cgilbert

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. I was shopping around for a GT convertible between '02 - '04 and came across an '05 GT Premium convertible. None of the dealers in the area have them, any coming in are spoken for. This one is new, but at a used car dealer. He says he wrangled it from a dealer out of state, his cost in it is $36,500.00.

She's a beauty and after driving it I'm tempted. I know they are scarce around here, but are they selling for $37K? I saw another post where someone put some up that were for sale in the mid-30's and some comments were that they were priced to high. Is the demand and lack of supply running the price up to where this car would be a good deal?

Thanks for any experienced thoughts.

SilverR1_04

Too high, you can get it for about $32k out the door here

05vert

Depends on your location and where you're willing to travel to. In New England....there were a shipment of 4 loaded black convertibles in Feb, all identical. Three shops added 5k to the price...of course they were the shops close to me, near Boston. One dealership 100 miles away was asking MSRP, that's where I got mine, for 33,900...again, fully loaded (but not Auto). Out of curiousity, I recently checked those other dealers...the other black verts are gone. I also talked to a dealer around here that got 40k for a loaded blue one.

I didn't mind paying MSRP for a car in such high demand....but there was no way I was paying more... My 2 cents.

bigmustangfan

I totally agree 05Vert. I can stomach MSRP, I mean at least somewhere, someone put that value on the car. But I wouldn't pay one dime over and I would never do business with a dealer that asked it. It is a free market economy so they should be allowed to charge what they want but, to me, it is a much greater indication of their true focus. I like to form a relationship with a dealer and send friends and family. That requires a lot of trust in knowing that they are going to treat people right. Othewise, they can make you look like a fool. Any dealer that is going to blatently and opening sell a Mustang GT for 40k is going to have no problem sticking it to Grandma on the Crown Vic.

ChristopherCamel

anything over msrp is no good for me..you know it really only costs probably not even have the cost of it to actually build it..i got mine for like 21,500 and i figure it probably only really cost 12-14k to build and all that..and yet ford profits are still down..go figure

bigmustangfan

I am not so sure the margin is that high to be fair, especially on a V6. It is the options they make high margins on. I don't know if anyone has read Iacocca, of course the father of the Mustang, but in that book he goes into some fair detail about the business. I am not 100% sure this is exact as it has been years since I read it but he used GM as an example. He said GM would build a Cavalier for say 8k and sell it for 9k but a Cadillac that cost 9 to 10k to build sold for mid 20's. I would imagine that Ford is making say 10 to 15% on the V6 maybe 25% on the GT and then possibly 50% on special editions like the Cobra. These are of course total guesses. I could see it being lower as the Mustang is hands down the most bang for the buck, really across the line. At 50/60k GM is racking it in on Vette's and I am sure what Iacocca said about the Caddy's still rings true. The extra money on a Caddy is not going into quality that is for sure.

Tres Wright

==He says he wrangled it from a dealer out of state, his cost in it is $36,500.00==

He paid too much, and now he's trying to pass that pain (and then some) on to you. A premium GT vert with every possible option is around 34.5k sticker I think. A lesser equipped GT vert is as low as 32k sticker. It's still a seller's market on GTs, but you should at least be able to get down to sticker.

cgilbert

Well, my experience is that now the '05 Premium convertibles are at a Premium. I could find the 4.0 verts, but not the 4.6. I've talked at length with a sales rep that I know here at the local Ford dealership. Problem is, I drove one and then I NEEDED one!

Rather than buy the black one in town I took a shot and found what I really wanted in IL. Torch Red, with red interior, my dream car, and I paid 37K, MSRP was 33780.

I can appreciate the fact that those of you who replied had the foresight to purchase early on and avoid paying premium. I know all the Ford dealerships are kicking themselves for not adding at least a couple of K to any vehicle they sold now, but they're honoring the orders at sticker, alot of people are still waiting.

The bottomline here for me is, even though it cost me a bit more, I have the car I really wanted, and over the years I'll get much enjoyment and satisfaction out of it.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I think my situation will become more the norm, rather than the exception.

So now I'm a proud owner and look forward to spending time here on the boards!

bigmustangfan

If your happy then hell, a deal is a deal. To-be-fair I think the 3k extra you paid is relative. If it is worth that to you then fantastic. Many have spent far more for far less. I by no means think people are crazy to spend over MSRP to get anything if demand adds a premium. My gripe is with the dealerships focusing more on the few extra grand than the value to the customer. I guess the truth is, in your case they did provide that value by the way of stocking your dream car.

In perspective though, you did only spend 3k extra, there is talk of people spending 10k extra, to me that is close to robbery. The roughly 10% you paid is at least justifably and reasonable.

Congrats on the car!!

Cheers....

Lawman165

The problem with paying over MSRP for a car like the Mustang is the fact that eventually supply will catch up with demand and people will be paying under sticker within a couple of years. The 2005 will never be worth the extra thousands people are paying for them (atleast not in our lifetimes). Especially a daily driver which i assume most of the cars that we talk about here will be.