This is old news... They're just talking about it again since the deadline was Tuesday. And this is what all the dealerships who become Model E program partners must do starting January '24. The dealerships still set the pricing. *BUT* they have to present the pricing up front and there's no haggling or adding in extra fluff or BS later. The price is the price. This also gives the customer the ability to shop around. Pricing must be presented online and there will be online ordering and purchase. So you can order your new truck and pick your dealership knowing the price. Truck arrives and you can pay online, go to dealership sign a couple papers and drive off.How is that going to help me with my purchase now? A little transparency would help; Ford CS, customer and dealer should be able to go to the same website and see the same process, prices and incentives. If this is not just about control and it is about customer, Ford could do it now.
The problem right now is that there are no pricing practices or standards in place. Dealerships can do whatever they want. Ford wanted them to present final pricing at the time of order for the Lightning. But still have no control over what the dealer does when finalizing the sale as they hold a customer's truck hostage. The only recourse Ford has is to pull allocations from a dealership if they can cite multiple instances of the dealer not representing Ford in good faith.The current haggling and purchase issues are FoMoCo's problem, not the dealers. The dealers have no transparency and no one to communicate with when their educated customers come in knowing what they should be getting.
Sounds like they are kicking the can for awhile...
All nice but completely irrelevant for me personally. My deal is happening before January 24th. And until it does, I have no idea if it will, since I won’t pay more than I was promised.This is old news... They're just talking about it again since the deadline was Tuesday. And this is what all the dealerships who become Model E program partners must do starting January '24. The dealerships still set the pricing. *BUT* they have to present the pricing up front and there's no haggling or adding in extra fluff or BS later. The price is the price. This also gives the customer the ability to shop around. Pricing must be presented online and there will be online ordering and purchase. So you can order your new truck and pick your dealership knowing the price. Truck arrives and you can pay online, go to dealership sign a couple papers and drive off.
Of course, that's the idealistic way this is all intended to work. Let's see if it actually happens. Ford knows their customers are not happy with the current dealership sales model. They're changing it with the Model E program and if successful there, will expand it to their ICE sales as well. It may not be as slick as Tesla or Rivian, but when you have a couple thousand independent dealerships involved this is a huge step.
January 2024All nice but completely irrelevant for me personally. My deal is happening before January 24th. And until it does, I have no idea if it will, since I won’t pay more than I was promised.
That is exactly what is happening to me right now. I was supposed to take my truck home tonight but my dealer refused up front price protection that is in my ford online agreement when I go to complete my purchase.The problem right now is that there are no pricing practices or standards in place. Dealerships can do whatever they want. Ford wanted them to present final pricing at the time of order for the Lightning. But still have no control over what the dealer does when finalizing the sale as they hold a customer's truck hostage. The only recourse Ford has is to pull allocations from a dealership if they can cite multiple instances of the dealer not representing Ford in good faith.
There are some dealerships who are fighting the whole Model E thing.
LOL when I started asking for the DORA report and to show me the incentives in smart Vincent for when I ordered and when it arrived he was confused and had no clue his managers first words were what dealership do or did you work for.The current haggling and purchase issues are FoMoCo's problem, not the dealers. The dealers have no transparency and no one to communicate with when their educated customers come in knowing what they should be getting.
Sounds like they are kicking the can for awhile...
It must be out of goodness of their heart and to make the world a better place that they are doing it. They make 10%We don't make any money on this deal.
I don‘t think Ford can legally tell dealers what price they can sell cars for. Ford is flirting with the limits of what they can do legally, with the things they are asking dealer to do to be part of the EV program. The car dealer association lobbyists have been working for decades to protect the dealership business model. Much of what we don’t care for is protected by law.First post on this forum. I just placed an order a couple days ago and was surprised my dealer did a straight MSRP deal because it's unlike them. The salesman said, "We don't make any money on this deal." lol. He implied this was a recent change related to the dealership signing up to be a Ford EV dealership. IDK the truth. It could be that when a dealer signs up to be an EV dealer they are required to sell at list price. It could be the new trend. Or, I could be totally wrong.