First of all, thanks to everyone on this board that has taken the time to answer the many questions a lot of us have had. Ive been lurking since November and drooling over everyone's new babies.

I live in a small town of 30k in mid-America (read Kansas) and we have one Ford dealership here. Since the new Mustang has come out, I havent seen more then 2 on the lot and they have had the same V6 for 3 months. I think they have sold a total of 4. The big sellers here are trucks. I have been told that they do honor the X-plan and thats the route I am hoping to take.

I plan to order an '06 when the order banks open up in May. If you are wondering why I am waiting, Im paying down bills (darn credit card!) and making sure of squeaky clean credit (at +700 right now).

My questions are:

1) Who do I talk to about allocations?

2) Who would be best to order through?

3) Since the order banks open on May 16th, when should I approach the dealership about ordering?

4) Any other ordering advice?

This is going to be the first vehicle I have ever ordered, so Im kinda clueless on the process.

Thanks in advance for any answers,
Karl

 

I talked to the Fleet Manager for getting mine. However, I bought off the lot.
All the info I researched before buying mine indicated talking to the Fleet Manager. However, this was for traditional car buying, not for ordering, so I am not sure how this applies to ordering.

 

talk to fleet for sure!!! they dont work off comission like the sales people do so they will most likely give you the best deal, i bought my 05 GT prem. that was coming in on a truck already and i only paid 100 over invoice but i have heard thats an awsome deal cause most places are charging msrp at the lowest and some are ever charging a couple grand over that , which is a rip off IMO

 

This really depends on the store. Most fleet managers handle purchases of 5 to 100 or more vehicles at a time and may have very little interest in handling a measly single unit transaction.

 

I purchased from the fleet manager at my local lot. Of course she was the sister-in-law of a co-worker. But I haven't found a fleet manager that won't work with me yet. A sale is a sale regardless of volume.

Of course since the 05 Mustang is so hard to get the dealerships, in my experience, aren't very flexible. I had to use X-Plan to get the deal I got. I don't think they would have gone down much without it.

 

I went to the smallest dealer here in jax, a fleet salesman has a daughter i went to Physical therapy school with and he ordered it on 1/20 and it is being delivered next week. I am not sure if things have changed at ford, but it may be that fleet salesman get a different allocation than the regular ford dept.

 

1) Anyone who will answer you, if they can't ask who can.
2) Who ever does the ordering, for me it was the fleet director who handled all personal orders.
3) Talk to them when you want, there is no magic date between now and the 16th where they are more likely to work with you.
4) Any deposited you are asked to put down, make sure it’s refundable at any time. Ask for a copy of the DORA before you give them any money. Ask for priority 10.

 

Fleet orders are different than regular orders. Fleet doesn't go through the allocation system. Fleet gets a percentage of the weeks production and schedules by order date so this eliminates any time diffences between dealers and also allows them to sell to fleets without using a allocation that should go to a normal customer. Fleet unit sales don't count to earn allocation either.


plagerism wha?

 

Spend some time and read what is posted on this forum. The lesson learned is "ALLOCATION". Probably too early for anyone to have an idea on 06 allocations but it is likely going to mirror what they had on 05s. Small dealers can work out for you just fine but many times they just can't support the number of orders. Be prepared to travel and try other dealers. Learn these lessons well, Grasshopper.

 

Fleet orders are different than regular orders. Fleet doesn't go through the allocation system. Fleet gets a percentage of the weeks production and schedules by order date so this eliminates any time diffences between dealers and also allows them to sell to fleets without using a allocation that should go to a normal customer. Fleet unit sales don't count to earn allocation either.


plagerism wha?
[/b][/quote]

Not all fleet orders are handled differently.

The process you are referring to is for Major National Fleets like PHH, ARI, GE Leasing, Purolator and other designated large volume buyers. That allocation is pooled regionally.

Individual and small fleet orders are handled the same as retail orders through the dealership's regular allocation. So in your situation an order through fleet won't make a difference. Many times a retail order will be given a higher priority than a fleet order.

Every dealership handles their process differently, but generally the New Car Manager will have a better idea of what allocation is and what might be available.

 

Yaaa but how do you squeeze that non-ficticious information out of their fat heads?