A little perspective on dealer incentive to give a rip about your order...

[jahl]

I am not an apologist for car dealers, you need not look far to find me showing my low thoughts on car salesmen. But the fact remains, they have little incentive to give much thought to your order.

I will use one of my recent Maverick purchases as an example. The difference between invoice (what they pay for the truck) and msrp (what they sold it to me for) was $240. That is right, two hundred and forty dollars. My out the door price was msrp plus registration (which goes to the state) plus sales tax. The dealer made $240 dollars to pay a salesman to take and track my order and give me updates, pay a bookkeeper to process the paperwork between the dealer and Ford and between the dealer and the state, pay a garage guy to take a few hours to clean and prep and go through the PDI checklist, and pay $50 bucks to fill the truck with gas.

Not to mention their routine cost of operating.

This is about 10% of their typical take on a new vehicle sold. Don't be shocked when they don't seem super motivated. And if they do happen to be great, bring them a bottle of something nice when you pick up your truck.

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[22MavXLT]

I get what you are saying, but most dealers charge for the paperwork, at least $499 if not more. My dealer charges $699 to file them, and it's all electronic. And I can assure you, nobody is spending 3-4 hours cleaning your truck. They pay someone barely minimum wage to run it thru a car wash and then dry it off and put tire shine on it that slings all over the vehicle the second you drive off. They may not make much money on these trucks, the quality and attitude of each salesperson/dealership goes a long way in return business. That's where they make their money. That and the service/parts dept. My sales guy is actually a friend of my wife's family, so he is always more than helpful to us and I appreciate that. Hell, just last year alone he sold us 4 different vehicles within 3 months and placed my order for my new Maverick which will be here this week or next. So he made some good commission on the other vehicles.

 

[dcs12345]

They get more than the difference between what you pay and the invoice… there is “dealer holdback” payments from the manufacturer. It is usually a certain percentage of the invoice or msrp

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

Since it sounds like you have a copy of your invoice, look in the lower-left corner for a box labeled HB. This is the holdback amount that the dealer receives post-sale. On my XLT, it was $592.

HRG

 

[Mav_RICK]

But the point is true regardless. The Maverick is a small return compared to many other models. The packages they add and mods is another place they make money though.

 

[realshelby]

And...Ford pays for the fuel fill up........not the dealer.

 

[Sleeper 7]

I am not an apologist for car dealers, you need not look far to find me showing my low thoughts on car salesmen. But the fact remains, they have little incentive to give much thought to your order.

I will use one of my recent Maverick purchases as an example. The difference between invoice (what they pay for the truck) and msrp (what they sold it to me for) was $240. That is right, two hundred and forty dollars. My out the door price was msrp plus registration (which goes to the state) plus sales tax. The dealer made $240 dollars to pay a salesman to take and track my order and give me updates, pay a bookkeeper to process the paperwork between the dealer and Ford and between the dealer and the state, pay a garage guy to take a few hours to clean and prep and go through the PDI checklist, and pay $50 bucks to fill the truck with gas.

Not to mention their routine cost of operating.

This is about 10% of their typical take on a new vehicle sold. Don't be shocked when they don't seem super motivated. And if they do happen to be great, bring them a bottle of something nice when you pick up your truck.

I remember when invoices were 25% under MSRP. The manufacturers really backed the dealers into a corner. Thats also why no really good deals to be had anymore.

 

[jahl]

I can assure you, nobody is spending 3-4 hours cleaning your truck. They pay someone barely minimum wage to run it thru a car wash and then dry it off .

Truck was delivered at 5pm on a Friday. My dealer is not open on weekends. 12 inches of snow fell over the weekend. A few thousand miles of railroad dust, covered in snow and ice, is not fixed with a quick spin through the wash. Not to mention when they get a truck delivery, there is a decent amount of jockeying vehicles around, and in and out of the shop.

Also, nobody ever said they take 4 hours to wash the truck. The claim was a "few hours" to run through the pre delivery fill and check list, and to clean it.

 

[jahl]

Since it sounds like you have a copy of your invoice, look in the lower-left corner for a box labeled HB. This is the holdback amount that the dealer receives post-sale. On my XLT, it was $592.

HRG

4 bills even on the XL. Salesman usually will not see any of that.

 

[Nw_adventure]

And...Ford pays for the fuel fill up........not the dealer.

I got hit with a fuel charge but did pay dealer invoice price which saved almost $1k off MSRP -

 

[jahl]

And...Ford pays for the fuel fill up........not the dealer.

Wrong. Each Maverick leaves Hermasillo with about a gallon of gas. Dealers that top it off do so as part of their delivery prep, on their dime.

 

[bbhaag]

I would like to see the paperwork for this. It's one thing to say "My dealer only made $240 on the sale of my truck" and it's another thing to prove it.

Sorry bro this is the internet.....your word ain't worth shit to me.

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

Wrong. Each Maverick leaves Hermasillo with about a gallon of gas. Dealers that top it off do so as part of their delivery prep, on their dime.

Really? Take another look at your invoice.

Me thinks we have us a troll,,,,,

HRG

 

[JBryant]

If dealers only made $240 BEFORE paying sales commissions, prep people, office people, etc. they would ALL go out of business within a week. Agreed that the salesman may not make that much, but with the Holdbacks and other incentives, the dealer is making some money. I know you hear from dealers that they make most of their money on service and warranty work, and that probably is true, but when they charge a labor rate of $125+ per hour, do you think the mechanics are getting that. My guess is that they get about 1/4 of that are less. Dealers, like every other business, are there to make money, and they find ways to do it.

 

[bgn]

...now add holdback they get (3% I believe), doc fees, the average warranty cost (averaged across all customers, as some won't buy), and any service fees they receive for warranty work and any maintenance certain folks will go to them for.

The customer lifetime value is much, much higher than $240.

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