Vehicle availability vs what the Ford website says?

[Oafy44]

Well, still have not been able to find a truck to buy - even pointed the most recent dealer towards the EV Replenishment center. Crickets.
Just for humor's sake, a few minutes I got a marketing E-Mail from "Southern California Ford Dealers" telling me how wonderful their trucks are and to see my local dealer...

there’s two antimatter blue flashes and at least 4 AMB lariats at Akins ford in winder,ga.
They ship nation wide and are the largest or second largest dealer in the country. I think they have national accounts with many nationwide companies that get 100s of trucks a year and can ship it out there if need be.

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[BostonLightning]

So a quick search for your zip code, 50 mile radius, AMB Flash shows 18 vehicles, most in stock. Are you saying they don't really exist? Makes you wonder how they are selling anything.

https://www.ford.com/inventory/f150-lightning/results?postalCode=91740&year=2024&trim=SE;SE#GJ_YZCEG-095dc&radius=50&sort=distance-asc&exteriorColor=PN4HY-f3591

The OP is saying that when he contacts those dealers with models listed as 'Available' they are not actually available. The best bet would be to contact out of state dealers with experience selling to California residents and get a shipping quote. The final cost with current rebates, APR, federal and state programs on a 2024 should more than be worth it to the vast majority of buyers.

 

[K6CCC]

So a quick search for your zip code, 50 mile radius, AMB Flash shows 18 vehicles, most in stock. Are you saying they don't really exist? Makes you wonder how they are selling anything.

That is correct. A little more detailed search will show the same vehicles listed by VIN as "In stock" at every dealer in the area, but none of those actually have them.

 

[bmwhitetx]

That is correct. A little more detailed search will show the same vehicles listed by VIN as "In stock" at every dealer in the area, but none of those actually have them.

Interesting. I've been a part of the whole "same VIN available at multiple dealers" discussion before. @climateguy did a good job uncovering all this. Like you said the website wasn't displaying the VIN but if you clicked the vehicle - the VIN would be in the URL and you could see multiple dealers had the same VIN. In these cases availability was always 10 days+. We learned later they were at Replendishment Centers.

But the search I did showed VINs upfront and they are completely different for the 18 (now 17) trucks (Flash in AMB). And most show to be In Stock.

So I went to a few dealer websites and you're right - most if not all are in transit and have the fake pic in front of a CGI dealer background. Ford is really making it difficult to buy a Lightning - I guess dealers didn't want them in inventory.

Tim Bartz of Long McArthur Ford in Salina Kansas is a dealer I would highly recommend. He became famous for his Maverick prowness back when those were hard to get. He did a lot of shipping to other states. He has a few Flashes in stock but not your color. He posted earlier today that dealers can now order 2025 Lightnings. If you go the order route and want a dealer who knows all the ins and outs of the tax credit, you might consider him. He owned a Lightning for a couple of years - now drives a Rally GT Mach-E I think. YouTube channel.

 

[K6CCC]

Be still my heart! Finally found a local dealer that actually wants to sell me a Lightning! They actually have one on the lot that almost meets my wants list, but in less than an hour found one that hits all my request list. He did not say if it was a dealer trade or the EV replenishment center, but the end result is that I will be stopping by there after work and getting the ball rolling.

After 9 weeks of trying, I'm jazzed!

More details when I have them.

 

[3rdgenfan]

I've been shopping for a Lariat that has Max Tow + 9.6kW Pro Power...the math says it'll clear the tax credit threshold by ~$50 and the only one I found managed to have "Dealer Installed Addons" on the window sticker adding to the cost...and then didn't want to sell to someone out of their region

 

[K6CCC]

I have a brand new Lightning Flash in antimatter blue!!!

More in the morning - I gotta get to bed.

 

[Power P]

I have a brand new Lightning Flash in antimatter blue!!!

More in the morning - I gotta get to bed.

Congrats! Join the AM Blue club! Great color. Can’t wait to see your pics - especially when you start adding your mods, which I’m sure you will after this long wait!

 

[K6CCC]

As I mentioned yesterday I found a local dealer that actually was interested in finding and selling me a Lightning. After work, I drove over there and took a test drive in a Flash that they had on the lot that was almost every item on my wishlist. After some discussion, it was decided that they could give me a better deal on the one on the lot as opposed to one they had to bring in, and the only difference was minor enough that I made the purchase. They even gave me a quite acceptable trade in value on my 2003 Dodge Ram with 284K miles that needed major engine work. A while going through all the paperwork, then some familiarization and off I went home to get to bed. Damn have things changed with trucks in the last 21 years. I've got some learning to do - but that will be fun. Current expectation is that it will do about a 15 mile mile run off road to a two way radio site on Friday, and likely a shorter off road run to a different radio site over the weekend. In other words, I'm gonna get it dirty!

Took my older son (a self professed "car guy") out for a 10 minute drive last night. He was impressed with the get up and go, but commented "It doesn't make noise".

This morning, I drove my 26 miles into work. Had the heater running and about half the drive was at full freeway speed (70ish) and half either on city streets or slow freeway. It said I averaged 2.3 mi / KWH. The Guess-O-Meter was at least fairly accurate, so far. There are 11 EV chargers at three different locations here on the campus (plus a few more in the Police garage which I do have access to and at least 3 more that are city vehicles only), so if I need to change here, I should not have much trouble. This evening I will do a quick install of a 240 outlet next to my driveway so I can change at home until the EVSE gets installed. The truck had 80% when I bought it and FordPass said it's at 68% now so I should have no trouble with battery capacity for a day or two...

In a sort of humor, this morning I got an advertising E-Mail from "Southern California Ford Dealers" with the subject of " Jim, F-150 Lightning is Built Ford Proud. Buy yours today. " Sorry, I'm not buying another one today

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