Ordered vs. Buying Off The Lot

[710-oil-614]

I bought right off the Showroom floor.
Got what I wanted.
From when I first laid eyes on my Truck to when I drove it off the lot was a bit over two hours.
No way I was gonna go months waiting.

Effectively though you did wait months. Most people who ordered 2025s did so back in August. I got my truck in January.

There aren’t a great number of folks mid year going to walk in and order a 2025.

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[HotRod Junkie]

Congrats OP


Bought mine off the lot as well.. Searched the usual web sites for months and eventually found a 24' XLT Eco with a ton of options. It sat on the lot for a while and I stopped in one afternoon and made a deal on it. They only had a few 24's and the rest were 25's. This was back on the first of April.

 

[Grego25Mav]

I've seen all the threads about regretting buying an XL or an XLT or a Lariat. I've seen the threads about problems with ordering (delays, bait & switch, etc.) But what I couldn't find was any posts about ordering your Maverick or just buying one off the lot. I can't get a sense of how many members special ordered their trucks vs. those that just went and picked one out. It seems a lot of people had to compromise on their orders to avoid delays. I just found the one I wanted with the options that I wanted and bought it straight out - no waiting, no dealers adding on stuff before I could bring it home. I'm very satisfied with how it worked out for me, but I would have probably ordered one if I was buying new ('25). I just got lucky that I found one exactly how I would have ordered it and managed to get a '24 right after the camera recall was settled. So if you bought one off the lot, do you wish you would have ordered one instead? Or if you ordered one, was it a good experience compared to the old "drive to the local dealer and buy one today"? I just wondered if it was about 50-50 ordering vs. buying off the lot, or if it was higher or lower in either direction?

I ordered mine since I wanted all the new goodies on the 25 model. Took a few months but glad I did it that way because there aren't many on the lot the way I wanted mine.

 

[North Coast Joe]

I was going to order the Red Pepper Hybrid XLT early June 2024. Luckily, my salesman told me: 1) That was a special color, and was going away in 2025. 2) Special orders were at least a few months out, and the yearly changeover would probably happen first. 3) The next day he called to ask me, if a nicely equipped Blue would work. His mother had ordered it, and she decided to keep her F-150. I drove it, I like the color, and they gave it to me at list price, without all the excess dealer markups, and a set of Ford mudflaps installed. I have not regretted taking that one, though I still like the Red Pepper color.

 

[Zaluss]

Technically bought off the lot but it was a order that the buyer backed out on and went with a new Ranger instead. I actually watched them test drive my car and then they bought the Ranger. I immediately bought it after as it was the spec I wanted. EG Lariat 4k Hybrid AWD no sunroof or BAP.

Unfortunately the Ford employee pricing was two weeks later but I got a little under MSRP.

 

[Surly Old Bill]

I have never ordered a new vehicle, I have always found what I want already on a lot ready to drive away. The CV-19 disruption of the global market reinforced the desire to never order a new car (Transit forum revealed over a year wait after putting money down on an order, AVERAGE, some waited nearly two years or more to receive their vehicle).

I can see that ordering exactly what you want is an attractive option, especially in the past when it was maybe a 4-6 week wait at most. But these days, most of the "options" are bolt-on, and the only real differences are made with trim level included features/options. Other than color and drivetrain, there aren't many special combinations that couldn't be achieved over something already on a lot, and the list of excluded combinations of options ("you can't have this if you want that") extremely limits what you can configure.

In the 1960's and to a lesser extent the 1970's, you could check off all kinds of options you wanted to include, and exclude some standard things you didn't want, with the possibility of creating a one-of-a-kind car that the factory would put together (read the history of the Yenko cars). Because of factory efficiency and automated construction, that is simply not possible now.

DISCLAIMER: I do not see a vehicle as an expression of a personna that I want other people to believe I have; I see a vehicle as a tool to perform a task. For those other kind of people, I can understand the importance of ordering a vehicle to portray the exact image and character they want others to believe they have. Nothing wrong with that, it's akin to being an artist with a canvas to customize and craft a specific intended image, a very creative endeavor, it's just not for me.

 

[ClemsonU88]

I hated waiting 13 months to get my '22 XLT Hybrid Maverick, but it was worth the wait. Got exactly what I wanted. Same with my '25 XLT Hybrid Maverick that "only" took 5 months.

Ordering and waiting did a few things for me:
1) Got exactly what I wanted including color.
2) Didn't have to play the haggling game and feel like I got cheated.
3) Helped me appreciate it more (we appreciate things that are harder to get).
4) It gave me a chance to walk away before doing something "stupid". Most of us have bought a vehicle on emotion and ultimately realized we made a mistake.
5) Prevented buyer's remorse.

I've initially regretted every vehicle I've ever bought to some degree except these last 2. I hate spending large amounts of money and/or going into debt. Somehow knowing for 13 & 5 months exactly what I was getting & for how much prevented the shock to my system.

Plus you almost never get EXACTLY what you want when you buy off the lot: you either get too much & pay too much, miss something you really wanted, or simply don't get the color you wanted.

For me, ordering was a win-win-win.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Off the lot.

But, at least for MTC participants, most ordered them.

 

[Tiger Dude]

In 23 ordering was the only way to get one, when I got mine in March of 23 it was literally the 1st one the dealer had ever seen. All dealers seem to have them on the lot now.

 

[DSalisbury]

I window shopped mine at the dealer lot when our other Ford was being serviced. Dealer came out and offered a test drive and it was great! 2 days later it was mine. First white vehicle I have ever owned and it has everything I need. Lucky!

 

[Gray Goose]

I wanted one in early 2023, but 2023 order banks were closed and the only thing on dealer lots were thousands over MSRP. Ordered an XL as soon as the 2024 order banks opened July 2023. XL was in backlog most of 2024 and then the camera stop sale so I was happy to get it when I did in April 2024. I used X-plan on the order, so that also reduced dealer pricing shenanigans. Overall, happy with the process despite the wait. I'd still prefer to buy off the lot if all the stars align with the right options, right price, etc.

 

[Ponyprez]

I've seen all the threads about regretting buying an XL or an XLT or a Lariat. I've seen the threads about problems with ordering (delays, bait & switch, etc.) But what I couldn't find was any posts about ordering your Maverick or just buying one off the lot. I can't get a sense of how many members special ordered their trucks vs. those that just went and picked one out. It seems a lot of people had to compromise on their orders to avoid delays. I just found the one I wanted with the options that I wanted and bought it straight out - no waiting, no dealers adding on stuff before I could bring it home. I'm very satisfied with how it worked out for me, but I would have probably ordered one if I was buying new ('25). I just got lucky that I found one exactly how I would have ordered it and managed to get a '24 right after the camera recall was settled. So if you bought one off the lot, do you wish you would have ordered one instead? Or if you ordered one, was it a good experience compared to the old "drive to the local dealer and buy one today"? I just wondered if it was about 50-50 ordering vs. buying off the lot, or if it was higher or lower in either direction?

In my southern New Mexico town and the surrounding 150 miles, it was near impossible to find a dealership with a Hybrid on the lot that wasn't already spoken for. I ordered my Hybrid Lariat when orders were allowed to begin in 2022. I got the call that mine was on its way in January 2023 and promptly got screwed by my dealership with a 3995 high demand markup hidden in my paperwork. (when I put my 1K deposit down I was told they didn't do that) I went online and tried to locate a similar Maverick and there was not a one within 2K. I did purchase it and love my truck and with the price increases I still came out ahead. I will never buy a car at my hometown dealership again and in 2024 added a low mile used Mach E premium to my fleet.

 

[Cherokee]

Effectively though you did wait months. Most people who ordered 2025s did so back in August. I got my truck in January.

There aren’t a great number of folks mid year going to walk in and order a 2025.

Actually no, mine is a 2024 that I got in 12/31/24 I was not looking prior to that day. I was still perfectly happy with my 2021 Bronco Sport.
They took $1500 off sticker and called it a Military discount.
The numbers game, mark em up so they can mark em down. All BS to me.
If you can get 8 to 10% off sticker you made a good deal. Anything less is the sales man’s two step dance, just for show. I got what, 4% off ? :’P

 

[Bill429]

I wanted two trucks. Bought a 2024 off the lot and ordered a 2025 Lariat in Sept. of 24. No 2025 truck yet.

 

[710-oil-614]

Actually no, mine is a 2024 that I got in 12/31/24 I was not looking prior to that day. I was still perfectly happy with my 2021 Bronco Sport.
They took $1500 off sticker and called it a Military discount.
The numbers game, mark em up so they can mark em down. All BS to me.
If you can get 8 to 10% off sticker you made a good deal. Anything less is the sales man’s two step dance, just for show. I got what, 4% off ? :’P

But you couldn’t have done that in 2022 or 2023 or most likely the first half of 2024 before the stop sale. There was little inventory.

You got a 2024 well after that MY production stopped and MY2025s were being shipped.

Effectively your
Maverick waited the same time as special orders, even longer, to find an owner.

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