New GT purchase story...

[Cool Runnin']

I live in So. Fla. and abolfaz's post is why you can't seem to buy a "hot" car locally. Dealers know you're right as to market value, but they also know there's plenty of local people who just don't care what it costs and they're gonna buy the car. So they smile and say $225K in an MSRP market.

 

[BlackICE]

If dealers in their local mkts can get 220k, then they are doing the right thing by selling them for that price. People in FL that want to get better prices will have to do the leg work and get a car in another state, and I thought CA was bad. I would guess that the current prices in CA are in the 175 to 185K for a fully loaded car.

BlackICE

 

[todd]

Before I got mine I would sit in bed with the laptop and watch tv & surf the car sites. I must have played the Ford commercial for my wife a dozen times.
I was also watching prices on E-bay and one night I found one for 156k "buy it now " So I showed the wife the listing and she said "If you really want it buy it" that was all I needed to hear. I took the next day off and went to the local Ford dealer. They had a red one on the floor for 185k, I told them about the e-bay listing and told them I was buying one today for 156k or less "do YOU want my business?" Well I got mine for less. They understood the market and I am glad to buy locally. The dealership has been first rate with me. I know some dealers don't care to warranty your car if you did not buy it from them. So in the end it worked out good for both of us.
So all this babbaling is to say if you show the dealer what they are selling for they should come down and meet the price point.

 

[BlackICE]

I tried that with a dealer only 40 miles from me. The car was the same in everyway including being only different by a few numbers in the vin number. He said he couldn't sell it to me for less that 175K or he would lose money. He claimed it bought if from another dealer for more than invoice and had a lot of carry costs on the car. I told him that his costs weren't any concern of mine and I not paying a lot more for a local dealer. We parted ways in a professional manor, unlike my dealings with some others.

BlackICE

 

[STUNTS]

Southern CAL prices are still high. There are some rarities. When the market was hot in summer of 2005, prices were pushing $300. I believe the median was about 250 or 270 nation wide at the time. I did my research and my haggling and ended up paying $200 which at the time was a steal. Obviously now there are many more happier stories then mine (you guys at MSRP/congrats,much envy) Still, the median paying price is fluttering around 207 -210 K. So, ... like my grandfather once said, "There is an A_S for every seat and mine is sitting in a GT :thumbsup

 

[bigdan40]

Do any you guys think Ford is building too many GT's? My opinion is that they are simply because of the demographics. Their certainly are way more then 4,000 people who can afford this car but with inventory piling up on the dealer's lots and all the 05's that are still around, you have to wonder if the market has tapped out! I hope we don't see a desperation frenzy on the part of the dealers to move what's left (current built and pipeline cars). Does anyone know the exact number's in total to date (car's already built vs. cars that are burning gas)? At this point I personally believe it's more important for Ford to embrace the image of this wonderful work of modern day art, not to meet some out of thin air unit number's for the sake of just that, hitting the number!!! Look forward to hearing everyone's feedback...

 

[Craig]

I priced mine through endmunds.com, just playing around one day in Feb. It then asked if I wanted a quote from a local dealer, and I said yes. 30 minutes later I had an email quote for MSRP from a local dealer in San Diego. I thought it was an auto generated internet response, so didn't really belive it. A second later the phone ring and it was the dealer asking if I had received the quote and they confirmed the price. I went over that evening and wrote a check. Driving it has completely exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high. :banana :thumbsup :banana

Craig

 

[rsilverman]

Too many?

Big Dan, something you have to realize also is that alot of dealers are asking over MSRP, sometimes alot over MSRP. So the inventory just sits around. If you see a car sitting at a dealership and ask them the price, you'll see that they're asking alot. They don't seem to mind sitting on the inventory.
Personally, I'd never pay over MSRP for any car, and alot of people share my sentiment. So, people wait. I agree with you though, that 4000 seems like alot of cars, and they may not all get sold for years.

 

[bigdan40]

Well said guys! I just don't want to see the car ever get whored out if the dealers start to get desperate because they're paying alot of juice to floor plan the car! Think about some of the 05's that have been sitting for a year or close to that time frame. That's alot of wood to carry and at some point it could actually become a losing proposition if the dealer "only" ends up at list. As far as the car dropping below list, it shouldn't. If you can afford a few grand off list, you can afford list!!! The guys who bought the earlier cars way over list did because they could and I admire them for their desire to be "first on the block" with a GT. I truly believe that most if not all the owners of this vehicle are truly car guys that just filled out a childhood dream, not collectors or investors. To rsilverman, I here what you're saying about never wanting to pay over but keep in my that sometimes any market can demand that. Heck, weren't people paying over the Chevy SSR pick-up a few years ago and that was a 45k vehicle. They can't give that thing away now, instead of 10k over it's 10k under. Let's not let that happen to the GT. I was lucky enough to pay list also (see first paragraph in this thread), I hope it doesn't go one penny under.

 

[DanM]

New Purchase Experience

I am a new GT owner also. I bought mine at sticker two weeks ago. In MN, there have been between 8-10 GTs within 30 miles almost all being advertised at sticker. I am surprised some are still here since there seems to be demand elsewhere and the cost of transporting is small relative to the price. My buying experience was. I drove out and nspected the car and confirmed where it had come from. It was a 2005 and was probably one of the last built. It had been at a rural dealer in the Dakotas. I called the next day and they quoted me MSRP and gave me two weeks to decide. I took about two days and haven't regretted it. I also have met two other GT owners since then who live within 5 miles of me. It has been great fun to drive, to give kids rides in my neighborhood, and just enjoy the overall experience.

 

[rsilverman]

GT Sales

Centerpunch, I only hope you're right on the money, and they do all get sold by the end of the year. I've heard so many theories about why dealers don't mind sitting on unsold GT's, that I'm not sure what their motivation is.
If indeed they're 'renting' the cars from Ford, they have the luxury of time. If they bought them and they're representing a huge hunk of unsold inventory, I can only imagine that they'd want to move them ASAP. On a good note, they're still holding their value a hell of alot better than any new Porsche.

 

[ChipBeck]

Rent

Quote from earlier post............My understanding is that the dealers are allocated these cars which means they are paying "RENT" on these cars to Ford until they sell them. The longer they hold a car, they more they pay. This is true and not an urban legend. Some stories may vary. But I was told that Ford Motor Co. still owns them (unless otherwise possibly bought from the owner etc...).........................

Here's the lowdown.

The proper term is "floorplan" and not all dealers need to do it. When you're first starting out as a car dealer cash is generally short and it's not uncommon to have 5 millon dollars (or far more) tied up in new Ford inventory. So when the cars come in the dealer can pay 2% to 5% of the invoice price and finance the rest at prime or close to it. Depending upon interest rates the dealer may get 30 to 60 days free floorplan but then the interest charges start to pile up. You can use your own bank or Ford Motor Credit to do your floorplanning and whatever bank you use will use your inventory to secure your credit line but they do not lein each individual car so they perform inventory checks periodically. When a car is sold the amount floorplanned on that unit must be paid off within 48 hours. Floorplan on a new Ford GT is currently about $1000.00 per month. :ack But here's the catch. Once a dealer has been in business for many years he will generally have enough money to pay cash for all his inventory and avoid all finance charges. Obviously when you get to this point you can make a ton of money by saving $50,000.00 plus per month in flooring charges. This dealer may find the promotional value of having a GT on the showroom floor greater than the opportunity cost of having $150,000 tied up in his GT so it sits with an unrealistic price on it for months. Eventually he gets tired of looking at it and tells the Sales Manager to SELL IT. Even dealers who do floorplan their inventory own the cars, they don't rent them. Kind of like you own your home with a mortgage. Oh yeah, I was a new car dealer for 20 years. There you have it.

Chip

 

[DanM]

Dealer Costs

So I am wondering if anyone knows what the dealer holdbacks are on this car and what their costs are? I have heard anywhere from 130K to 150K.

 

[rsilverman]

Invoice?

According to Edmunds, if the MSRP is 150, than the invoice is 137K. I'm not sure about any other dealer holdback or incentive.
Rob

 

[ChipBeck]

So I am wondering if anyone knows what the dealer holdbacks are on this car and what their costs are? I have heard anywhere from 130K to 150K.

The car is marked up 11% (very close but not exact) and dealer holdback is 3%. The holdback is used to defray the cost of floorplanning the cars for the dealers who need to. It goes in a check to dealers who don't. In addition, the dealer must pay factory advertising fees of 1% to 2% per car for association advertising.

Chip