cugrad

Just curious how the current deal works on the dealer's side. Are they selling at employee price like they would if an A-plan qualified person walked up on any random day (i.e. they aren't making much on it) or is Ford subsidizing it as a back-end rebate so the dealer gets "sticker" price and the buyer pays A-plan, with the difference covered by Ford.

Reason I ask is that in method two, the dealers have significant room to move on the price. In method one, they don't. Considering an 09 but with the 2010's on the way and the fact that I qualify for X-plan through work, I can't see any reason to hand a dealer 27k for a GT in this market. Heck, I passed on ~25k six or so months ago before auto sales tanked (X-plan + 2500 in rebates if I remember correctly).

Thanks for the intel.

Atlanta_Tider

This employee pricing thing is just to get people in the door. Do your homework, get on the net and look for dealers who are advertising outrageous deals on cars elsewhere, print this, take it into your dealer and watch them match or beat the price. Right now some dealers still have 08's on the lot that they are giving away. In this bad economy the dealers are looking to move units, not to make tons of money off of the car. A great deal can be had now with cash.

Eldo In The Weeds

I'd like to know the answer to this too. I want to trade in my VW. If Ford is subsidizing the employee price then I know the dealer has more wiggle room and can give me a better price for my trade.

IceDemon

I just bought my Mustang last month and was told that Ford is giving the dealership the difference in price. They told me that they can't lower the price of the car though or Ford won't give them the difference. So they kept upping the amount they would give me for my trade in. I got way more for my trade in, then I would normally. You shouldn't be paying more then $25k for a plain 09 V8 Mustang GT and with all the fees they add on.

Eldo In The Weeds

Really good to know. That makes a big difference in how I run the deal. Thanks.

cugrad

Crud, I'm not trading in....maybe I could work it in terms of free FRPP parts.

cugrad

Crud, I'm not trading in....maybe I could work it in terms of free FRPP parts.

Actually, to me, 25k for a premium sounds like too much in this economy for a car whose replacement is so near at hand. Sounds like I probably won't be able to work a deal at the dealer, but I'll go talk to them anyway. I just wish they weren't such slimeballs.

IceDemon

I was talking along with the fees and taxes they add on, it shouldn't be more then $25k. The first offer they came back with was $33k with the fees and taxes.

I'm pretty sure they know a way to get their money from Ford and still get the price down for you with out a trade in. Ask for lifetime free tires, free oil changes, free gap insurance, free longer term warranty. Tell them to add on some nice wheels, maybe even a supercharge if that's what you want. They don't act like they'll jump through hoops to get the deal, but they will.

oh6vee6

I went into a dealer here on LI to get a car for my wife. They immediately dropped 3K of the price of an Escape XLT to beat the price a Nissan dealer gave me for a Rouge SL. The Escape was LOADED, Sync, Sunroof, etc... They were def lookin to make deals and they really wanted to give me that Employee pricing. And they were def jumping through hoops with very little prompting. G/L with your search.

Shelby_Daytona

I am the Business Manager at a Ford Dealership in northern Canada, I know the answers you seek.

To the OP: A-Plan is 2% below dealer cost, we do the deal for less than cost, submit a claim to Ford Motor Co and they give us a commission, usually enough to cover the amount we are losing, in order to break even. There is pretty much nothing to make on an A-Plan deal, EXCEPT in the summer when Ford has 'Employee Pricing' on, because they generally take away all other incentives, and give a credit back to the dealership of (depending on model) around $1000. Sometimes a little bit more, sometimes a little less.

X-Plan is slightly higher than our cost, for example, the Invoice I have sitting in front of me
2009 Ford Escape XLT I-4
MSRP: 30249 (Canadian)
Invoice Cost: 28234
X-Plan: 28867.28

So, there is a $633.28 margin. Ford has these X-Plan partners because they are exactly that, partners and they do get a deal. X-Plan pricing is set by Ford, and there is no wiggle room on that, it isn't negotiable like most regular retail deals are. The general consensus among people is that dealerships make $5-10,000 per unit, but that isnt the case at all. At my dealership, which has built its repuation on service and being honest, if one of the salespeople makes a $4000 gross profit, on a Used for example, management gives something back to the customer, because that is too much profit. We like repeat business, down the road, and that doesnt happen if we burry every customer by making huge profits. We do move ALOT of vehicles (623 this year) for the size of the population, of around 20,000, so making huge money on each deal isnt necessary. Please guys, remember there are some honest dealers out there.

To whoever posted this, Ford doesn't pay for 'Free Tires, Free Oil Changes, Free Gap Insurance, Free Warranty', if there is only $633.28 to make on a deal, how can the dealership throw in all that stuff, because it may be 'free' to the customer but it still costs us, the only time a dealership will do that is when they make huge money on you, and have the room to do so. Think about that next time they throw everything in for 'free'. Nobody is in business to lose money.