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New member/Oddball here. New member credentials: signed up and accepted this morning. Oddball credentials: 1) I love the toe-to-toe new car haggling/purchase experience (more later); 2) I do not worship at the altar of Costco; I know of no one else who doesn't belong to Costco; 3) I love holiday fruitcake. With all of that out of the way, let me share my recent purchase experience.
I have had my eye on a Maverick for 2 years or so and decided with the Q1 $2500 purchase incentives available it might be time to move forward and retire my 179k mile 2010 Mariner. The Mariner has been a workhorse and served me fathfully, but, I knew I was playing with a loaded gun at some point, wanted some type of small truck, and needed to move on. I targeted 9 month or older build date Mavericks knowing the 2026 models are on the ground and that dealer curtailment payments on aged stock is their kryptonite. Car dealers are in the business to sell cars, not own cars. 9 month and older vehicles have already gone through a couple rounds of curtailment payments and dealers need to clear them from their inventory to improve their cash flow and allotment totals moving forward. I found a 340 day old XLT in Azure Grey that had practically everything installed but was an oddball as well as it was approaching Lariat pricing. High range for the typical XLT buyer, Lariat buyer would just move to a Lariat. XLT MSRP was 38K+, sale price of $35.6, and the "internet specialist" gave me a price of $34.2. Now remember this is 340 days old and approaching it's one year birthday. My offer, $29,200. Internet guy immediately messages me that with all of the upgrades and options, there was no way they could do that and asked if I would be interested in an XL model in that price range. I told them, "No, just keep my name and contact info in your files and come back to me before the end of the month if anything changes." 3 days later, I get a "just checking in" message; I mention I am still looking elsewhere. 2 hours later I get a message from the Sales manager thanking me for my interest and asked if we could split the difference between our two positions at $31.7 and get the deal done "today". I tell them, No, my offer hasn't changed and I would look elsewhere. (Splitting the difference sounds reasonable but it is a trick to drag you up to their number and get you off of yours. Once you have your target offer set, do not split the difference. ) I then get a message from the store General Manager (!) telling me they want to keep the business local and they are flexibile to meet my needs. Now this tells me that they have not met their EOQ target and need to get sales in order to qualify for their Q1 dealer bonus which is applied to all sales back to car 1. They can take a loss on my sale and still make money on all cars sold in the quarter if they make the goal. Miss the goal and the Ford magic money is gone. Sales Manager then comes back to a quote of $30.7. I decide I want to get this done and counter with his language and offer to "split the difference" and even give a little to come up to $30.2. He sat on my offer for 10 hours on the last Saturday of the month , then, had the internet guy message me at 8pm that night that their price was their last and final offer. (I assume they made their sales goal during the Saturday and no longer need to move that vehicle to make their goal.) $500 difference to get rid of a lot queen! I note that the unit is still on the lot 17 days past it's first birthday.
I found a white 10 month old XLT elsewhere; MSRP $35.9 and paid $32.9 OTD TTL inclusive. I had to wrestle with them as well, but, as noted above, I am a bit of an oddball. I am a salesperson in another industry and negotiate much higher dollar projects. I know how the "game" is played. We all have to make a living, (including the car dealer), but, don't fall for the smoke and mirrors routine and do not get emotionally invested in a vehicle. They have to sell THEIR vehilce, I can buy ANYONE's vehicle. They offered me $800 for the Mariner, I sold it on Craigslist for $3100. It was all fun, but now I get to concentrate on the Mav. I found one of the last Matte black EGR hood protectors (they have been disco'd) and added some black domed tailgate letters and the tailgate assist. The RC bed mat is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I think a bakflip tonneau cover, Mangoal dash cam, and maybe some Mabett flares are in the near future as well.
This forum was very helpful when I was a lurker, but now as a member, I look forward to contributing positively as well.
Late Edit: I literally got an email this evening (19 days past the end of the quarter!) asking me if I was still in the market for a Maverick. Of course, I am not, and assume the one year curtailment payment must have been pretty painful for them to come chase me now. They can pound sand as far as I am concerned, but, just to be a PIA, I asked what new price was and that my offer price had sunk from previous level. I will post response when I get it.
I have had my eye on a Maverick for 2 years or so and decided with the Q1 $2500 purchase incentives available it might be time to move forward and retire my 179k mile 2010 Mariner. The Mariner has been a workhorse and served me fathfully, but, I knew I was playing with a loaded gun at some point, wanted some type of small truck, and needed to move on. I targeted 9 month or older build date Mavericks knowing the 2026 models are on the ground and that dealer curtailment payments on aged stock is their kryptonite. Car dealers are in the business to sell cars, not own cars. 9 month and older vehicles have already gone through a couple rounds of curtailment payments and dealers need to clear them from their inventory to improve their cash flow and allotment totals moving forward. I found a 340 day old XLT in Azure Grey that had practically everything installed but was an oddball as well as it was approaching Lariat pricing. High range for the typical XLT buyer, Lariat buyer would just move to a Lariat. XLT MSRP was 38K+, sale price of $35.6, and the "internet specialist" gave me a price of $34.2. Now remember this is 340 days old and approaching it's one year birthday. My offer, $29,200. Internet guy immediately messages me that with all of the upgrades and options, there was no way they could do that and asked if I would be interested in an XL model in that price range. I told them, "No, just keep my name and contact info in your files and come back to me before the end of the month if anything changes." 3 days later, I get a "just checking in" message; I mention I am still looking elsewhere. 2 hours later I get a message from the Sales manager thanking me for my interest and asked if we could split the difference between our two positions at $31.7 and get the deal done "today". I tell them, No, my offer hasn't changed and I would look elsewhere. (Splitting the difference sounds reasonable but it is a trick to drag you up to their number and get you off of yours. Once you have your target offer set, do not split the difference. ) I then get a message from the store General Manager (!) telling me they want to keep the business local and they are flexibile to meet my needs. Now this tells me that they have not met their EOQ target and need to get sales in order to qualify for their Q1 dealer bonus which is applied to all sales back to car 1. They can take a loss on my sale and still make money on all cars sold in the quarter if they make the goal. Miss the goal and the Ford magic money is gone. Sales Manager then comes back to a quote of $30.7. I decide I want to get this done and counter with his language and offer to "split the difference" and even give a little to come up to $30.2. He sat on my offer for 10 hours on the last Saturday of the month , then, had the internet guy message me at 8pm that night that their price was their last and final offer. (I assume they made their sales goal during the Saturday and no longer need to move that vehicle to make their goal.) $500 difference to get rid of a lot queen! I note that the unit is still on the lot 17 days past it's first birthday.
I found a white 10 month old XLT elsewhere; MSRP $35.9 and paid $32.9 OTD TTL inclusive. I had to wrestle with them as well, but, as noted above, I am a bit of an oddball. I am a salesperson in another industry and negotiate much higher dollar projects. I know how the "game" is played. We all have to make a living, (including the car dealer), but, don't fall for the smoke and mirrors routine and do not get emotionally invested in a vehicle. They have to sell THEIR vehilce, I can buy ANYONE's vehicle. They offered me $800 for the Mariner, I sold it on Craigslist for $3100. It was all fun, but now I get to concentrate on the Mav. I found one of the last Matte black EGR hood protectors (they have been disco'd) and added some black domed tailgate letters and the tailgate assist. The RC bed mat is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I think a bakflip tonneau cover, Mangoal dash cam, and maybe some Mabett flares are in the near future as well.
This forum was very helpful when I was a lurker, but now as a member, I look forward to contributing positively as well.
Late Edit: I literally got an email this evening (19 days past the end of the quarter!) asking me if I was still in the market for a Maverick. Of course, I am not, and assume the one year curtailment payment must have been pretty painful for them to come chase me now. They can pound sand as far as I am concerned, but, just to be a PIA, I asked what new price was and that my offer price had sunk from previous level. I will post response when I get it.
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