Can this be done? If my F150 doesn't sell by the time I'm ready for a Mustang (hoping to order next month; closing on my new house 4/27), I'd like to see if I can get enough on a trade-in to make it worthwhile... but I'm planning to order my Mustang to my specifications, so how would that work? Is it even possible?

I'm very curious about the details of such an arrangement, as I'm getting zero response on my truck ads. Thanks for any assistance you guys can provide!

-Woodrow

 

You order the car, but let them know what you will want to possibly trade-in on it. They may want a deposit on the new car at time of order. Once it arrives, you can negotiate the trade-in. You can try to get the dealer to shoot you a probable trade in value ahead of time, but they never like to say unless you are at the dealership ready to sign off on a new car. If you can't agree on trade-in value once the car arrives...your only choices would seem to be to buy the car without the trade-in, or back out of the deal. If you back out of the deal, you should be able to get your deposit back, though you never know when they might give you a hard time. If you back out of the deal, the dealer just adds the car to their stock I would assume.

 

If you wait for your car to come in before getting rid of the truck they'll know you are desperate and will rape you on the trade in value.

 

Do you have a Carmax near where you live? If so, take your truck to them and sell it to them, they will give you a fair wholesale price but it will be quite a bit less than retail but so will the trade value against the new car.

 

I've never heard of Carmax, so I'm guessing I don't.

Thanks for the info, guys- I'll just keep trying to sell and hope something works out before it's time to make a move.

 

I ordered my 2011 GT yesterday. Traded in my 2003 GT 'vert. The salesman said that when my car came in my trade would be worth less by then and we'd have to renegotiate the trade value. I told them they could have the trade now. So then he says....we'll give you an extra 500 over book if we can have it now. (it is 'vert season) Done deal!

 

I ordered a Raptor truck in January and was lucky enough to sell my old F150 for $6,000 more than what the dealer was going to give me. Problem is that was in February. Now its April and I still don't know when I'll have my new truck.

But moral of the story is that if you can, sell the truck first. I knew that when I walked in to pick up the new truck I was going to get bent over on the trade-in. They know they have you. It's just common sense.

 

Get a # and have it writing. I got a # on my 08 and it is written on the sales work sheet from Van Bortel. I asked them just to be sure that there is no tricks.

 

I just went down on Saturday to the Dealership where I ordered my 2011 GT to see what they might give me for my 2008 GT. It came out to be $18000, but I think I can get them to come up to 19k. My 08 GT only has 16,500 miles on it. I live close to work......

 

$21.5 at Van Bortel but my 08 only has 3900 miles and several appearance mods including Chrome DD Bullitts.

 

I will be amazed if you don't end up with some last minute shenanigans (sp?) on that . . . car now has more miles, new scratches, tires are more worn, market value has changed due to the release of the new 5.0, or some such BS . . . I think you need to be prepared to walk away if they change the deal on you . . . let us know how it goes

 

I just wrote Paul this morning with the same concerns and this is what he said.

Joe,

"I am sure that happens at a lot of stores but that doesn’t happen at Van Bortel. As long as the car arrives here as it was described you get the value we offered you."

My car is garaged and not drivin in the winter or the rain. My car is in better condition than when i drove it off the lot. Immaculate.

 

Yes, some Dealerships don't play games as much as others do. I went in like I just explained above to the same Dealer when I ordered my 08 GT to see what they would give me on the 05 V6 Mustang that I would be trading in and that's what they gave me when I did actually trade it in.

That's why this is the third Mustang that I bought from this same Dealership.

 

I've been referred to a friend of a friend who may hook me up and buy the truck at a reasonable price. He has a couple car lots and owes my buddy a favor.

 

It sure can happen ! I ordered a new '05 GT vert from the dealer my son and I had bought 5 cars from over the years. I got a trade-in price on my '03 vert at time of order, and just before it was scheduled to be delivered I took my car back in to make sure all was still OK. The owner looked my car over and said 'no problem'. Just so happened my new car came in the next day. I emptied my car out, and drove down to pick the new one up. After inspecting the new car, we went inside to do the paperwork, and the guy says...'We have a slight problem'. The owner, the same man who had looked at my '03 the day before, changed his mind, and said that since the '05s were so hard to get, he was upping my price by $2700 ! I suppressed the urge to tear the place up on my way out the door. I drove to a Chevy dealer and bought a new '05 C6 Vette off the showroom floor. I swore never to by a Ford again, but when Obama became the GM CEO I rethought my vow, and am now waiting for my '11 GT Premium vert to arrive (from a different dealer, of course). As nice as the Vette is, I have always missed my Mustang, especially the sound, back seat, and trunk.

 

Yup, it's possible.

I ordered my 08 to my specs and the dealer gave me the value on my trade-in. They said that value would be good so long as it was in similar condition and the mileage wasn't above xx,xxx miles at the time of trade-in. (get it all in writing)

Well long story short, my car was suppose to be in, in 4-6 weeks.. It didn't happen and I was well past said mileage when she did.. after a few heated exchanges they agreed to honor the deal no matter the mileage. ..so 10 1/2 weeks later my baby finally arrived.

The deal was then done as if I bought a car off the lot, except my car had no dealer decals and less then 2 miles on her when I took the keys! (the dealer's lot is almost 1/2 mile long )

 

Hey Jason, sorry you had such a hard time. When your ready for another Mustang, you know where to go, right?

 

You know we will Jeff!

The 'other-half' is done her PhD next year (May I believe) and she's already chomping at the bit to get rid of that Accord POS she has!

It'll be hard to pick between getting a 5.0 GT, a F250 Powerstroke, or a 6.2L Raptor.. Hmm decisions, decisions..

 

best thing is to negotiate the trade in value before the order goes in, once the car has arrived the dealer has much more leverage becuase you will be focused on wanting the new car.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to wait until we've closed on the house on 4/27, then go next month and talk to the dealership where my cousin works. He's good with a few of the sales guys and the manager, so he may be able to get me fixed up.

Will definitely get the trade negotiated first and get it in writing. I'll be sure to let them know that every penny I get in trade will go into the new GT- maybe that'll help? Heh.