Ford Options setup questions

[RP_GT]

I understand the current options in the Ford Options as shown here:
https://www.ford.com/finance/finance-options/ford-options/

But I am curious about examples of the setup. I want to be ready when I go into the dealership this month:

• Financing 40% of price? I know APR will depend on credit score and the like.
• How does the milage limits affect monthly payment?
• Are they still giving the like $2500 incentive?
• Any other useful info over the standard financing these days?

Thanks!

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[BTRYPWRDPONY]

Does anyone know what the highest percentage you can put down on Ford options purchase?

 

[JRB100]

I can tell you when I experimented with the Ford Options calculator in Spring 2022, the balloon payment always ended up being just under $19,000. So the balance is the portion financed over three or four years (plus interest on the $19k).

 

[macchiaz-o]

I understand the current options in the Ford Options as shown here:
https://www.ford.com/finance/finance-options/ford-options/

But I am curious about examples of the setup. I want to be ready when I go into the dealership this month:

• Financing 40% of price? I know APR will depend on credit score and the like.
• How does the milage limits affect monthly payment?
• Are they still giving the like $2500 incentive?
• Any other useful info over the standard financing these days?

Thanks!

You might find my calculator helpful. You'll need to fix things like interest rates and residual percentages since those change sometimes and I haven't been keeping it up to date. But it's a starting point.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/posts/92089/

 

[hybrid2bev]

Does anyone know what the highest percentage you can put down on Ford options purchase?

Last time I checked it was a max down payment of 45% of the purchase price (except in TX and MD).

 

[BTRYPWRDPONY]

Last time I checked it was a max down payment of 45% of the purchase price (except in TX and MD).

Thanks, looks like my trade-in will be all I can put down.

 

[StephsMachE]

I understand the current options in the Ford Options as shown here:
https://www.ford.com/finance/finance-options/ford-options/

But I am curious about examples of the setup. I want to be ready when I go into the dealership this month:

• Financing 40% of price? I know APR will depend on credit score and the like.
• How does the milage limits affect monthly payment?
• Are they still giving the like $2500 incentive?
• Any other useful info over the standard financing these days?

Thanks!

Currently to my understanding, at least in CA there is no incentive anymore. The $2500 is currently at $0 and 5% interest (In CA). This was as of last Thursday when I was there picking up a Mach E and just having casual conversation with the sales manager.

 

[RP_GT]

Currently to my understanding, at least in CA there is no incentive anymore. The $2500 is currently at $0 and 5% interest (In CA). This was as of last Thursday when I was there picking up a Mach E and just having casual conversation with the sales manager.

That's a bummer. I am not sure what you would go Ford Options without it. Maybe if I wanted to defer basically a bigger 'down payment' i.e., the ballon payment. If you were going to refinance it, then seems like a credit union 84 month loan is about the same. Maybe I need to do a little more math on it and run some scenarios. I did play around with the calculator a bit, but I am not seeing a winner yet.

 

[Vulnox]

I just went through this back and forth when I signed last Friday.

A few things to clarify:
Someone said above what current incentives are, to a point that doesn't matter, assuming you ordered the car you intend to sign for. You get incentives at time of delivery or time of order. So while incentives are pretty much nonexistent or interest rates are much higher for anyone that bought at today's price, most everyone will pick the incentives when they ordered.

So for us, incentives when we ordered in November were:
2.7% for 36 or 48 Months
$1000 rebate
or
1.9% for 60 months traditional finance

The amount of your balloon payment will depend on both your MSRP and your trim level. Just like a lease, Ford has a residual list for each trim level and it's based on 15,000 miles/year. So if you have a $50k Mach-e Select RWD, the residual on that one is pretty poor, like 39% for 36 months. So you would expect to see a $19,500 balloon payment at the end of 36 months.

Your payment will be $30,500, plus taxes, over 36 months @ 2.7%. If you put nothing down of course, and leaving off rebate and that. If you do 48 months, your residual is of course lower, but you are paying that difference over another 12 months, so you get a slightly lower payment.

One key thing to note you may have noticed, I mentioned a residual of 39% which is based on 15k miles/year. If you do fewer miles, you gain about 1% residual per level. So 13,500 would be 40%, 12,000 would be 41%, etc.

So if you are pretty confident you are going to purchase it at the end of your options term, some have said they put down 7,000 miles/year to get the best residual. This doesn't make money magically appear or anything. It lowers your monthly payment now, but you will have a larger balloon payment at the end. So if the market craters, or Ford announces the next gen Mach-e and the market for your Mach-e at least craters, and you try to give it back to Ford because it's worth less than the balloon payment, you better hope you actually drove 21k miles or less over three years.

Anyway, I know that's a lot. But I went through the same back and forth, and basically up until the night before I was set on doing finance. 1.9% is impossible to get right now, and no guarantee the interest rates will be settled back down by then. Also, 2.7% any way you slice it is more than 1.9%, but the rebate eats up most of that for 36 months.

In the end I went with Options. It brought down the monthly payment by $200 just about, and odds are decent I will find at least a good rate in three years if we really intend to keep it, or I hedged by bets and did 12k miles/year, which is reasonable, in case it's not worth it in that doomsday scenario and I give it back to Ford Credit and walk away.

Good luck!

 

[devmach-e]

Does anyone know what the highest percentage you can put down on Ford options purchase?

I believe it is 30%, at least that is what I put down 4 months ago.

 

[lucky13]

Does anyone know what the incentives were in February? Ordered a Premium ER AWD if that matters.

 

[RP_GT]

I just went through this back and forth when I signed last Friday.

A few things to clarify:
Someone said above what current incentives are, to a point that doesn't matter, assuming you ordered the car you intend to sign for. You get incentives at time of delivery or time of order. So while incentives are pretty much nonexistent or interest rates are much higher for anyone that bought at today's price, most everyone will pick the incentives when they ordered.

So for us, incentives when we ordered in November were:
2.7% for 36 or 48 Months
$1000 rebate
or
1.9% for 60 months traditional finance

The amount of your balloon payment will depend on both your MSRP and your trim level. Just like a lease, Ford has a residual list for each trim level and it's based on 15,000 miles/year. So if you have a $50k Mach-e Select RWD, the residual on that one is pretty poor, like 39% for 36 months. So you would expect to see a $19,500 balloon payment at the end of 36 months.

Your payment will be $30,500, plus taxes, over 36 months @ 2.7%. If you put nothing down of course, and leaving off rebate and that. If you do 48 months, your residual is of course lower, but you are paying that difference over another 12 months, so you get a slightly lower payment.

One key thing to note you may have noticed, I mentioned a residual of 39% which is based on 15k miles/year. If you do fewer miles, you gain about 1% residual per level. So 13,500 would be 40%, 12,000 would be 41%, etc.

So if you are pretty confident you are going to purchase it at the end of your options term, some have said they put down 7,000 miles/year to get the best residual. This doesn't make money magically appear or anything. It lowers your monthly payment now, but you will have a larger balloon payment at the end. So if the market craters, or Ford announces the next gen Mach-e and the market for your Mach-e at least craters, and you try to give it back to Ford because it's worth less than the balloon payment, you better hope you actually drove 21k miles or less over three years.

Anyway, I know that's a lot. But I went through the same back and forth, and basically up until the night before I was set on doing finance. 1.9% is impossible to get right now, and no guarantee the interest rates will be settled back down by then. Also, 2.7% any way you slice it is more than 1.9%, but the rebate eats up most of that for 36 months.

In the end I went with Options. It brought down the monthly payment by $200 just about, and odds are decent I will find at least a good rate in three years if we really intend to keep it, or I hedged by bets and did 12k miles/year, which is reasonable, in case it's not worth it in that doomsday scenario and I give it back to Ford Credit and walk away.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the great detail! That was what I was looking for. Sounds like I need to call up my salesperson and find out what my options and incentives(if any) are for financing.

I just wanted to get an idea of what people were getting...and choosing before I call. When I ordered my MME on 3/24 all I walked away with was a piece of paper with my MSRP price signed by the head dude to guarantee MSRP. We did not talk about financing incentives or anything at that time.

Is there anything that guarantees I will get the financing/incentives at the time that I ordered? I feel like they are just 'accidentally' forget about that. The more I know the better. Thanks so much!!!!

 

[Vulnox]

Thanks so much for the great detail! That was what I was looking for. Sounds like I need to call up my salesperson and find out what my options and incentives(if any) are for financing.

I just wanted to get an idea of what people were getting...and choosing before I call. When I ordered my MME on 3/24 all I walked away with was a piece of paper with my MSRP price signed by the head dude to guarantee MSRP. We did not talk about financing incentives or anything at that time.

Is there anything that guarantees I will get the financing/incentives at the time that I ordered? I feel like they are just 'accidentally' forget about that. The more I know the better. Thanks so much!!!!

I don't know what rules there are around forcing a dealer to present you with the financing/incentives at time of order, but there is nothing that I can think of that would make it worth their while to not give them to you. The financing/incentives come from Ford, not the dealer. So the dealer shouldn't care which you take and should be helping you get the best ones.

 

[SaulGoodman]

Help me to make sure that I’m understanding correctly - if I purchase a 72k vehicle (this is actually on a lightning, but this site has way more experience) with 50% residual @ 36mo I’m essentially financing 36k over 36 + 36k balloon. So if I have 20k cash to put down I’d be financing 16 over 36 +36k?

 

[JRSNoVa]

Help me to make sure that I’m understanding correctly - if I purchase a 72k vehicle (this is actually on a lightning, but this site has way more experience) with 50% residual @ 36mo I’m essentially financing 36k over 36 + 36k balloon. So if I have 20k cash to put down I’d be financing 16 over 36 +36k?

Not exactly. You're financing both the $36k that will be paid off before the balloon and the $36k balloon. If you try to calculate a payment or back out the rate assuming you're just financing the one half you get a crazy finance rate.

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