OnceAnEagle
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #1
Many of you are aware of "Dealer Trade" to get a vehicle you want. This just happened to me and thought you might want to know about it. If not, my apologies.
Now, after owning my babied 2021 and highly accessorized Ford F150 Lariat 4 x 4 Supercab for just over 26,000 very happy miles, my wife has been on me (gently) to get a smaller truck and nothing Korean or Japanese or Chevy. I am not young anymore, have survived a major medical event and surgery, and frankly it is so much harder to park the truck when we go into the city. Love my truck tremendously but have to agree with her. Time to downsize.
Went to my Ford dealer a month or so ago. Told him I wanted to look at a 2025 Maverick and test drive both the 2.0 Ecoboost and the 2.5L Hybrid. My wife has a 2024 Escape Titanium Hybrid averaging 42 MPG, and the Maverick is built on that unibody, in Hermosillo, Mexico. So, after driving both engines, and not planning on towing anything other than a bike rack, I told my dealer I wanted a 2025 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid with the Black Appearance Group in color priority-- Ruby Red, Velocity Blue, Carbonized Gray, with a Black interior. Moon roof and trailer tow package made no difference to me, if it came that way, fine.
They did not have one on the lot. So, the sales manager who I have known for years said he would get one for me because "they are out there," as many dealers tell you. He looked through the Ford network and found 18 Mavericks nationwide that had exactly what I wanted starting about 175 miles away, some without moonroofs and trailer tow, some with both, and others with one or the other. He said he would let me know, as he had to do a dealer trade. We did that before to get my wife's Escape, so no worries.
Heard nothing from him for over a week. So, I called. He told me that he sent out 18 emails. He got ONE response saying NO, and the rest ignored him. He also told me that almost every vehicle, but not all, had a green special order window sticker, although they were on the dealer website listed for sale. But several others were blue window stickers, not special order. I asked him if he called sales manager to sales manager to talk it over, and he told me Ford won't let him do that. He has to use their online system. If he did call a dealer, it would just go to voice mail and be ignored.
I understand that many dealers will not trade. But all 18 dealers? So, I called one. Yep, the Maverick is for sale, even with a green special order window sticker. No, the sales manager won't trade with your dealer. Why not? Because that's the head shed above my level. So, you can drive 390 miles one way to let us evaluate your trade-in and then we will make you an offer. Sure, after driving that far and they think I will just say yes? Well, I would say no if necessary, because I have the 2025 Maverick proprietary price list to go by and don't mind showing it to them. Not a lot of wiggle room but there is some. Plus, as we know, some dealers put add-ons to jack up the price (one dealer in Chicago is asking $10K above MSRP as "necessary ADM"), and this dealer had done just that: paint sealant, wheel locks, tailgate lock, window tinting. Very 1970s to me. Would never buy one like that. anyway. Said thank you and hung up.
I can't drive 390 miles anymore, even as a passenger. I told my dealer I would pay to have the Maverick shipped to his dealership from anywhere in the lower 48, since Ford does not ship for free between dealers. Didn't matter, he said. No one will trade.
Apparently, Ford Mavericks and especially hybrids are made of gold, even with all the recalls and battery draining issues in some vehicles. As of July 1, there were about 25,000 unsold 2025 Mavericks in the national inventory, and a decent amount of unsold 2024's.
My sales manager never called me, no email, no text, or said anything else until I took the Escape in for an oil change a couple days ago. I stopped by his office, and he said that I would have to order a 2026. Pricing and packages are unknown for a couple more weeks, but he expects up to a $2,500 increase, plus my F150 devaluates depending on the market. If I order in August, the factory turns over in September and starts production in October. I might get one by January if lucky, and of course there is my F 150 devaluation, the price increase on Mavericks and then depreciation, and the potential for a 25% tariff, since it is coming from Mexico. And here are numerous 2025s unsold that I would buy but the dealers won't trade.
At this point, it is not worth it to me to order a 2026. So, I am going to try to sell my truck privately or go to CARMAX and just drive the wife's Escape. Perhaps RAM will come out with the Brazilian-made Rampage next year and if not, there is always the new Dakota that looks promising. Mavericks have plenty of headroom for me, Rangers do not. Had two Rangers before trading up to an F 150 because I kept banging my head.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope that if you have to dealer trade it will work out better for you.
Now, after owning my babied 2021 and highly accessorized Ford F150 Lariat 4 x 4 Supercab for just over 26,000 very happy miles, my wife has been on me (gently) to get a smaller truck and nothing Korean or Japanese or Chevy. I am not young anymore, have survived a major medical event and surgery, and frankly it is so much harder to park the truck when we go into the city. Love my truck tremendously but have to agree with her. Time to downsize.
Went to my Ford dealer a month or so ago. Told him I wanted to look at a 2025 Maverick and test drive both the 2.0 Ecoboost and the 2.5L Hybrid. My wife has a 2024 Escape Titanium Hybrid averaging 42 MPG, and the Maverick is built on that unibody, in Hermosillo, Mexico. So, after driving both engines, and not planning on towing anything other than a bike rack, I told my dealer I wanted a 2025 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid with the Black Appearance Group in color priority-- Ruby Red, Velocity Blue, Carbonized Gray, with a Black interior. Moon roof and trailer tow package made no difference to me, if it came that way, fine.
They did not have one on the lot. So, the sales manager who I have known for years said he would get one for me because "they are out there," as many dealers tell you. He looked through the Ford network and found 18 Mavericks nationwide that had exactly what I wanted starting about 175 miles away, some without moonroofs and trailer tow, some with both, and others with one or the other. He said he would let me know, as he had to do a dealer trade. We did that before to get my wife's Escape, so no worries.
Heard nothing from him for over a week. So, I called. He told me that he sent out 18 emails. He got ONE response saying NO, and the rest ignored him. He also told me that almost every vehicle, but not all, had a green special order window sticker, although they were on the dealer website listed for sale. But several others were blue window stickers, not special order. I asked him if he called sales manager to sales manager to talk it over, and he told me Ford won't let him do that. He has to use their online system. If he did call a dealer, it would just go to voice mail and be ignored.
I understand that many dealers will not trade. But all 18 dealers? So, I called one. Yep, the Maverick is for sale, even with a green special order window sticker. No, the sales manager won't trade with your dealer. Why not? Because that's the head shed above my level. So, you can drive 390 miles one way to let us evaluate your trade-in and then we will make you an offer. Sure, after driving that far and they think I will just say yes? Well, I would say no if necessary, because I have the 2025 Maverick proprietary price list to go by and don't mind showing it to them. Not a lot of wiggle room but there is some. Plus, as we know, some dealers put add-ons to jack up the price (one dealer in Chicago is asking $10K above MSRP as "necessary ADM"), and this dealer had done just that: paint sealant, wheel locks, tailgate lock, window tinting. Very 1970s to me. Would never buy one like that. anyway. Said thank you and hung up.
I can't drive 390 miles anymore, even as a passenger. I told my dealer I would pay to have the Maverick shipped to his dealership from anywhere in the lower 48, since Ford does not ship for free between dealers. Didn't matter, he said. No one will trade.
Apparently, Ford Mavericks and especially hybrids are made of gold, even with all the recalls and battery draining issues in some vehicles. As of July 1, there were about 25,000 unsold 2025 Mavericks in the national inventory, and a decent amount of unsold 2024's.
My sales manager never called me, no email, no text, or said anything else until I took the Escape in for an oil change a couple days ago. I stopped by his office, and he said that I would have to order a 2026. Pricing and packages are unknown for a couple more weeks, but he expects up to a $2,500 increase, plus my F150 devaluates depending on the market. If I order in August, the factory turns over in September and starts production in October. I might get one by January if lucky, and of course there is my F 150 devaluation, the price increase on Mavericks and then depreciation, and the potential for a 25% tariff, since it is coming from Mexico. And here are numerous 2025s unsold that I would buy but the dealers won't trade.
At this point, it is not worth it to me to order a 2026. So, I am going to try to sell my truck privately or go to CARMAX and just drive the wife's Escape. Perhaps RAM will come out with the Brazilian-made Rampage next year and if not, there is always the new Dakota that looks promising. Mavericks have plenty of headroom for me, Rangers do not. Had two Rangers before trading up to an F 150 because I kept banging my head.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope that if you have to dealer trade it will work out better for you.
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