Pulled the trigger on a new truck, a Ford F150.
I've been looking for a while, thinking that an unsold 18 or even a lightly used '19 was right for my intended budget. With the current dealers desires to clear out inventory in anticipation of incoming new models, I ended up finding a deal on a new '19 that was just as good. Actually a little better when you throw in a few extra model clearance incentives recently added. If you've been considering a trade, might be time to take a closer look.
The unsold '18 idea ended up being a non-starter due to dealer back-office financial restrictions and lack of factory-to-dealer incentives on them. I found out that once the dealer gets the "we're done, it's yours" final Ford rebate, no other rebates or financing incentives apply to unsold previous year models. The dealer has X dollars in it and that's that.
I also figured out that shady dealers will write up the interest on your loan for the backend financing rate-share. I thought something might be up when the settled-by-phone deal on this truck was much, much better than anticipated. The surprise was on the "Interest Rate" line when I went in to sign (8.99% rather than the advertised 4.9%). They were making up the price difference on interest rebates. Too bad for them I'm already pre-approved through my credit union for 3.49% and will be flipping the loan to them before the end of the month. The dealer finance lady tried to claim it was because my credit score wasn't good enough but made the mistake of having the tri-merge report laying on her desk. The big "814" visible at the top kinda shot holes in her story. I will most definitely be making a report of the dealer's credit shenanigans to several interested entities once the paperwork is settled and I have the truck title in hand.
It's interesting the option packages dealers will stock. My desired outfitting was really specific: SuperCrew, short wheelbase, 4WD, V8, Trailer Tow package, nav, and 3.73 gear with e-locker. I had a couple of "would be nice" options which would have sweetened things, but weren't deal breakers (36 gallon tank, tailgate step, integrated trailer brake). The first six criteria are super-common. At least half the XLT-series trucks I saw had them. Less common is the 3.73 gearset. I presume it's because everyone is trying to max out economy numbers, but here in we-still-pull-trailers farm and ranch country you'd think a lower gear (higher numerically) wouldn't be quite so rare. From what I was seeing, maybe one truck in 20 would have it. Most were geared 3.55 with about a third being taller still at 3.31. A 3.15 gear is available but it is even more rare than the 3.73.
The truck is niiiiiiice. Super quiet. Ride quality and handling are superb. A/C can best be described as "massive overkill". Interior comfort is incredibly good, especially for a truck. Fuel economy is surprising, too. My old truck was a 2wd with 300-ish HP. At highway cruise it would regularly get 15.8-16.2 MPG, depending on wind. This truck, a 4wd with 395 HP on tap and pushing a 20 MPH straight-on headwind, got 19.5 mpg on the 150 mile drive home (level ground with the cruise set to 77 mph). With a third more power and better gearing than my old truck I have to keep a wary eye on the speedometer. Sucker is quick off the line. The 10 speed trans is taking some getting used to. Steep diff gearing and short trans gear ratios mean it shifts a lot, especially on take off. It also takes advantage of engine braking a lot more, resulting in a lot of noticeable downshifting when slowing to stop.
The only thing I dislike about the truck is the maddening auto start/stop feature that kills the engine when you come to a stop. Fortunately Ford is nice enough to put a "Disable" button on the dash, or I can put the truck in any drive mode other than "Normal". I can also kill it in the computer with a freeware app call ForScan but will withold doing that for a bit. Maybe getting in the habit of tapping the disable button when I start the truck is a workable compromise.
I have tray-style floor mats coming. In an interesting twist, the Ford official accessory pieces are better quality and less expensive than the WeatherTech units. They also look better, what with the big "F150" embossing on them. I'm also ordering the integrated trailer brake control dash unit. I'll pop the physical control in myself, but have the dealer do the electronic enabling so it becomes an "official" part of the truck's outfitting.
Brad