Hollywood_North GT

A friend of mine in the States went to three dealerships (THREE) over the weekend, and all three told him that their biggest problem seems to be deciding how much to tack onto the MSRP so they can be certain of getting the max dollars out of this car. Two of them told him MSRP plus another $20K due to the lengthy waiting list they had of presold cars.

He told them they were misguided about what their biggest problem actually is...and quite forcefully too.

Ford needs to pull their head out of their you-know-what and institute some sort of corporate standards for the dealers, who are their first line of PR. You don't make back your costs, and start making a profit when you produce something nice that customers want that just turns into a load of hype that nobody who is not connected or obscenely rich will ever get a chance to buy. Why invest all that time, effort and money producing something nice like the GT500 and then not make enough cars to sell to every customer who wants to buy one? Worse yet, why make so few that dealers are butt-raping their customers for almost as much as twice MSRP for the few they do sell?

wsmatau

Look, money buys privelege. That is a fact. But why are so many guys on here hemming and hawing about not being able to get a Shelby? If you can afford the MSRP just have a little patients. No, you may not be the first guy on your block to have one, but by '08 they will be old news and pretty readily available at MSRP.
I like to think of it this way. The 94-98 Cobras were "limited" to a production of 7500-10K per year (Ford made more than those #s every year). Now they aren't regarded as anything special and are easy to find anywhere. They are shooting for the same production numbers out of the Shelby. Just like the dealer add ons went away after the initial run of '05 GTs, so will the markups for Shelbys. Don't believe the hype. Keep the cash in a money market while the obscenely rich buy what is "brand new and cool" for that month and use the gains for mods once the market cools down...

Karpro

Now keep in mind I work at a dealer that is selling these at MSRP and not over but, what I find interesting is alot of guys don't seem to care about what they actually pay, just what the dealer makes. As an example, if MSRP is $40,000 and the dealer charges you $10K over he's a thief, but if MSRP comes out at $49,995 and you buy at MSRP you're happy. Decide what the car is worth to you and pay that. If it gets one bought, great. If not, you didn't see enough value in the car to pay the price just find another car that you feel offers a better value for the price and buy it.

1 COBRA

It's not going to happen. The Thunderbird, a few Mustang models, and the Ford GT are the only models which dealers have had the upper hand for a limited time. The other cars and trucks can barely be sold over invoice.

I don't blame the dealers at all. The ignorant idiots who want to be the first on the block and expressed to the dealers their willingness to get screwed no matter the price have practically begged the dealers to inflate the prices. The order bank is not open yet, then you have people like on the other thread calling dealers, which BTW, they won't be buying anything because they can barely afford a used V6, but giving them ammunition to create the illussion of a greater demand.

What do you expect dealers to do?

RandyB

I don't blame them for wanting to make some money off of this car, I'm just thankful that I'm not within the group that 'must have' one.

They can keep their bloated pig, I'll build my own interpretation!

bullittman

Good observation Paul......We need some perspective on this (Me too) , decide if this is right for you and just "Ride" it out . OK can I order my car yet

1 COBRA

How many are happy paying $50K for the top of the line Roush and Saleens? I am sure their sales volume would be a lot greater were they to be priced in the $40K range.

If the GT500 coupe's MSRP would be $50K, Ford's production would be five times less of the announced production projections. Ford knows the market, that's why they cashed in with the Ford GT whose original price tag was projected at $120K but came in at an additional $35K because of the market it was competing in but, it was still seen as a bargain just like the Z06 is.

The disadvantage for Ford in over pricing the GT500 is it being an upgraded Mustang GT.

Hollywood_North GT

I don't think it's an either/or situation. There's plenty of blame to go around, and certainly customers who "have to have it now" feed the flames of dealer greed.

But they didn't start that fire, is my point. Those Ford dealers are so desperate for a hit, that the moment Ford builds a hit, the dealers can't wait to gouge the customer because their other products have been mostly sitting on lots as more and more people migrate away from domestic vehicles. The problem is one of short-sightedness on the part of dealers and Ford - who I believe should work more closely together to rebuild customer loyalty. If that's not a part of their "way forward" plan, I don't hold out much hope for the company over the long term.

Tres Wright

The dealers need to make up for the craptacular sales on all their other (lousy) models. Selling one Shelby for 20k over sticker barely makes up for all the Explorers they have to give away each month :P