Is this a good deal for a 14 FFE SE?

[Christian Rutherford]

I am in the process of negotiating a deal on a 2014 FFE SE with the following features:

 

Moonroof

Adaptive Cruise

Rearview Camera

Push Button Start.

 

The price I have been quoted is $36,850 Total (Out the door)

 

I would have to order it.

 

Is this a good deal?

[blars]

My titanium nearly fully loaded was only a couple hundred more.

[Kybuck]

Where are you located?  There appears to be at least some level of pricing variability depending on region.

[Christian Rutherford]

I live in VA Beach, VA.  The retail price for this car is $38,330.  The dealer invoice is $35,954.  When you factor in Processing fee of $479, Licensing/tags $75 and Sales tax of $1441, I'm paying $1100 below invoice.  I see that several folks have bought their FFEs at even lower prices and I don't know how that is.  I'm not taking into account any tax incentives because I don't usually owe tax at the end of the year.  Also, If I finance through Ford there's a $1000 rebate which makes the total $35,850.  I wasn't planning on financing through Ford though.  As stange as this sounds I like the seats better in the SE than the Titanium.

 

Am I somehow paying too much even though this car is below inventory?  

[Russael]

 I'm not taking into account any tax incentives because I don't usually owe tax at the end of the year.

 

Just going to comment on this one - it's not about if you owe or get a refund, it has to do with your federal tax liability.  Example:  The Feds withhold $5,000 total over the course of the year, and when you file your taxes, the liability comes to $4200.  You will receive a refund of 800 dollars.  The tax credit of 4007 would reduce your liability to 193 dollars, and your refund would become 4807.  You don't have to claim the credit on your 2014 tax year if you want the feds to just keep that money. :)

 

On the flipside, another example where leasing would be more appropriate:  The feds withhold 4,000 over the course of the year, but when you do your taxes, your liability is 3,000.  You'd receive a refund of 1,000.  If you claim the tax credit, you would NOT receive 4007... you would instead receive a credit of 3,000, and the other 1007 would be lost.  It isn't treated as a rebate, but as a credit to reduce your liability.  This is when leasing would be smarter since the company can roll that 4007 credit in to your lease payments.

 

If I went for a Volt or a Ford Focus Electric, I would have to lease it because my federal tax liability would have to be greater than 7500 for a tax year and I don't come close to that, and I'd rather not waste that credit.

[cxd213]

Sounds like too much to me, personally. I'd spend some time negotiating with other dealers through email only. Keep having them compete with other dealer's lowest offers until they begin dropping out. When you're down to 2-3 make personal phone calls, and visit each dealership. Play hardball - these vehicles aren't selling like hotcakes (just look at the quarterly sales numbers). They're selling okay, but not amazing, so you should have the leverage in this situation. Find a dealer with one on the lot to buy, even if you have to settle for less options. Just so you can compare, I fought hard with a few local dealers using the process above on a model with no options at all. My final vehicle price was $29,150, minus $750 in Ford private cash, minus $500 in College Grad rebate, for a total of $27900, plus taxes/tags/title/processing (negotiated processing down to $100, also). Combine this with the federal tax credits and my local credits and I'm pretty far under the cost of just the Hybrid models.

 

Not knocking you, but when you really think about it, is pushing a button versus turning a key really worth a few hundred dollars? Is a moonroof (yet another mechancial part that could wear/fail) worth a grand? Rearview camera is a decent deal and could be viewed as a safety feature... Those other things are all optional/nice-to-haves in my opinion. Don't let those cost you negotiating power and thousands of dollars - just not worth it. Beauty of the FFE right now is the money savings - 100mpg-e + federal credits + local credits, etc. Don't get wrapped up into the bells and whistles and put yourself behind financially on a great money-saving investment.

 

Good luck!

Edited April 10, 2014 at 06:13 PM by cxd213

[Kybuck]

It looks like your price is in line with the X-Plan pricing (supplier/partner discount) with current incentives, which isn't too bad (which is essentially what I paid for my 2014 SE in December).  The biggest difference is that X-Plan caps the dealer documentation fees to $100.  I'd at least see if they can lower the processing fees.

 

Location was important, especially with the variability in sales tax in different states.

 

Can you even order a 2014 anymore?  I thought the window had passed, unless you're looking at a dealer transfer.

[FrostFire]

My final vehicle price was $29,150, minus $750 in Ford private cash, minus $500 in College Grad rebate, for a total of $27900, plus taxes/tags/title/processing (negotiated processing down to $100, also). Combine this with the federal tax credits and my local credits and I'm pretty far under the cost of just the Hybrid models.

 

If the prices like the above I keep seeing posted are for actual cash sales, either I got ripped off or the dealer took a significant hit.  If they're lease capitalization amounts... some posters are going to be very disappointed by the IRS.  I found a dealer with an excess of Fusion Energis and agreed to $32,850 cash on a basic 2014 SE after a simple 5 minute negotiation.  If I didn't get ripped off the OP is considering a good price, but I personally couldn't justify spending that much on options.

 

I've had my car for exactly a month and about 1,300 miles, I'm very happy with it and haven't had any issues.

[cxd213]

No, I'd never lease, I financed through my credit union, and plan to pay off the entire balance owed with my tax credit + return in 2015. Just have to play hardball. Walk out, fight for every dollar, question everything. Don't let them sell you more than you're looking for. Getting dealerships to compete with each other is really the only way to get a deal on a new car.

 

I've always found X-Plan to be a rip off, personally. I've always been able to do thousands better on my two Ford purchases than X-Plan offered me. If you don't have negotiating skills it might be okay as it does protect you from hidden fees (although I never trust a dealership). Just be a hardass and don't take crap. :)

[Christian Rutherford]

I ordered it today and the final price ended up being $35,850 (total out the door), but I added the illumination package as well.  I'm not getting any younger, so I added all of the features I know that I'll use and want. I use my moonroof all of the time on my current vehicle and I love the way it gives the car a more open feeling.  I constantly use cruise control, so the adaptive cruise was a nice feature to have.  I guess I'm of the opinion that if I'm going to spend close to or over $30k then I'm going to get the features I want. There aren't many FFEs for sale in my neck of the woods, but if I just wanted a basic FFE with no additional features I know I could find one for a bit less, but not where I live.  I would likely have to travel out of state.  

 

As a side note, I didn't mention this but the Vice President of the Ford dealership where I placed my order is a friend of mine.  They gave me copies of the dealer invoice with my features and I payed significantly less than dealer invoice.  The tax rate in VA is 4.2%, so that added and extra $1441 to the price of the car.  There doesn't appear to be much of a demand for the FFEs around my area.  I have not seen a single one on the road, so there's no possibility of getting the dealers out here to compete against each other over the surplus FFEs they have because there isn't a surplus. Regardless, I'm very happy with my purchase and my friend gave me a good deal.  I'm looking forward to getting it built and delivered!

[cxd213]

Congrats, hope you enjoy your new car! I won't be getting mine until Tuesday or so.

[Erstwhile]

I see lots of references to Federal Tax Credits ... but this IRS pub (Feb 2014) indicates those credits have expired. What am I missing (ref: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporations/Alternative-Motor-Vehicle-Credit)

[meyersnole]

I see lots of references to Federal Tax Credits ... but this IRS pub (Feb 2014) indicates those credits have expired. What am I missing (ref: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporations/Alternative-Motor-Vehicle-Credit)

 

The hybrid credits have expired, but the ones for plug in hybrid are still available.  https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxphevb.shtml