Darth Stang

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Clem @ April 29, 2006, 5:54 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
It's still somewhat uncommon to see one in the DC area. Seems surprising considering the rediculous congestion in these parts.
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Hey Clem, you on crack? I have 5 in my lot at work and I pass an average of 4 on my way to work everyday! Where do you live, Southeast?

-Darth

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/starwars.gif[/img]

Hollywood_North GT

In Victoria, BC, I counted about 25 new Stangs on one of the Ford dealer's inventory lots - about two-thirds of them GTs...a variety of wheels and color combos - and several with the IUP and CAP.

One definitely has to wonder if the price of gas is hurting sales. My guess is that it will...if it hasn't already.

I was actually reading a couple of concerned posts on some other message boards, where a rumor is circulating that Chevy and Chrysler are watching the per barrel price of crude, and that if it hits $80 per barrel, they will be putting the kaibosh on the Camaro and Challenger programs respectively.

kepfordj

I thought about it and came to the conclusion that inventories are building now due to the early changer over to the 07's and ford wants to have enough on the lot to carry the dealerships over til they start shipping 07's.

incomingRPG

Yeah, but if the cars were selling, inventories would not be building up on dealers lots. Some of these cars, GT's included have been on the lots since last Fall, and there is still a $5000 AMV on the sticker. I don't think Ford is producing that many more Mustang's today than they did before. Dealer's would rather you believe otherwise, but demand has slowed plain and simple. It is like ticket scalpers asking for twice the face value when there is 5 minutes left in the game. They might get someone to pay it, but time is no longer on their side. The "gravy train" has left the station! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/eek.gif[/img]

Adrenal

I got an oil change last Friday and while waiting I perused the Stang inventory. He has 19 V6's and 8 GT's. I didn't look at the V6 pricing, but they are still asking $3,995 over MSRP for the GT's. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/nonono.gif[/img]

V10

Up here in New England most dealers are overloaded with V6s.

GT inventory has increased substantially over the past 2 months, but could be better. The only shortage up here is manual trannie GTs which are still hard to get and most dealers are still asking for markups on manual tranny GTs.

I was in NC & SC last week and could not believe how many Mustangs are on dealer lots. One dealer had over 70 Mustangs of which half of them were GTs. Even in a couple of the smaller cities there were many, many Mustangs on the dealer lots.

As of 30 min ago Ford still has not posted April sales. The fact is that for the last 9 consecutive months Mustang sales have not been very good. Production has been significantly greater for each of those 9 consective months than sales which can only mean that dealer inventory is increasing.

Yes, 2005 was a good year for Mustang sales, but the big #s came from blow out sales months in March - April - May - June of 2005. Sales dropped significantly in July 05 and have not recovered. With the high gas prices I'm expecting another mediocre to poor Mustang sales month in April 06. There are rebates on the V6 and I'm sure that Ford will need to put rebates on GTs to clear out the leftover 06 models.

traffic142

Since winter time, the GT stock has increased in eastern NC. I agree that the shaker 1000 is not worth the money they want. I looked at all the options and packages and found the best for me. I actually got the salesman to discout the price by 500 bucks. I double checked the msrp on the ford site, so I know the numbers were correct. This was at the height of the frenzy. My dealer could not keep a GT on the lot more than a few days. Mine was special ordered. Good luck

Clem

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darth Stang @ April 29, 2006, 8:40 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Hey Clem, you on crack? I have 5 in my lot at work and I pass an average of 4 on my way to work everyday! Where do you live, Southeast?

-Darth

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/starwars.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]

No Darth, I quit smoking crack months ago and I recently moved out of Southeast to help me stay clean! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrinjester.gif[/img]

To be fair, I have been seeing more and more the last few months but it 10 V6's to every GT. I've had my GT for almost a year and a half and for the first six months of that, I could count on one hand the GT's I saw. The six bangers are everywhere.

hi5.0

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(incomingRPG @ April 29, 2006, 3:23 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Awesome post kamiller42 [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/bowdown.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/worship.gif[/img] As you can see I am undecided upon the purchase of a Mustang GT for many of the same reasons you layout. I have made more than one post saying that Ford should be embarassed to put some of those materials in any car. I could buy a fully loaded Premium GT today and skip over any financing. Lately, I am considering a Deluxe GT WITHOUT most options, because quite frankly the only thing worth paying for is the GT's performance. If the quality was there in the options I'd have no problem paying for them. But even if I have the money, I am not stupid enough to pay ($1770 over the basic radio is it?) for the Shaker 1000. Yes, this is a beautiful sexy car, but I am not about to throw my financial intelligence out the window because of it. You will find that you are not alone on this issue.
[/b][/quote]

Good posts kamiller42 and incomingRPG, I also have reservations about purchasing a new GT given the local dealers' insistence on AMV and some of the quality issues brought up in this forum. Just looking at the local inventory via forddirect.com shows quite a bit of GT's "sitting on the lot" - mainly Premium trim with A/T. I was always looking for a pretty basic Deluxe GT just for the V8 and, to paraphrase the last salesman talking to his sales manager; "The (Premium) models on the lot had features I wouldn't even take for free." Don't want a Shaker, no spoiler, and no upgraded wheels. I'd rather go aftermarket for those options. Yes, no car is perfect (except the Ford GT and other fine supercars [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrinjester.gif[/img]) but I can overlook those blemishes because frankly, the new Mustang is the only "affordable performance" car on the market that I like best. However, I'm also considering looking for another 5.0 Fox if the dealers still want to play the AMV game. Last chance, Ford (dealers).

dswhalen

However, I'm also considering looking for another 5.0 Fox if the dealers still want to play the AMV game. Last chance, Ford (dealers).
[/quote]

May I suggest that you quit dicking around with the Lot Lizards and start calling the internet sales department. You can find a ton of new GT's with whatever you want on them at AutoTrader.com. They will tell you what they want and you don't have to deal with the desk and the back and forth. If you don't like it, make another call. The problem with most sales people is that they usually have about 3 months experience and know dipschmack about selling, options, equipment, or anything else. So don't even go there.

hi5.0

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm hoping the dealers here (on Oahu) in Hawaii will accept a courtesy delivery - I could definitely get the car for less that way. The problem: living on an island means we are pretty much a "captive market". I figured the costs and hassles involved with buying and then shipping the car would just about even things out. Still keeping that card in play, so to speak. Also trying to get in touch with the fleet sales manager(s) - that's how my co-worker got a good deal on his Ranger. Y'all want to know how sad it is here? The Ford dealers are still trying to get rid of some "new" '05's (GT and V6) in ads. Even my mother who is definitely NOT a car nut, asks "what's up with that?"

SVTJayC

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kamiller42 @ April 29, 2006, 6:54 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Long time Ford owner and share holder.
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Shareholder eh...ouch. Hopefully the Nissan/Toyota/Take your pick, buyout at least fixes that issue.

kamiller42

Thanks for your input incomingRPG and hi5.0. Buying a stripped GT seems to be a good idea. It would make up for some of the quality problems. Again, I have complete faith in the power train. It's everything around it that bugs me. Ford, change your suppliers. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/banghead.gif[/img]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SVTJayC @ May 2, 2006, 12:24 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Shareholder eh...ouch. Hopefully the Nissan/Toyota/Take your pick, buyout at least fixes that issue.
[/b][/quote]
Yea. I know. My theory back then was Ford was taking a beating, but the turn around plan back then (what was it? Turn around plan 2.0 or 3.0?) looked pretty good. The Mustang was going to come out. Three new sedans were coming. It looked like Ford got the picture that cars matter! You can suck off of the truck and SUV teet forever.

Sadly, the 500 is boring design. The Fusion is underpowered. The Zephyr is nice and has been doing well. And all three are Mexican vehicles while the Japanese and Koreans expand in America. <sigh>

So I read in today's news Ford lost more sales last month. What is Ford's response? Let's make a new slogan, "Bold Moves". I think The Dilbert Principle is alive and well at Ford. Grrr....

JoeP

Six months ago in Southern New York, you couldn't get a GT from stock and orders were at msrp. Now dealers are advertising $1000 off MSRP for GT autos and $500 for manuals, with most dealers having several. V-6's at invoice plus $500.

2005GTDELUXE

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dswhalen @ April 28, 2006, 3:18 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I stopped by a large Ford Dealer while on biz in Phoenix. The lot was full of GT's. The sales manager said that every lot in Phoenix was loaded with GT's. I counted 16 GT verts alone.

It seems that high gas prices are slowing Mustang GT sales The sales manager said he would wheel and deal on any GT on his lot.

This makes me want to wait on the GT500 hype. If gas stays high--will we see GT500's on the lot waiting for a deal in less than a year? Hmmmmm [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/headscratch.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]
I doubt it....Phoenix has a better selection than CT but I could not find a Torch Red GT coupe on a lot there in AZ.

V10

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kamiller42 @ May 3, 2006, 12:24 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
The Fusion is underpowered. The Zephyr is nice and has been doing well.
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The Fusion is under powered but the Zephyr which uses the exact same 3.0L V6 is nice? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/headscratch.gif[/img]

stangster

After visiting a couple of big dealerships in Little Rock and getting some of the treatment you guys wrote about, I bought my Mustang in central AR from a small dealer. Told them I wanted to order instead of buy off the lot. No problem. Told the salesman that I was going to use x-plan. No problem. Told them I needed a really great deal on my trade. Got it. Told them I wanted to track from day of order to day of delivery. They were glad to help (in fact, they learned some things in the process).

So there are good dealerships out there. By the way - they have a redfire GT premium with fanblades and manual in stock!

lodom

There have been comments from day one that the GT Mustangs would eventually have better availability, and this post proves it to be true. I'm glad to hear it, because it reduces the dealerships ability to over price the cars with their so-called adjusted market ripoff pricing. I also think current gas prices aren't helping the sales with fears that $3 gal will be here soon. I realize that gas prices are part of the ownership experience, but when combined with high insurance costs, and growing finance charges, it moves many out of the market who would otherwise consider the GT.

kamiller42

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V10 @ May 3, 2006, 8:02 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
The Fusion is under powered but the Zephyr which uses the exact same 3.0L V6 is nice? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/headscratch.gif[/img]
[/b][/quote]
That is true. But what the Zephyr lacks in horsepower, it makes up on style. You also don't see Ford commercials comparing the Zephyr to a race car. Its primary focus is comfort and style. This doesn't alleviate the necessity to give it more horses though.

V10

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lodom @ May 4, 2006, 12:11 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
There have been comments from day one that the GT Mustangs would eventually have better availability, and this post proves it to be true. I'm glad to hear it, because it reduces the dealerships ability to over price the cars with their so-called adjusted market ripoff pricing. I also think current gas prices aren't helping the sales with fears that $3 gal will be here soon. I realize that gas prices are part of the ownership experience, but when combined with high insurance costs, and growing finance charges, it moves many out of the market who would otherwise consider the GT.
[/b][/quote]

I could happen.

I've been tracking local dealer inventory.
6 months ago V6s out numbered GTs by 3:1
3 months ago the ratio was 2:1
This week it's 1.5:1

At that rate in 6 months V6 & GT dealer inventory will be equal.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kamiller42 @ May 4, 2006, 3:09 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
That is true. But what the Zephyr lacks in horsepower, it makes up on style. You also don't see Ford commercials comparing the Zephyr to a race car. Its primary focus is comfort and style. This doesn't alleviate the necessity to give it more horses though.
[/b][/quote]

Sorry, but I don't agree.

The Fusion is a modest priced family car, not a race car.

The Zephyr is a luxury car, it should have more HP, which it will get for 2007 with the D35.

Regarding styling, my preference is Milan #1, Fusion #2, Zephyr #3.
I don't like the Zephyr's oversized grille and oversized ES-300 style tail lights. I also hate the Zephyr's rectangular high dash board and it's analog clock is just plain silly. On the other hand I find the Milan and Fusion's dash boards attractive.