tracktardicus
Well-Known Member
So, after a two-month journey, I have finally found my GT350R at $1500 over sticker. It was not exactly what I was looking for, but I found you can't be picky. I thought I would pass on my experience and the results of my research in the hope that one of the enthusiasts on this site worthy of this tremendous car might get lucky too. My first experience was at a large local dealership who had a base 2017 non-R GT350 at $20k over sticker (it's still there, and still priced the same. What jackwagons.)
I have a list of 11 2017 GT350R VIN's from dealerships that might be willing to deal. if you are:
Serious and ready to buy a 2017 model now
Don't care too much about colors
Are either willing to travel and drive home your car or have it shipped
PM me and I'll send you the list of VIN's. Dump them in the search tool of your choice.
Here's how I found my car:
I had a spreadsheet of 40 new cars that I whittled down to just two that were in my price range. On one car I agreed to purchase it, sent a copy of my license and insurance card, booked a flight and a rental car, and sent my itinerary to the salesperson. One day before my flight, I got an e-mail from the salesperson telling me that they had sold it to someone else-no courtesy call or an opportunity to match or beat the offer. BARF.
Later, I found my car at at a small dealership an hour outside a major city-they had had the car for 5 months. The owner special-ordered the car to keep for himself, but then decided to retire. So I got lucky, the right place at the right time, etc.
Here is what might help:
Be nice.
Use autolist.com to view how long the car has been at the dealership. It's not 100% accurate, but it helps. Cars.com also lets you sort by list date. There are cars that are not listed on autotrader or cars.com or ebay, but they will be listed on autolist or on the Shop Ford website. The Shop Ford Inventory Search tool sucks because they limit your search to 100 miles from a specific zip. Yes, I entered zips for every region I was willing to travel to to buy a GT350R. There are probably easier ways to find this data, but I wasn't able to find it. Let me know if you know of a better method.
See if you can find the Internet or other sales manager on their website or through linkedin and deal directly with them via e-mail first, or by phone if there is no e-mail address available. They may shunt you to a salesperson, but at least they'll know who you are and that you are a serious buyer before the buying process begins.
If it's a small dealership, try the owner. In my case I got lucky and I worked with the dealership owner directly. If you do make contact by phone, ask for an e-mail address and request that all further correspondence take place via e-mail. This gives you control of the communication process and provides a record of communication.
Let them know that you are an enthusiast and not a collector. This may not make a difference at the majority of dealerships, but it did for me. If your car is going to sit in a garage and be wiped down daily with a diaper, then you are part of the problem. These cars were designed and engineered by Ford to be experienced by enthusiasts at a track at a specific price point. If you are not going to track your car and obtain some sort of quality high-performance driving education, then you will never be able to truly experience the full capability of this world-class car in a safe environment without putting yourself and others at risk. <steps off soapbox>
It helps to be a veteran or member of law enforcement. If you are, ask them if they have any veteran's programs or if they partner with USAA with their car buying service, even if you won't use it or you are not a USAA member.
Wait until a day or two before the end of the month if possible before contacting the dealership. If you have reached out to a dealership, contact them again every month at the end of the month to see if they will deal.
If at the end, a dealer is not willing to discuss a reasonable price, ask them to reconsider. Tell them that the people who are willing to pay $10K or more over sticker have already bought one. Mention that the 2018 cars are shipping, that Ford just announced the GT500, and that there are rumors of a 2019 GT350 production run.
I have a list of 11 2017 GT350R VIN's from dealerships that might be willing to deal. if you are:
Serious and ready to buy a 2017 model now
Don't care too much about colors
Are either willing to travel and drive home your car or have it shipped
PM me and I'll send you the list of VIN's. Dump them in the search tool of your choice.
Here's how I found my car:
I had a spreadsheet of 40 new cars that I whittled down to just two that were in my price range. On one car I agreed to purchase it, sent a copy of my license and insurance card, booked a flight and a rental car, and sent my itinerary to the salesperson. One day before my flight, I got an e-mail from the salesperson telling me that they had sold it to someone else-no courtesy call or an opportunity to match or beat the offer. BARF.
Later, I found my car at at a small dealership an hour outside a major city-they had had the car for 5 months. The owner special-ordered the car to keep for himself, but then decided to retire. So I got lucky, the right place at the right time, etc.
Here is what might help:
Be nice.
Use autolist.com to view how long the car has been at the dealership. It's not 100% accurate, but it helps. Cars.com also lets you sort by list date. There are cars that are not listed on autotrader or cars.com or ebay, but they will be listed on autolist or on the Shop Ford website. The Shop Ford Inventory Search tool sucks because they limit your search to 100 miles from a specific zip. Yes, I entered zips for every region I was willing to travel to to buy a GT350R. There are probably easier ways to find this data, but I wasn't able to find it. Let me know if you know of a better method.
See if you can find the Internet or other sales manager on their website or through linkedin and deal directly with them via e-mail first, or by phone if there is no e-mail address available. They may shunt you to a salesperson, but at least they'll know who you are and that you are a serious buyer before the buying process begins.
If it's a small dealership, try the owner. In my case I got lucky and I worked with the dealership owner directly. If you do make contact by phone, ask for an e-mail address and request that all further correspondence take place via e-mail. This gives you control of the communication process and provides a record of communication.
Let them know that you are an enthusiast and not a collector. This may not make a difference at the majority of dealerships, but it did for me. If your car is going to sit in a garage and be wiped down daily with a diaper, then you are part of the problem. These cars were designed and engineered by Ford to be experienced by enthusiasts at a track at a specific price point. If you are not going to track your car and obtain some sort of quality high-performance driving education, then you will never be able to truly experience the full capability of this world-class car in a safe environment without putting yourself and others at risk. <steps off soapbox>
It helps to be a veteran or member of law enforcement. If you are, ask them if they have any veteran's programs or if they partner with USAA with their car buying service, even if you won't use it or you are not a USAA member.
Wait until a day or two before the end of the month if possible before contacting the dealership. If you have reached out to a dealership, contact them again every month at the end of the month to see if they will deal.
If at the end, a dealer is not willing to discuss a reasonable price, ask them to reconsider. Tell them that the people who are willing to pay $10K or more over sticker have already bought one. Mention that the 2018 cars are shipping, that Ford just announced the GT500, and that there are rumors of a 2019 GT350 production run.
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