Do these prices sound reasonable?

[trvlrschick]

I have two different dealers I requested prices from. They both took foooooooreeeeeeeeeeveeeeeeeeeeeer to get me prices (I started the process on Friday, and I finally got the price breakdown today), and this is for a Ruby Red Hybrid Titanium with a medium soft ceramic interior, with adaptive cruise control, driver's assistance package, heated and cooled seats, and a heated steering wheel.

 

Place #1

$32,336 Sale Price (includes rebates)
$1403 VA Sales Tax
$795 Freight
$499 Processing
$85 VA Tags

$35,118 Out The Door

 

Place #2:

MSRP: $36,125

Sale Price before rebate: $32,585

Freight: $795

Processing: $200

Sales Tax in VA: $1,007.40

Tags: $351

Total before rebate: $34,938.40

Rebate: $1,250 including private offer

Total balance: $33,688.40

Place #2 is actually for a grey Fusion, but with the brick red seats, so I figure the price is similar.

Obviously place #2 has a better price... but what the heck is up with those tags? VA DMV charges $59 if you go and get your car registered in person! Maybe he's rolling some of the tax and part of the processing into the tags? HAs anyone ever told a dealer not to both with doing the tags and gone and done it yourself? I was just going to ditch the plates they give me anyway, since I will qualify for one of those license plates that lets you go in the HOV lane alone.

Are either of those prices they gave me good deals?

[thavil]

I'm not going to attempt to tell you if you got a good price or not, I'm lacking in that department. What I do want to mention is if you are looking at the Ford extended warranty. I don't see it in your quotes but they may not mention it until you start working with the finance department. If you think you are going to purchase it from your dealer, check out Flood Ford's site before you go http://www.floodfordesp.com/esp_plans.php?PlanDetailID=18&ModelID=15&VehicleYear=2014&VehicleMileage=5&StateID=47&Surcharge1=0&AWD=0&Surcharge4=0&Surcharge2=0&Surcharge3=0&Submit=Continue. Print out the chart of their prices and tell the dealer that you would like for them to match Flood's price. In most cases, Flood is selling the same warranty at half the price.

Edited October 15, 2013 by thavil

[jeff_h]

Looks to me like deal #1 is a VA dealer with the $499 processing fee, and deal #2 is a MD dealer with the $200 processing fee. The difference in the tags cost is likely due to deal #1 not including the $64 per year hybrid tax that should be included with registration (you'd think a VA dealer would know that) and is quoting cost of a 1-year registration -- whereas deal #2 is including the hybrid tax and is quoting a 2-year registration -- that's my guess on the difference. To get a better comparison it's probably a good idea to ask both to itemize all of the costs and then you can list them yourself on a spreadsheet side-by-side and see which is better.

 

Normally I will get a reply back from a dealer same-day, I wouldn't call a couple days 'forever' but it still is a bit odd. Let us know how it goes.

[trvlrschick]

jeff_h: You're right about where the dealers are located. Why are VA dealers' processing fees so high? $500 for processing just seems insane to me. I have asked the MD dealer why the tags are so high (actually, I asked yesterday afternoon and still haven't heard back), so hopefully you're right about why. And it felt like forever when I would email in the morning asking for a price on a car that I was planning on ordering, he'd FINALLY email me back that evening, I would immediately reply, not get an answer, then he'd email me back the next morning and say he'd get the price breakdown for me, then nothing until that night when I would email to ask where it was and he would respond that he didn't have time to get it for me, he'd get it Monday (that was Saturday), and then I didn't get it until late Monday afternoon. Getting a price breakdown is apparently a lot of work, because that's about how it went down at both dealers, except the VA dealer emailed me a price on a Fusion, after I had laid out EXACTLY what I wanted in the email, and included nav and moonroof, both of which I said I didn't want!

 

Car buying is such a hassle.

[hybridbear]

Shooting for invoice price before any Ford rebates is a good starting point. It's very wise on your part to be considering all these fees. I don't know about laws where you are but in MN you don't have to worry about the fees because the dealers are limited by law to a maximum $75 document fee on a car sale and are only allowed to charge exactly what they send to the state for the other license fees, etc, so they can't build profit into those fees. Not all states have such laws though, so it's very smart on your part to ask for the breakdown of the fees.

[Toz]

is "X Plan" an option for you? Not sure it is the cheapest way to go, but it sure is easy.

[Eddie Sessum]

When I look at window stickers the $795 destination and delivery is included in the MSRP. Dont know why its listed seperate from MSRP and its part of it.

[jeff_h]

When I look at window stickers the $795 destination and delivery is included in the MSRP. Dont know why its listed seperate from MSRP and its part of it.

 

I expect the MD dealer that is being referenced is the same one where we bought my wife's Energi - they leave that $795 rate out of the online posted price, though it is noted in the fine print -- simple gimmick to get someone onto the lot for a test drive and the selling tactics, etc.

[trvlrschick]

Toz - I can do the X-Plan, but when I customized the car on the Ford website using the X-Plan, it was actually more expensive than the prices quoted above. I think that the MD dealer, at least, might be close to invoice. jeff_h, the MD dealer is Apple Ford, is that the one you got your wife's car from?

[thavil]

When I look at window stickers the $795 destination and delivery is included in the MSRP. Dont know why its listed seperate from MSRP and its part of it.

 

This dealer may do what my dealer does in Waldorf, MD. Destination is already included in the MSRP price but they snuck in a Freight charge of the same amount that I didn't catch until it was too late. Their definition of freight is advertising cost and vehicle prep. The way they listed it on the paperwork was very clever and got me.

[jeff_h]

jeff_h, the MD dealer is Apple Ford, is that the one you got your wife's car from?

 

The very same... I do like that they post prices on their web site (as opposed to some dealers who just post 'call us') but leaving that $795 freight out and just having it in the fine print is a way to make them appear to be lower than the rest.

[trvlrschick]

This dealer may do what my dealer does in Waldorf, MD. Destination is already included in the MSRP price but they snuck in a Freight charge of the same amount that I didn't catch until it was too late. Their definition of freight is advertising cost and vehicle prep. The way they listed it on the paperwork was very clever and got me.

Wow, that's pretty slimy. Which dealership was that?

[thavil]

Wow, that's pretty slimy. Which dealership was that?

I agree and it was Waldorf Ford. The service department is excellent though.

[Eddie Sessum]

Just spoke to a dealership about how there current pricing is cheaper than xplan. They said that atleast for them adding the xplan code in will give them extra money off and it gives them more money coming on the backend. On a energi they actually almost gave the whole amount msrp to xplan price in addition to dealer discounts and all kinda of other things. Dont know how it works exactly but if the number is lower on the final paperwork. Whos going to complain?

[trvlrschick]

Eddie, are you saying that the X-Plan isn't lowering the price for the Energi? Or that the X-Plan can be cheaper than the deal I was offered, but it just doesn't look that way on the website?

[Eddie Sessum]

Ask the dealer giving you the price thats in line with x-plan pricing what kind of price they can do if you gave them an xplan pin. Every one ive talked too can do cheaper when they are already around the xplan offical price.

[acdii]

truecar.com. I have found that site to have the most realistic pricing anywhere, and no haggle coupons too.

[trvlrschick]

I just placed my order! Ruby red HyTi, heated/cooled medium soft ceramic seats, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control, driver's assistance package, all-weather floor mats. I'm super excited! The salesman said it would come in 6 weeks, and to that I scoffed internally and expect it to come in January sometime.

[Eddie Sessum]

Current build time from order to delivery is 4.5months on the fusion hybrid. Your waiting for job 2 so id add another month to that. so 5.5-6months.

[timf]

Job 2 is being scheduled now, so that won't add in any additional delay. Fleet ordering time may be 4-5 months, but that's not always indicitave of how long normal dealer orders take. It all depends on how much allocation a dealer has. If they have plenty of allocation, a customer's order can be prioritized at the front of the line and scheduled the very next week, built a month later, and delivered a couple weeks after that. I'd be interested to hear reports of actual timing from people who have ordered recently.

[hybridbear]

I just placed my order! Ruby red HyTi, heated/cooled medium soft ceramic seats, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control, driver's assistance package, all-weather floor mats. I'm super excited! The salesman said it would come in 6 weeks, and to that I scoffed internally and expect it to come in January sometime.

If you haven't already you may want to check out this section on Blue Oval Forums: http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/forum/80-vehicle-locator-by-ford-employees/

Be sure to carefully read & follow the rules. It's a very generous service provided by a Ford employee. You could then alternate requests for status updates between asking on BOF and asking your dealer for updates.