there regardless. Getting the extended battery, and AWD, will be hard to find I expect.

 

[circle11]

Interestingly, they had an extended range + AWD at that time too, for about $7-8K more. But the range for that combination is roughly the same and in Florida you don't really need AWD, so I just went with the cheaper one.

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