Pricing/XPlan Questions

[Kburr]

Hi everyone, I'm looking to purchase this car http://www.autonationfordkaty.com/new/Ford/2015-Ford-Mustang-0b8160470a0d04d30237ef119bc35614.htm?searchDepth=2:8

After test driving and discussing with a salesman about the Xplan, he suggested I not use it because their prices are below that of the Xplan and using it would only increase the price. I was just curious if this is true, or do I still have negotiation room. Thanks!

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[SVTFreak]

Go to nada and get the listed invoice price. Not msrp price. That is the x plan cost. Compare to what he offers you.

Or ask him to show you x plan cost. They can do that.

 

[JohnDoe]

$34,861 would be perfect

 

[daytripper]

One of the things to consider with X-plan is the lack of all BS fees. They can only charge $100. This will be way less than without the X-plan.

 

[Qwkynuf]

One of the things to consider with X-plan is the lack of all BS fees. They can only charge $100. This will be way less than without the X-plan.

This really can't be overstated. If they come in and tell you that they are $200 under x-plan, but they add in $800 in fees.... you aren't better off.

Try to keep your eye on the "out the door" total. I would bet a significant amount of money that the actual final cost for any given deal is not going to be significantly better than x-plan (unless you are eligible for a-plan or z-plan).

Just be careful that they don't wave what looks like a low price under your nose, while adding a bunch of fees in elsewhere, or including the rebates/discounts in that price - those would apply to your x-plan equally.

If it were me (and it *was* me, a couple of months ago), I would go with the x-plan deal and know for sure that I was getting everything that I was entitled to, vs battling my "negotiating expertise" against a guy who feeds his family by doing this every day, in the hopes of saving what couldn't amount to more than a couple of hundred bucks.

But that's just me.

 

[comagt]

You can actually browse the entire build and price website on ford with x-plan pricing. If you go through the x-plan page you can click on the build and price link next to the picture of the mustang. It will then load the site with the pricing enabled.

As others have stated, the x-plan price skips the dealer BS and hassle. You're not going to go any cheaper unless they are padding with your trade.

 

[CorvetteDreamin]

If you're buying a car no dealer will negotiate on, use x-plan. If not, negotiate. I've ALWAYS done better negotiating than with X-plan. Now I know they're going to hit me with a $599 doc fee. So be it. I look at out the door pricing. I don't care if it's x-plan, a-plan, z-plan or no-plan... my plan is to negotiate to get the best price I can. It always helps if you're NOT trading in AND have a check ready to go. Those are two things they'll use to their advantage. if you haven't tried TrueCar, try it. I got my dealer to match the lowest price offered by any other dealer AND throw in the rebates.


1) Trade-ins. They'll low ball you like your trade is worthless. Don't fall for it. Many dealers offer $5k less than private party market value. if you're getting more, you didn't negotiate very well on the purchase price. If you have time, sell your car yourself on CraigsList or Cars.com. Be patient and price it to sell but not give it away. This can swing the deal your way up to $5,000 or more. I know. I just did it. Typically I can get $2,000-$3,000 more than the dealer offers. With their latest low-ball, it was over $5k more.

2) Have a check. A lot of times they'll talk you into "their" financing -- which might be "OK" but not as good as you get get otherwise. They're taking a percentage (or fraction of a percentage) in the finance charge to pad their pockets while "helping" you. Credit Unions are almost always better than banks. Join one.

Another tip when you get to the back office: JUST SAY NO. To everything. Want an extended warranty? Try Flood Ford online. Or FD-Warranty.com. (Just two examples but there are others too.) Both will sell you a FORD ESP warranty for less than half of what the dealer will charge and getting a quote is easy. The service plans, paint sealant, fabric protection, and undercoating... all profit centers for the dealer and offer no real value to you.

By the time you leave you'll be exhausted. You'll forget why you wanted your new Mustang. You'll be relieved it's over. But in the final analysis, you'll be comfortable knowing you didn't get screwed.

Good luck!

 

[seivwrig]

Hi everyone, I'm looking to purchase this car http://www.autonationfordkaty.com/new/Ford/2015-Ford-Mustang-0b8160470a0d04d30237ef119bc35614.htm?searchDepth=2:8

After test driving and discussing with a salesman about the Xplan, he suggested I not use it because their prices are below that of the Xplan and using it would only increase the price. I was just curious if this is true, or do I still have negotiation room. Thanks!

They are a volume dealer, so they will beat x-plan. I guess the document fees are the only question. Ask folks on the Texas group that have used AutoNation Katy about their document fees. The pricing that you see is correct, which is less than x-plan.

 

[Kburr]

Thanks for the quick response guys! I appreciate the help and probably will try to negotiate for a good price

 

[bobbyh]

I've been in contact with a few dealers on a base GT the past few months and their low prices aren't all that. Two of them were tossing $500 doc. fees and $700 shipping fees into the low price. I kindly told them to not contact me any further.

Only one dealer has been up front with me on OTD pricing (no X-plan) and it was $31,000 from a $28,500 base price.

 

[JohnDoe]

Make sure to check if your state has a doc fee cap. In my state of NY, the cap is $75 and they can't charge anymore than that

 

[DarthLepard]

If you're buying a car no dealer will negotiate on, use x-plan. If not, negotiate. I've ALWAYS done better negotiating than with X-plan. Now I know they're going to hit me with a $599 doc fee. So be it. I look at out the door pricing. I don't care if it's x-plan, a-plan, z-plan or no-plan... my plan is to negotiate to get the best price I can. It always helps if you're NOT trading in AND have a check ready to go. Those are two things they'll use to their advantage. if you haven't tried TrueCar, try it. I got my dealer to match the lowest price offered by any other dealer AND throw in the rebates.


1) Trade-ins. They'll low ball you like your trade is worthless. Don't fall for it. Many dealers offer $5k less than private party market value. if you're getting more, you didn't negotiate very well on the purchase price. If you have time, sell your car yourself on CraigsList or Cars.com. Be patient and price it to sell but not give it away. This can swing the deal your way up to $5,000 or more. I know. I just did it. Typically I can get $2,000-$3,000 more than the dealer offers. With their latest low-ball, it was over $5k more.

2) Have a check. A lot of times they'll talk you into "their" financing -- which might be "OK" but not as good as you get get otherwise. They're taking a percentage (or fraction of a percentage) in the finance charge to pad their pockets while "helping" you. Credit Unions are almost always better than banks. Join one.

Another tip when you get to the back office: JUST SAY NO. To everything. Want an extended warranty? Try Flood Ford online. Or FD-Warranty.com. (Just two examples but there are others too.) Both will sell you a FORD ESP warranty for less than half of what the dealer will charge and getting a quote is easy. The service plans, paint sealant, fabric protection, and undercoating... all profit centers for the dealer and offer no real value to you.

By the time you leave you'll be exhausted. You'll forget why you wanted your new Mustang. You'll be relieved it's over. But in the final analysis, you'll be comfortable knowing you didn't get screwed.

Good luck!

This whole post if filled with misinformation IMO.

1) they typically aren't low ball offers. They are reasonable offers considering they are trading it in so they can recondition it for resale. You can't reasonably expect someone to give you retail value on your trade, then they wouldn't make a profit when they sold it. And in some states you get to save on taxes on your trade, so if it has enough value then the tax savings puts it within reach of your retail value without having to deal without the hassle of a private sale, which in some states is a big deal.

2) most lenders these days are not letting dealers "mark up" their rate. There have been several class action suits that are bringing those days to an end in a hurry. Most have to provide you with the "buy Rate" of the loan, then that lender pays the dealer a "flat" (varies on amount financed) for sending the loan to them. So depending on who you work with you can get very competitive financing at dealer level without having to do 2 sets of loan paperwork. Just be smart about it, get an approval somewhere else to use in finance office. Only a stupid dealership would not work hard to achieve your financing, and it is not all about profit for them. It is balancing their lending portfolio with the dealership and lenders.

3) to say that the products offered by some dealers offers no value is your opinion, not fact. For instance, I purchased a maintenance plan on my Mercedes, not only did that plan cost less than doing the service at regular pricing but it also residualized into the lease lowering the cost of the maintenance as well. Yes, they are profit centers but allowing someone to make profit is not a sin against mankind........

But I agree with what you are basically trying to say, just go in and be prepared and know what you are doing. But that doesn't necessarily mean treating your local dealer like they are trying to kidnap your first born child either.

 

[akfinfan]

Make sure to check if your state has a doc fee cap. In my state of NY, the cap is $75 and they can't charge anymore than that

Not sure where you got this, but there is not any sales tax in Alaska.....not sure what those percentages mean. Those Average DMV Fees are false for Alaska and Montana.

 

[CorvetteDreamin]

I've been in contact with a few dealers on a base GT the past few months and their low prices aren't all that. Two of them were tossing $500 doc. fees and $700 shipping fees into the low price. I kindly told them to not contact me any further.

Only one dealer has been up front with me on OTD pricing (no X-plan) and it was $31,000 from a $28,500 base price.

Plane tickets are cheap.

 

[CorvetteDreamin]

This whole post if filled with misinformation IMO.

1) they typically aren't low ball offers. They are reasonable offers considering they are trading it in so they can recondition it for resale. You can't reasonably expect someone to give you retail value on your trade, then they wouldn't make a profit when they sold it. And in some states you get to save on taxes on your trade, so if it has enough value then the tax savings puts it within reach of your retail value without having to deal without the hassle of a private sale, which in some states is a big deal.

Actually, they are. That's how the dealers make money. When you compare dealer trade-in prices against private party sales, you'll see. In my recent example, an offer of $10k for my $30k new 2011 Mustang with 45k miles was ridiculously low. I got $15k+ selling it outright. Now try to tell me that $10k wasn't a low-ball offer.

2) most lenders these days are not letting dealers "mark up" their rate. There have been several class action suits that are bringing those days to an end in a hurry. Most have to provide you with the "buy Rate" of the loan, then that lender pays the dealer a "flat" (varies on amount financed) for sending the loan to them. So depending on who you work with you can get very competitive financing at dealer level without having to do 2 sets of loan paperwork. Just be smart about it, get an approval somewhere else to use in finance office. Only a stupid dealership would not work hard to achieve your financing, and it is not all about profit for them. It is balancing their lending portfolio with the dealership and lenders.

But they're not over yet. Dealers will always have "tactics" to take another penny from you and the approach is often deceptive but not enough to cross the line.

3) to say that the products offered by some dealers offers no value is your opinion, not fact. For instance, I purchased a maintenance plan on my Mercedes, not only did that plan cost less than doing the service at regular pricing but it also residualized into the lease lowering the cost of the maintenance as well. Yes, they are profit centers but allowing someone to make profit is not a sin against mankind........

Actually, value determination is not opinion. It is, however, subjective. And to me, overpriced paint sealant and fabric protection, and paying 2-3 times the cost of the same warranty offers no value.

But I agree with what you are basically trying to say, just go in and be prepared and know what you are doing. But that doesn't necessarily mean treating your local dealer like they are trying to kidnap your first born child either.

And you've never heard the stories of the little old lady who paid MSRP plus all the add-ons either, have you? I haven't met a salesman yet whose first interest was in saving the customer money except by discounting something you spend more on. It's the way Congress thinks. "Hey, we saved the American people $10 billion this year... by only spending $990 billion instead of the full trillion we planned on." It's not saving me anything if you're still having me spend more than I should.




Dealers are in it to make money. I get that. But I'd rather pay them for service than for the hour I might spend buying the car.

But to your point... it was just your opinion that my post was filled with misinformation. Point taken.

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