Dealer Trade Truck Situation

[powerboatr]

I will say this
My folks orderd a first year hybrid maverick
They drive the heck out of it
Its almost 70k miles
Mom is looking for an upgrade over thier Lariat
It needs nav and better seats
But they love the mpg, the size and cold ac with engine off

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[Azstroke]

Just a thought, but have you considered giving Zach a call at Granger and ordering a '26 to get exactly what you want? I know prices may increase, but when I ordered my truck no dealer in the Phoenix area came within 6K of their price. Also selling my '97 PowerStroke myself got me 5K more than any dealer offered in a trade. Granger works with shippers all the time.

 

[Riddick]

You have too much faith in your local dealer. I would contact multiple dealers, one of them will be willing to put the work in and find the truck you want.

 

[Billflangjr]

Yeah that sucks! After dealing with some of what you mentioned I just order my vehicles now to avoid the BS. However I understand the situation with the unknowns with tariffs which ordering doesn’t help.

Well I did it a little different ! Went to one dealer looked at Tremors di-cked around with them on price and left, went to another dealer , Played the same game with them. Went to another dealer told them what I would pay, sales guy went to manager ! He came back with another offer! I came back with a counter offer!! Payed by check and Left !! After all that 5000. under sticker out the door !! I felt like I did something !!

 

[5thranger]

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.

I think your truck would sell on Facebook easily for more than your trade value. I sold my 2018 F150 one year ago on Facebook to the first person who contacted me. Once I talked to him on phone, I was comfortable with him coming to house. Then you have time and money to shop for a Maverick when you get in a hurry that's when you have regrets, I have done it many times and getting in a hurry always costs more money. Have done the dealer trade here in Kansas twice with two different dealers one good and one bad experience.

 

[Snakebitten]

Went through a similar ordeal with my daughter while looking for a Maverick that I helped her configure on the build site. Then had "my Ford guy" try everything he could to fetch her one.

It too was a Lariat Hybrid and she was willing to forgo a couple of things if he could get her one. (she preferred no sunroof, but not a deal breaker. She was open to almost all colors, but really liked the Space White on my Mach-E. And although she didn't care about the 4K tow package, I wanted her to have the mechanical upgrades that make up the package)

Anyways, no dice!

So we special ordered exactly what she wanted. Took ~5 months. Just barely made the July 7 deadline for employee pricing. Which honestly isn't a big deal on a Maverick compared to pricier vehicles. But the main thing that matters is that she absolutely LOVES her "fancy pants" Maverick. (her friends description )

I gotta admit that it's a really nice vehicle. I do wish fully loaded, like it is, that it had lane Centering instead of just lane keeping. It can't possibly be missing much in the way of software/hardware for the feature. She doesn't know any difference and probably wouldn't use it, but I do. Lol

 

[National Superbike]

Don't forget to check Carvana for selling your current truck. It is regional but they often have the best offer and come to you to pick it up and give you a check. Also, if you want a smaller truck, don't forget the Nissan Frontier. Built in Mississippi so no tariffs yet, and most dealers are giving really good deals on them- 7-8K off sticker in the ATL area. https://www.mikerezinissan.com/new-Atlanta-2025-Nissan-Frontier-SV-1N6ED1EJ7SN626357

 

[gb7FRz26]

....Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope that if you have to dealer trade it will work out better for you.

<snip>
After Covid, Ford's CEO decided Ford as a company would slowly move away from the traditional dealership model. It would be where customers pick what they want online, it gets built, and the dealership is there to deliver and service it. That started in 2021 (at least at Ford), he reaffirmed his position in 2023 with EU being the first market. Search: Ford New Agency Model Dealership for some articles.
Toyota has already moved to this model in New Zealand, Honda in Australia, GM is kinda wishy washy, BMW is starting the model in South Africa, and VW USA's CEO has expressed his interest in moving that way but no changes yet.
They all see the way Tesla is doing it and maybe they want to emulate it a bit.

 

[OnceAnEagle]

<snip>
After Covid, Ford's CEO decided Ford as a company would slowly move away from the traditional dealership model. It would be where customers pick what they want online, it gets built, and the dealership is there to deliver and service it. That started in 2021 (at least at Ford), he reaffirmed his position in 2023 with EU being the first market. Search: Ford New Agency Model Dealership for some articles.
Toyota has already moved to this model in New Zealand, Honda in Australia, GM is kinda wishy washy, BMW is starting the model in South Africa, and VW USA's CEO has expressed his interest in moving that way but no changes yet.
They all see the way Tesla is doing it and maybe they want to emulate it a bit.

Kansas law prohibits direct sales without a franchise, so that works for Ford but how do you negotiate price, when ordering online at MSRP? Do that before hand with the dealer, who then orders it? I do that now. No Tesla dealers in Kansas. You buy your Tesla typically in Missouri or Oklahoma. There are no Tesla service centers in Kansas I know of so you have your car hauled out of state, or get a Tesla repair vehicle to come to the car, or contact Tesla for third party service. I see quite a few Tesla's around, know people who have them, and they seem to like them. Rode in a couple. Too fast in acceleration 0-60. Don't think I could control it anymore. Too low to the ground at my age. Had to have help getting out.

 

[dmac]

Went through a similar ordeal with my daughter while looking for a Maverick that I helped her configure on the build site. Then had "my Ford guy" try everything he could to fetch her one.

It too was a Lariat Hybrid and she was willing to forgo a couple of things if he could get her one. (she preferred no sunroof, but not a deal breaker. She was open to almost all colors, but really liked the Space White on my Mach-E. And although she didn't care about the 4K tow package, I wanted her to have the mechanical upgrades that make up the package)

Anyways, no dice!

So we special ordered exactly what she wanted. Took ~5 months. Just barely made the July 7 deadline for employee pricing. Which honestly isn't a big deal on a Maverick compared to pricier vehicles. But the main thing that matters is that she absolutely LOVES her "fancy pants" Maverick. (her friends description )

I gotta admit that it's a really nice vehicle. I do wish fully loaded, like it is, that it had lane Centering instead of just lane keeping. It can't possibly be missing much in the way of software/hardware for the feature. She doesn't know any difference and probably wouldn't use it, but I do. Lol

Snake IIRC I think all lariats should have lane centering... Maybe check settings/buttons again?

 

[Snakebitten]

Snake IIRC I think all lariats should have lane centering... Maybe check settings/buttons again?

I need to get the keys from her and go for a spin.
Thanks for checking.
It definitely has Copilot 369 Assist 2.0

 

[Captain Dirty Beard]

or Chevy

That's too bad. The new GMC Canyon is pretty nice really.

 

[OnceAnEagle]

I actually bought a vehicle from an out of town dealer and they delivered for I think $100. Of course you want to make sure they can handle the tag work for your home state. I know many have bought from Granger Motors and had them delivered.

Did you trade in? If so, how did you negotiate that?

 

[nvabill]

Did you trade in? If so, how did you negotiate that?

No, it was a straight sale so that's why I suggest getting rid of older vehicle locally if you can.

 

[dochawk]

know prices may increase, but when I ordered my truck no dealer in the Phoenix area came within 6K of their price.

It helps to have granger's quote printed out when you go into a dealer.

I went up to the dealer's counter, announced that I was ordering this maverick that day, and that I'd order it here if they would match. To my surprise, they did!

[I actually came out almost $400 ahead, as they didn't assess the change in invoice when lariat 4k picked up trailer assist before build.]]

Snake IIRC I think all lariats should have lane centering...

speaking from experience, 2025 lariat hybrid 4k has it.

It's great; I turned it on, and it drove most of the next 300 miles. You have to get used to how to hold the wheel, as it's kind of psycho, but pulling down slightly did it. Gripping hard enough doesn't do it.

And on the freeway, the AAC is great.

 

[OnceAnEagle]

It helps to have granger's quote printed out when you go into a dealer.

I went up to the dealer's counter, announced that I was ordering this maverick that day, and that I'd order it here if they would match. To my surprise, they did!

[I actually came out almost $400 ahead, as they didn't assess the change in invoice when lariat 4k picked up trailer assist before build.]]



speaking from experience, 2025 lariat hybrid 4k has it.

It's great; I turned it on, and it drove most of the next 300 miles. You have to get used to how to hold the wheel, as it's kind of psycho, but pulling down slightly did it. Gripping hard enough doesn't do it.

And on the freeway, the AAC is great.

I have not used Granger but have heard good things. Was wondering what your experience has been and experience of others. I bring Ford's proprietary printout with me to my dealer and used to get invoice pricing or maybe better but not since the pandemic or since Ford sunk $4billion into EV and raised prices accordingly. Also have to calculate Kansas sales tax at 6.5%, a mandatory VIN inspection fee of $20 for bringing in an out of State purchased vehicle, a county sales tax of 1.0%, and Kansas having both a State license plate fee of $45.50 and a county personal property tax, which varies by county. Mine is 1.29% of MSRP, for a new vehicle. Kansas charges $100 for plates if an EV and $50 for hybrids, in lieu of the $45.50.

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