Greedy Ford Dealers are squandering Ford's $7500 tax credit advantage over Tesla

[shutterbug]

Ford had four options at the time of your sale, and six options now. You made your selection given the packaging choices offered, with all else also being considered.

Somehow you chose the Mustang Mach-E First Edition instead of a Ranger or Rogue or Range Rover. ?‍

Only since you mentioned it, Ranger offers a choice of 3 different wheels on the base trim Ranger, and 5 on Lariat.

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[BMT1071]

Only since you mentioned it, Ranger offers a choice of 3 different wheels on the base trim Ranger, and 5 on Lariat.

I'm with Joseph. It wound be nice to have a choice of wheels without having to select a different trim level.

 

[BMT1071]

I'm with Joseph. It wound be nice to have a choice of wheels without having to select a different trim level.

That said, most if not all manufacturers have a significant upcharge for nicer wheels.

 

[theo1000]

Year one EV models often have very limited trims/options. Compared to what I had on the first year Etron options the MME actually has a ton of options and selections available. I would imagine more wheel options will become available in due time. As will things like, operable roof, roller sunshade(ID4? offers it), More color choices (God we need more color choices), etc

 

[JeffKeryk]

Dealerships are evil. Tesla's mfg direct selling model will be the preferred (dominant?) process in the future. The dealer model only adds cost, which you and I pay.

 

[BMT1071]

Dealerships are evil. Tesla's mfg direct selling model will be the preferred (dominant?) process in the future. The dealer model only adds cost, which you and I pay.

Some dealerships are evil. I doubt the direct sales model will overcome the NADA opposition in our lifetimes. The dealer model provides service in exchange for the cost. The unfortunate part is that the quality of service varies widely.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Yes, but service and sales are 2 different things.

 

[BMT1071]

Yes, but service and sales are 2 different things.

I meant service in the general sense, not specifically the service department. There are decent sales people out there that are knowledgeable about the vehicles they sell. Dealerships make test drives fairly easy and convenient. For the average consumer that doesn't put in the time to research vehicles, dealerships are very useful.

 

[buzznwood]

Dealerships are evil. Tesla's mfg direct selling model will be the preferred (dominant?) process in the future. The dealer model only adds cost, which you and I pay.

It also adds cost to the manufacture as each year people expect more and more from a vehicle and manufactures have to try and keep up while keeping costs to a minimum which is going to be trickier for certain brands as people have a mental ceiling of how much brand x costs and it can be hard for manufactures move far away from that ceiling so the only way to compete it to lower the perceived quality hard plastics, cheaper switch gear.

Removing what is a glorified middle man will help the manufactures no end, with a general trend towards people only interested in the monthly cost of a vehicle it puts main stream brands at a disadvantage as the poor resale values ends up making the overall monthly cost equivalent to that of a premium brand so why bother getting the supposed cheaper option, If manufactures could sell direct while the final sale price won't magically drop it will gives them more leeway.

Dealerships with any sense know the writing is on the wall with the existing sales models and will be putting as many eggs into the service basket as possible which is where the dealership profit has always resided.

There is a whole generation growing up used to clicking a few buttons and purchasing online with minimal interaction with physical locations purchases beyond food and entertainment, these people are going to gravitate to manufactures that offer a similar route when it comes to vehicle purchasing.

I applaud ford for trying to work within the constraints of dealership model laws and you can see from the small discount from msrp with plan pricing that dealers should still be getting a nice return for keeping to plan / msrp pricing yet some dealers just can't help themselves which just highlights the point that the demise of the existing dealership sales model can't come soon enough.

 

[RyE]

When I bought mine, the sales guy was like "what do I need to do to get you in the car today", and I said I won't go a penny over MSRP. They had it listed about $3,200 above. I had asked for a breakdown of the cost and he tried to talk around the markup. I told him I'd gladly order one online from my phone as we were talking instead, and magically the markup disappeared.

 

[BMT1071]

It also adds cost to the manufacture as each year people expect more and more from a vehicle and manufactures have to try and keep up while keeping costs to a minimum which is going to be trickier for certain brands as people have a mental ceiling of how much brand x costs and it can be hard for manufactures move far away from that ceiling so the only way to compete it to lower the perceived quality hard plastics, cheaper switch gear.

Removing what is a glorified middle man will help the manufactures no end, with a general trend towards people only interested in the monthly cost of a vehicle it puts main stream brands at a disadvantage as the poor resale values ends up making the overall monthly cost equivalent to that of a premium brand so why bother getting the supposed cheaper option, If manufactures could sell direct while the final sale price won't magically drop it will gives them more leeway.

Dealerships with any sense know the writing is on the wall with the existing sales models and will be putting as many eggs into the service basket as possible which is where the dealership profit has always resided.

There is a whole generation growing up used to clicking a few buttons and purchasing online with minimal interaction with physical locations purchases beyond food and entertainment, these people are going to gravitate to manufactures that offer a similar route when it comes to vehicle purchasing.

I applaud ford for trying to work within the constraints of dealership model laws and you can see from the small discount from msrp with plan pricing that dealers should still be getting a nice return for keeping to plan / msrp pricing yet some dealers just can't help themselves which just highlights the point that the demise of the existing dealership sales model can't come soon enough.

Dealership profit has never resided in fixed operations. Fixed ops pays the bills. Sales/finance is where the profit lies.

 

[Brazenbuck]

And this is why dealers couldn’t care less about Tesla but are worried about Vroom and Carvana. Also, manufacturers aren’t that interested in direct sales because they love the default bulk sales they get from dealerships.

 

[RetiredDP]

dude it has AWD AND Navigation?! Sign me up!

THAT'S why the car costs that much over MSRP...the dealer installed custom navigation and changed it from 2wd to a custom 4wd...no wonder it costs so much!!! What's the name of their shop..."Stealership Kustoms"?

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