The inside scoop of buying a NEW car

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Just wanted to share my recent experience buying a 2019 4Runner Off Road Premium on behalf of my friend, particularly want to share the bit about the extended warranty.

As I’ve done for other friends, I handled all quotes, negotiations, ensured every detail was correct, and avoided the typical dealer games as best as possible. In return, I got a free BBQ dinner :)

I followed the same process that I explained earlier in the thread with my truck purchase. I contacted 10+ dealers via email requesting a quote for a very specific build 5 days before the EOM. I kept as much as possible in writing so that I could take the lowest price to other dealers and see if they would beat it. I was transparent that I was shopping multiple dealers. 3 dealers all quoted me the same exact VIN vehicle which had $550 in extra options, 2 basically wiped them out since I told them they were zero value to me. I took the lowest quote to Hickory Toyota, where I bought my truck, since they are willing to beat any offer in writing. They did it on my truck and again on this 4R. As we finalized the deal (12.3% off msrp and promo financing) and they needed a deposit to go get the vehicle, I then broke the news to them that my friend will be making the purchase but I will be there the entire time etc. they pushed but we’re fine with it. This was all via phone with Hickory Toyota up to this point.

When we went to the dealer a few days later to take delivery, everything went well, no surprises. I found a couple minor detailing issues and they fixed them. Things got interesting when we got to the finance office.

This is one “game” we encountered... the price on the paperwork did not match our deal that was signed by the sales guy and sales Mgr. I spotted it, they fixed the ~$800 delta and we moved on. Now we come to the extended warranties... he started and I politely interjected and said “thank but no thanks”. He insisted that he “had to” review the options with us. So I decided to give him 5min and no more as I was getting hungry (drove 70min there right from work) and I checked the forum until finally saying once again “thanks but no thanks”. He tried dealing with her but she wisely looked to me. He began to push, asking why we didn’t want it so I just said “we don’t see any value in it. It’s not necessary for her.”

He tried asking 2 more ways and I had to firmly tell him “No”, before sitting up in my seat, leaning on his desk, and before I could tell him “if you ask about an extended warranty one more time, I’m walking over to the GM to explain why you cost the dealership a sale”, he said “what if it was $10?”. He made me pause because I had never heard that one, so I took a breath, chuckled, and replied “No, lets move on, I’m getting hungry.”

He finally moved on, left the office for a minute. When he was gone my friend asked why he wanted to sell an extended warranty so badly, so I explained what I knew. He came back and offered a $500 interior protection package for free. I laughed and said, “I’m sure it’s not free so once again NO”. He insisted it was free so I told him to show me the numbers, I wanted to see where he was adding and deducting $500. He showed me the numbers and fully explained what he was proposing and a little bit of why. It was free IF my friend didn’t pay the vehicle off early since he reduced the interest rate enough to cover the $500 extra. I openly discussed the pro/con with my friend and she decided to accept the offer. I said to my friend, “apparently this is one of those dealerships where finance guys get fired for not selling enough service plans.” He non-verbally confirmed that.

This is the first time I’ve seen or heard of a dealer being THAT desperate to sell a service plan.

Damn that was a lot longer than I thought it would be, sorry.
 
Jerzsubbie said:
Just wanted to share my recent experience buying a 2019 4Runner Off Road Premium on behalf of my friend, particularly want to share the bit about the extended warranty.

As I’ve done for other friends, I handled all quotes, negotiations, ensured every detail was correct, and avoided the typical dealer games as best as possible. In return, I got a free BBQ dinner :)

I followed the same process that I explained earlier in the thread with my truck purchase. I contacted 10+ dealers via email requesting a quote for a very specific build 5 days before the EOM. I kept as much as possible in writing so that I could take the lowest price to other dealers and see if they would beat it. I was transparent that I was shopping multiple dealers. 3 dealers all quoted me the same exact VIN vehicle which had $550 in extra options, 2 basically wiped them out since I told them they were zero value to me. I took the lowest quote to Hickory Toyota, where I bought my truck, since they are willing to beat any offer in writing. They did it on my truck and again on this 4R. As we finalized the deal (12.3% off msrp and promo financing) and they needed a deposit to go get the vehicle, I then broke the news to them that my friend will be making the purchase but I will be there the entire time etc. they pushed but we’re fine with it. This was all via phone with Hickory Toyota up to this point.

When we went to the dealer a few days later to take delivery, everything went well, no surprises. I found a couple minor detailing issues and they fixed them. Things got interesting when we got to the finance office.

This is one “game” we encountered... the price on the paperwork did not match our deal that was signed by the sales guy and sales Mgr. I spotted it, they fixed the ~$800 delta and we moved on. Now we come to the extended warranties... he started and I politely interjected and said “thank but no thanks”. He insisted that he “had to” review the options with us. So I decided to give him 5min and no more as I was getting hungry (drove 70min there right from work) and I checked the forum until finally saying once again “thanks but no thanks”. He tried dealing with her but she wisely looked to me. He began to push, asking why we didn’t want it so I just said “we don’t see any value in it. It’s not necessary for her.”

He tried asking 2 more ways and I had to firmly tell him “No”, before sitting up in my seat, leaning on his desk, and before I could tell him “if you ask about an extended warranty one more time, I’m walking over to the GM to explain why you cost the dealership a sale”, he said “what if it was $10?”. He made me pause because I had never heard that one, so I took a breath, chuckled, and replied “No, lets move on, I’m getting hungry.”

He finally moved on, left the office for a minute. When he was gone my friend asked why he wanted to sell an extended warranty so badly, so I explained what I knew. He came back and offered a $500 interior protection package for free. I laughed and said, “I’m sure it’s not free so once again NO”. He insisted it was free so I told him to show me the numbers, I wanted to see where he was adding and deducting $500. He showed me the numbers and fully explained what he was proposing and a little bit of why. It was free IF my friend didn’t pay the vehicle off early since he reduced the interest rate enough to cover the $500 extra. I openly discussed the pro/con with my friend and she decided to accept the offer. I said to my friend, “apparently this is one of those dealerships where finance guys get fired for not selling enough service plans.” He non-verbally confirmed that.

This is the first time I’ve seen or heard of a dealer being THAT desperate to sell a service plan.

Damn that was a lot longer than I thought it would be, sorry.
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Interesting. It sort of begs the question how much room was in the financing part of the deal. When I worked for Wells Fargo I could get better financing from the dealer through Wells Fargo Dealer Services than I could get and an employee on the retail side. As I understood it a dealer had a rate sheet with top and bottom rates based on the buyers credit. There was maybe a 1% spread on the rate which they could offer. At the end of the day/month the dealership sold all the loans to Wells Fargo at a predetermined rate again based on the buyers credit score. So a guy with 800 could get a rate between 1.5% and 2.5% The dealer ship would sell that load to Wells for 1.65. The dealers would try to write as many deals in this range at 2% or higher and they pocketed the +% from the rate. I doubt they completely ate the $500. Plus if it is never used sometimes they get a kickback on the used portion of the rebate.

I always tell them I am going to self insure. If they offer wheel and tire cover for $2500 I tell them well when I get home I will put $2500 in an account for wheels and tires. That will cover 2 wheels and a set of tires. If I blow more then that I lose. If I blow less I win. That pretty much ends the conversation.
 
Depending on the "Buy Rate" from the lender, a half point could more than cover the $500.
Depending on the Amount FInanced, the lenders pay a "mini" if a deal is written at Buy Rate.
So, it seems like the finance guy needed an aftersale product to keep from getting fired (it really happens).
SO, he reduced the rate to recoup the $500 and then "sold" the package. I have no idea what he means by not paying off the loan early.
Very few loans go to term (car is traded in, car is paid off with tax refund, etc). I don't know how much the loan was for but it's not hard to give up a quarter point to make a product sale. It seems to be the case here. Yeah, the pressure to sell is very real.
That's the unsavory part of sales.
 
larryh1108 said:
Depending on the "Buy Rate" from the lender, a half point could more than cover the $500.
Depending on the Amount FInanced, the lenders pay a "mini" if a deal is written at Buy Rate.
So, it seems like the finance guy needed an aftersale product to keep from getting fired (it really happens).
SO, he reduced the rate to recoup the $500 and then "sold" the package. I have no idea what he means by not paying off the loan early.
Very few loans go to term (car is traded in, car is paid off with tax refund, etc). I don't know how much the loan was for but it's
not hard to give up a quarter point to make a product sale. It seems to be the case here. Yeah, the pressure to sell is very real.
That's the unsavory part of sales.
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Sales is a bitch sometimes. I have sold a ton of stuff over the years in a lot of different environments. First reals sales job was a draw against commission. Earned $11 an hour but if you do not make enough to cover the $11 in commission you were in the hole for the next week. I WAS NEVER IN THE HOLE!
 
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larryh1108 said:
Depending on the "Buy Rate" from the lender, a half point could more than cover the $500.
Depending on the Amount FInanced, the lenders pay a "mini" if a deal is written at Buy Rate.
So, it seems like the finance guy needed an aftersale product to keep from getting fired (it really happens).
SO, he reduced the rate to recoup the $500 and then "sold" the package. I have no idea what he means by not paying off the loan early.
Very few loans go to term (car is traded in, car is paid off with tax refund, etc). I don't know how much the loan was for but it's
not hard to give up a quarter point to make a product sale. It seems to be the case here. Yeah, the pressure to sell is very real.
That's the unsavory part of sales.
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What I mean by “she only loses if she pays the loan off early” is if the interest over the life of the loan was 2000, he dropped the rate something like 0.2% which brought the interest paid down to 1500 and added that $500 service plan. If she pays it off in 4yr vs 5yr, she’ll have paid the full $500 for the service plan whereas without the plan she would have saved like $80 in interest. She plans to keep this vehicle long term and paying off a 2.x% loan early usually isn’t worth it unless you’re pretty fat with cash.

As for leaving something on the table as far as financing, I would agree. If they were able to drop it for their own benefit, there was room for me to negotiate there. However, they beat her credit union rate by 0.05% so we got what we wanted there. When you’re under 2.5% those differences are barely material IMO.

For the record, I’m using ballpark numbers on the plan, I don’t have the paperwork but it was somewhere in the 300-500 ballpark. It was their cheapest plan.
 
MCQUADE said:
I just wish they still made a small car with no a/c, mt, plain old radio, plain old manual windows, no tech crap, etc. Most of the time I just need to get from point A to point B without being connected to the outside world, or the car performing basic functions that I haven’t gotten too lazy to do for myself, yet.
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Just sold my 2010 Kia Soul with salvage title recently. Salvage title due to hail damage. While it did have some new features, it was my daily driver to get me from point A to point B. I couldn't care less about the dents due to hail. 2.0 engine and I was very surprised and pleased with it.Other than routine maintenance the only thing I had to do to it was replace the front passenger side hub assembly due to a bearing going out. Sold it with 166,126 miles on it and wouldn't be afraid to drive it any where. Had it for 5 years. Only sold it because I am looking for another daily driver with less miles. Looked at some salvage cars this pass Friday that will be coming up for auction. If I can get another one for less than 50% of retail due to dents like I did the Kia Soul I will be happy.
 
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larryh1108 said:
Excellent!
I said all along, if it helps 1 guy get a deal, it was worth it.
Anything you wish to share that you learned that can help others?
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Thank you. I am not long winded but I will share a few take aways I got from this experience leaving out a ton of details.
1st I did a lot of research on 3 different brands of trucks. I learned a lot about all 3. Knew I would need to test drive all of them to help get a feel first hand rather than just specs and options on paper.
2nd Did research on pricing and incentives on all of them. Extensively....
3rd watched alot of you tube university about car buying and of course threads like this.
From those things I ran into these experiences. Worst was listening to You Tubers saying to use sites like True Car to get average pricing in your area. DON'T DO THAT. You have to register on their site and ALL of the dealers within 100 miles will start calling you as soon as you click on a vehicle. They will call and email you constantly for a month. I have to add that Consumer Reports uses True Car as well. I would go with a site called Car Guru's and only as a reference. Best pricing I found was actually on my online banking/credit card account sites.They offer financing and car search engines that give better pricing than the so called Car Sites. More on that later.
Second bad advice I got from You Tube was to make appointments to test drive cars with a salesperson at a dealer. This bombed on me twice and I wasnt going to give that a 3rd chance. The salespeople I tried to create relationships with were nice on the phone and email. We made appointments. I showed up and they handed me over to the new guys who were completely in the dark about everythng I had discussed with the original person. Also had scheduled to drive vehicles and both times they didn't have one for me to drive and were unprepared. Calling out Crescent Ford and Crossroads Ford. Screw them! Best walk up service we had was at a Dodge dealer in Kville and at Rice Toyota. Pro's there and I would have bought from either of them.
Back to searching and research. I had found an exact vehicle I wanted to see but it was 75 miles from me. I had the printout with me of the build and window sticker. I got it from my banks websites car finance section which has better deals than I could find anywhere else. Note: I have several bank accounts and they ALL have better deals than the car selling websites.
Finally. My strategy was to wait until Between Thanksgiving and New Years to get best deal on incentives and outgoing 19 model inventories. I had a very substantial down payment. Was not planning on trading in my old truck because I had several friends lining up to buy it. But I happened in to a local dealers lot and asked to test drive a truck I saw. We drove it and they wanted to run some numbers with me. I showed them the printout of what I was looking for and let them know what I had to put down on one. It was a stripped down version of the high trim level truck they had. I tried to thank them for the test drive and leave. They didn't want me to go so the serious negotiations started. The details of all that would be a whole new post. It took about 5-6 hours. I used everything I learned and got a very good deal on a fully loaded truck at a price I was planning on paying for a lower trim level that was much less equipped. I was not planning on buying that day. But I found a deal I couldn't turn down and ran into a dealer that wasn't a douche.
Although I am happy with the truck and deal. I would not want to go through all that again.
 
Excellent experience sharing.
Many others will be helped by your time to write this.
The more detail you give, the more we will learn.
Thanks for taking the time to contribute and hopefully you will share more as time allows.
Thank you!
 
I was days from pulling the trigger on a 2019 Accord EXL back in May and then my company announced that they were selling out. I held off to see how things would go. Then my mom had to go to assisted living and passed in November. I am just now getting back to the task of getting a new car.
I have studied Autotrader, Edmunds, KBB, NADA, and more. I have poured over all the "How much did you pay OTD" threads in the Honda forums.
EXL's are MSRP around $32k. Some dealers list internet pricing at about $28k. The OTD pricing I found on the Honda forums ranged from $25,700 - $31,500. I am a Costco member so I am also going to see what kind of pricing they come up with.
I will not be financing the car. I intend on finding a dealer who will take around $28,500. I might go to $29k, but that's it. We will see how it goes? I haven't dealt with a car dealership since 2010!
 
We are looking at getting a new Honda CR-V before year's end. Hoping to find a 2019 like we want. I was going to pay for it but 2019's have 1.9% interest so I may finance for that rate.
 
Geezer said:
We are looking at getting a new Honda CR-V before year's end. Hoping to find a 2019 like we want. I was going to pay for it but 2019's have 1.9% interest so I may finance for that rate.
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Check to see if you get extra cash if you do not take their special financing. To get that rate, the Mfgs pay the finance branch money to "buy down" the rate. If you pay cash or get your own financing, there may be $1500 on the table instead. If they don't offer a rebate in lieu of the 1.9%, take it. You can always pay it off early.
 
SPST said:
I am a Costco member so I am also going to see what kind of pricing they come up with.
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I have heard nothing but good about the Costco program. I believe I read that Costco sells the most cars of any dealer. Of course, they go third party but I hear they get to the best price with the least BS. I've never dealt with them but they seem legit.
 
Now is the time to buy that new car, everybody. If you are thinking about it, you have 1 week to get it done with the best choices.
All the dealers just want you to come in, and leave, with minimum brain damage. If you don't buy, they don't care. The next guy will.
So, if you actually walk out the door without a new vehicle, they were at their bottom line. They won't chase you, they will just take the next buyer.
Right now it's all about selling, not about games. Volume. That's all they want.
 
larryh1108 said:
Now is the time to buy that new car, everybody. If you are thinking about it, you have 1 week to get it done with the best choices.
All the dealers just want you to come in, and leave, with minimum brain damage. If you don't buy, they don't care. The next guy will.
So, if you actually walk out the door without a new vehicle, they were at their bottom line. They won't chase you, they will just take the next buyer.
Right now it's all about selling, not about games. Volume. That's all they want.
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I just went ahead and did that. From a place that I didn’t really want to because on my first visit I wasn’t greeted. I used the men’s room and left.
In the end the guys I shopped were all about the same on leftover 2019’s except the “extra added BS” which effected the OTD price on a cash deal.

I checked them out just for grins and was greeted by the guy who happened to be the sales manager. I told what happened initially and what I wanted. He had one and made the OTD attractive enough to give them a go. Went and got a cashiers ck and got on with my life.

I like leftovers or even program cars cuz I drive the wheels off them and then donate them to goodwill or someplace. Just got a 2005 Taurus program car I bought in 2005 hauled off. Model year means nothing by the time I’m done with them. Former car guy here.

Whats really scaring me is the brake job I’m taking my truck in for tomorrow. I did service as well....:eek:
 
@larryh1108 , thank you for taking the time to write this up. I always knew about the financing but had no clue about how other things worked.

From now on, I won't do business with any dealer who puts the addendum stickers on the window. That's a dead giveaway that they have the odds stacked in favor of the house.
 
Thanks, DK!
Those addendums on every car does show a degree of sliminess.
Many cars should have them for added items of value and interest but every car?
Shady and just wrong.

I did manage to put this in book form.
It was cleaned up, cleared up and published on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XV71J88
No sales yet but just getting there was good for me.
I got to tell a story many should read.
Merry Christmas to anyone reading this.
I enjoyed the trip and hope I've helped at least one person save money.
 
larryh1108 said:
Thanks, DK!
Those addendums on every car does show a degree of sliminess.
Many cars should have them for added items of value and interest but every car?
Shady and just wrong.

I did manage to put this in book form.
It was cleaned up, cleared up and published on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XV71J88
No sales yet but just getting there was good for me.
I got to tell a story many should read.
Merry Christmas to anyone reading this.
I enjoyed the trip and hope I've helped at least one person save money.
Click to expand...

Do you make more or less money when your book is sold as a paperback compared to an ebook?
 
Rereading this thread and I have a question about extended warranty. I bought one with my current truck and never used it. Wasted money in my opinion. But reading your previous post, wouldn't it make more sense to decline purchasing at the dealer and just buy one from the manufacturer if you want one? I should be picking up a 2019 tomorrow. When the salesman asked about ESC I stated "I don't need an extended warranty, paint protection, kids throwing rocks protection or anything else."
 
We got a new 2019 Honda CR-V EX-L yesterday. It was the quickest and easiest that I've ever bought a vehicle. I had a figure in my head that I was hoping for and it ended up a little less than that. I wanted to pay for it, or at least a big part of it, but the wife convinced me to finance it. 1.9% on the 2019's was hard to turn down.

Now I need to try to learn some of the doo dads on this thing. It steers you back in your lane if you drift over, maintains a distance to the vehicle ahead of you, brakes to a complete stop on it's own, has all kinds of bells, whistles, and alarms. I told the wife that texting and driving will be a breeze with this one. I got that "look".
 
easternnc4me said:
Rereading this thread and I have a question about extended warranty. I bought one with my current truck and never used it. Wasted money in my opinion. But reading your previous post, wouldn't it make more sense to decline purchasing at the dealer and just buy one from the manufacturer if you want one? I should be picking up a 2019 tomorrow. When the salesman asked about ESC I stated "I don't need an extended warranty, paint protection, kids throwing rocks protection or anything else."
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I can't speak for @larryh1108 but my opinion is to buy it later in cash instead of allowing that money to be included in the financing. That is my theory for anything that is an accessory or an add-on, otherwise the true cost of that add-on is much higher after interest payments.
 
Yes, you can buy a manufacturer's warranty after the fact, up to the day your original factory warranty expires.
However, it costs more at each 12,000 or 1 year from in service date anniversary.
You have to go to (any) issuing dealer for a specific manufacturer for the factory warranty.
If you don't mind an aftermarket warranty, you can buy them on line for less money but they have their risks as mentioned.

You can shop by phone and just ask for someone in the finance department. The difference is you have to pay cash for it, not rolled into your payments. It is good because you don't pay interest on the warranty and aren't paying for it (in your payments) after the warranty runs out. The bad is you have to pay for it all at once and they aren't cheap.

Most companies offer a zero interest payment plan. I believe they cap it at 18 months or 2 years so you don't run out the warranty before it's paid for. An $1800 warranty for 18 months is $100/month, etc.

The bad news, again, is you have to deal with the greedy finance guy. The good news is he is more flexible because this is outside of a deal he is pro-rated on. It is, essentially, free money which helps his average since there is no deal he has to make profit on. I had no problem making $100 on a warranty instead of $1000 because is was an extra $100 in the kitty for the averages. Just like buying a car, you can just walk and tell him you'll go to another dealer.

Shopping on the phone is easy for this since it is cut and dried.
Tell him (or her) that you have a 2019 So & So with 6,000 miles on it and you want the bumper to bumper, $100 deductible extended FACTORY warranty.
It is a simple look up for the finance person and they know you will probably shop it around since you are calling them, not visiting them.

Them: I have a factory warranty for 7/100, $100 deductible, for $2495
You: "$2495? That seems high. They seem to go for about $1500. Thanks for your time........"
Them: Wait, that included tire protection and glass protection. You said full coverage. Warranty alone I can do for about $1700.
You: Name? I'll get back to you. Thanks.

Call every Ford dealer within reasonable driving distance. Some may even offer to do it over the phone. I did a few times. Why not?

Good luck!
And have fun.
 
It seems you can go to Ford directly at FordProtect.ford.com. I have not investigated this further other than looking at the website without putting info in for a quote. If so why would one need to call the dealer to purchase one?
 
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If it is administered by Ford, you do not have to go to a Ford dealer.
I would hope the manufacturers would come up with an online presence since this is 2020.
When I worked in the stores a few years back, it was not an option.
Again, make sure it is the actual company, not a company that uses the name in their ad but is not an actual manufacturer.
 
I tried a week ago Friday to buy a new Chevy truck. They cut me way down on my current vehicle and tried to add $10k to the price of the new one basically and wouldn’t budge. So I’ll keep driving what I’m driving. The truck I went and test drove was a little more than some. They didn’t offer to put me in a different truck, offer to let me drive anything else. Gave me a number, i said no, they basically told me to get out. Car selling and treating folks decent to get return customers is a thing of the past. My dad bought trucks from the same salesman for 30 years for a reason.
 
Hello larryh1108, I work for a company that supplies the automotive industry with components for their cars, it’s been said that as a perk for working with this company, you can get “a supplier discount “ from the dealership on a new car.. I wanted your opinion, is this true?? Would I get a better deal with all incentives on my own?...would the supposed discount stack up on top of other incentives? Have never been at a company that has offered this before , was wondering what to expect. Thank you!
 
Hi Leo,
Most dealers/manufacturers offer incentives for employees of companies that supply parts for their automobile.
The prices are subsidized by the factory.
There are also plans for the actual factory employees, their retirees and for the selling dealers. All of these plans offer a no nonsense price for any car they sell. You do get the offered rebates as well.
Usually these prices are from at invoice to $500 over invoice with no negotiating allowed. It is a nice deal for those months they do not offer the tremendous discounts like you see now. So, bottom line, if you buy at a non-prime time, it is a good deal with little drama on the pricing. During the year end sales going on right now and to a lesser degree the end of the model year sales in August, these plans just make it a good deal on pricing that you may not get on the more desirable cars or trucks that dealers don't deal much on. That is the best advantage; getting to buy a high demand unit for $500 over invoice when everybody else pays full list.

I hope this answered your question!
 
Ok. My wife wanted a black 2019 STX S-Crew 4X4. Had to have the 40/20/40 front seat as my 2014 XLT did (we prefer the extra seating space rather than the console). Looked at my local Ford dealer toward the end of last week. They had one but had the console. The salesman went about trying to locate one. Got a call Friday that they located one and would pick it up Monday. Even had a few additional options (running boards, drop in bed liner trailer assist, carpet- apparently some come with vinyl flooring). I got off work yesterday and was there at 5. The sales department was busy. Looked it over and liked it. Test drove it while I waited. The salesman told me it would be couple of hours and I could drive the truck home and he would meet me at work the next morning with the paperwork. Noticed it had a manual seat. Not a big issue. On the way home I was talking to my wife and she asked if the seat raises up (toward the roof) as she is short. I reach down to the left and find the lumbar support not and the lever to raise and lower the back portion of the seat but no buttock to raise it up. Not even the pump level variety that my 2015 Honda Civic does. I called the salesman and told him I have a problem and explain it to him. He tells me it should be down where I had already searched. "Nope. Not there." He said he would check the ones on the lot an calls me back. A few minutes later I get a call and he states "Well I learned something new today. They do not come with that feature." I told him it was a deal breaker as my wife has to be able to adjust the seat (she drives the truck more than me). I turn around and carry it back. It NEVER crossed my mind that in 2019 I would need to ask if the seat is adjustable regarding up and down. It just boggled my mind. The salesman was surprised as well. I will say that that particular salesman was great to work with and spent a lot of time trying to find me what I wanted. He did with the exception of that one feature.

My brother in-law owns his own business (painting hoods, bumpers, etc for dealerships) and told me to check out one of the lots he does business with and told me to call a particular person at the dealership. I called him last night. Went and talked to him this morning. Got there at 8:30. Told him I had to be at work by lunch (True. I was suppose to go in at 7:15 but my manager told me I could come in later as we had coverage). I went to look at a 2019 Ford F-150 S-Crew FX4 that had the 40/20/40 front seat. Ruby red in color (wifes second color pick with black being first). This person puts me with a salesman and he takes my information. I tell him where I wanted to end up at. He carries the information to person my brother in-law referred me to. Ended up getting $1900 more on trade in for my 2014 F-150 with a better vehicle than the STX. I was happy. They were happy. Win-Win. Oh, about me having to get back to work by lunch. They had everything wrapped up a little after 11. I made it home (50 minutes away) in time to grab lunch and be at work at 12:02. They moved fast as they knew I had to leave.

Extended warranties, etc. I told the salesman upfront that, to make it easier, I don't need an extended warranty or anything else. He said the finance office goes over that. At the end the lady in the finance office tells me the salesman told her that I did not want an extended warranty or anything else. I said yes and she asked if I could say that as they record for training purposes, etc. I stated "I do not need an extended warranty, paint protection warranty, upholstery protection, kids throwing rocks protection or grandma running out in front of me protection." She produces a paper for me to sign stating I decline the extended warranty. I write DECLINED on it, initialed and signed up. She finishes up and we are done. Doc fee. The doc fee was $599. Another fee of $450 was for the "advantage program. It comes with the vehicle. It is usually $899 but we are only charging $450." This was per the salesman. I could have demanded to take it off but again the guy my brother in-law was awesome as far as meeting what I wanted (plus the $1900 more they gave for my trade in. What this suppose to cover for up to 12 months is: Key replacement coverage up to $500. Collision deductible coverage up to $500 per accident. Windshield protection up to $60. Dent/ding repair up to $600. Up to 2 dents or dings at a time. Up to 6 dents/dings total. Wheel protection up to $250. Door edge guards, cup guards and fabric protection. As my wife stated, some of this would be covered by our insurance anyway. This was discussed up front in the sales office, not the finance office. But the deal worked out great for me so I'm good. @larryh1108 thank you for this thread. I do have a question regarding warranty. I'll ask it later. This is already long enough.
 
Sounds like you had a good experience at 2 dealers.
That is great news!
As for the Tire/Wheel protection, I recommend it ($299 max) if you live in a rural area or drive a lot on lots with nails, construction debris, etc. Potholes also destroy tires. 1 new tire on a truck can go up to $200+ easy these days. Bend a rim or ruin a tire and it pays for itself.
I'm glad you got what you wanted. Many would just put it aside only to kick themselves for the next 5-10 years. Don't settle. It will haunt you later.
Same with the door ding protection. Well worth it. They make their money by most people not using the smaller services.
I say you did great.
Of course, only what you think matters. It's your money and you only answer to yourself.
 
larryh1108 said:
Sounds like you had a good experience at 2 dealers.
That is great news!
As for the Tire/Wheel protection, I recommend it ($299 max) if you live in a rural area or drive a lot on lots with nails, construction debris, etc. Potholes also destroy tires. 1 new tire on a truck can go up to $200+ easy these days. Bend a rim or ruin a tire and it pays for itself.
I'm glad you got what you wanted. Many would just put it aside only to kick themselves for the next 5-10 years. Don't settle. It will haunt you later.
Same with the door ding protection. Well worth it. They make their money by most people not using the smaller services.
I say you did great.
Of course, only what you think matters. It's your money and you only answer to yourself.
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Thank you sir. The wife and I are happy with the experience. Here is my question. I had a 2" leveling kit (Rough country spacers) put on the front of my now previous 2014 F150. I had carried it to the Chevrolet dealership ( I called Ford at the time and was told the mechanics at the Chevy shop does that. Both the Chevy and Ford dealerships have the same name except one is Ford and one is Chevy. Anyway back then I carried it to the Chevy dealership who ended up carrying it to the Ford dealership anyway to have them installed. $178. Still have the paper. When negotiating a deal with my local Ford dealership for STX (before finding out you could not raise and lower the seat) I called service department and told the young lady on the phone I would be buying a vehicle from them and would like to have a level kit installed. How much would it be? She replied "Um. Hold on a minute. Comes back shortly and says "You don't want to do that. That will void you warranty for your suspension if anything happens to it and it will eventually leak down." Now, the one on my previous truck held up great. Yesterday I asked the sales manager at my local dealer (again, when I was looking at the STX) if adding spacers would void the suspension warranty as I notice a few of the trucks on the lot had a level kit with rims and tires installed. He stated "No. We do it all the time to put rims and tires on them." I informed him I was told something different by someone in service. When I was buying my new truck today I stepped over to the service department and asked someone in there the same question. He stated "No. The guys back here do it a lot." One young lady in my local service department went and talked to someone and said it would. The sales manager in this same dealership said it wouldn't. Service guy I spoke to today said it would not. Some post on the F150 forums have examples of ball joints, etc being denied because of a level. What is you answer/opinion on this?
 
My initial thought was that the kit would void the suspension warranty. When I read that it was installed by an authorized service center, I changed my mind and figured that if it was done by an authorized dealer, it would be covered.

If you did it in your garage or Bubba did it at his shop, I have no doubt it would void the warranty. If it was done at a Ford dealer and the receipt described the work done then I would ASSUME it would be covered. Personally, I would have the dealer include, on the receipt, that this work does not void the factory warranty.
E.g. Lift kit, installed. This does not void the factory warranty. $178 (or whatever the technical description would be). So, if the factory declines coverage, the dealer would have to suck it up. Never accept something verbally. Make them put it in writing.
 
larryh1108 said:
My initial thought was that the kit would void the suspension warranty. When I read that it was installed by an authorized service center, I changed my mind and figured that if it was done by an authorized dealer, it would be covered.

If you did it in your garage or Bubba did it at his shop, I have no doubt it would void the warranty. If it was done at a Ford dealer and the receipt described the work done then I would ASSUME it would be covered. Personally, I would have the dealer include, on the receipt, that this work does not void the factory warranty.
E.g. Lift kit, installed. This does not void the factory warranty. $178 (or whatever the technical description would be). So, if the factory declines coverage, the dealer would have to suck it up. Never accept something verbally. Make them put it in writing.
Click to expand...

Follow up to this. I mentioned in my previous post that the day I bought the truck I asked a guy in the service department where I bought the truck if it would void the suspension warranty. He stated "No. The guys back here do it a lot." I asked him if they would put that on the receipt and he said they "usually don't but I will talk to the guy that does it to see what he can put on it to give you peace of mind." I carried the truck in yesterday to the dealership I bought it from to have a level kit installed. Mentioned out previous conversation to the same guy and he says he remembers our conversation. Once the truck is ready go back to the service department. The employee (guy I had been talking to) introduces me to his manager and the manager tells me there "Is no need for anything. We didn't change anything that would affect how the suspension works. We just added the spacer and that doesn't change anything. You're going to have you work done here anyway right?" I tell him that I am nearly an hour away so routine stuff (oil change and tire rotation will be done at my local dealer) and I would bring any mechanical/warranty issues to them as I bought it from them. He said that would be fine. Receipt is printed off and of course nothing is on there about not affecting the warranty.
Couple of points:
1. I had a level kit installed in my previous truck and never had an issue. Don't expect one with this one either. But @larryh1108 is correct. Never accept something verbally. Funny how most all of them say it's fine blah, blah, blah but don't want to put it in writing.
2. I think it depends on the dealership as well. If they put something on I believe they will omit it or casually overlook it if they have to submit it to Ford, Chevy etc. I believe this because 1. What the manager stated (You're going to have you work done here anyway right?) and 2. I called a place in Wilson over a week ago about installing the level kit first. When I asked about warranty issues I was told they "Kind of have an agreement with xx dealership. We install them all the time and they look out for us."
 
easternnc4me said:
Never accept something verbally. Funny how most all of them say it's fine blah, blah, blah but don't want to put it in writing.
Click to expand...

Yep, if they sweat or dance at that request to put it in writing, they probably arent being truthful.

Many years ago I even witnessed dealers with a policy of refusing ANY routine warranty work on cars that they themselves had not sold. This was great for us, since we handled them all and won them over as customers. We also had a great relationship with the factory zone rep to make sure that items that were iffy were paid whenever possible. Writing warranty claims so they get paid is an art form. Sometimes we ate it for good customers, or split the costs if the Mfr said not covered. Many a car was sold because our dealership owner paid for a $5 part out of own his pocket.

I've also seen what happens when someone modifies the car and then has a warranty issue with the affected parts- similar to when a LEO has to apply discretion regarding giving you a ticket or a warning, it depends. Technically, most warranties exclude defects in or caused by things that were not in the factory build as well as competition use , etc. Depending on the scale of the "offense", someone might be told to go take that stuff off and come back later.
 
I just started the process through the Costco Buying program. I put in the car I wanted with accessories and all. An hour later I get a call from the Costco approved dealer. He gives me his price on the vehicle build I sent in. I emailed him back that I would like to have the final OTD price. He immediately emails that back. He is within $500 of what I was wanting to pay going in. He's $3200 under the MSRP build price OTD. I plan on wrapping up the deal in the next week or so. If the rest of the deal goes as easy as it has so far then the Costco membership is well worth it. I'll report back when I get the car.
 
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