How to get the best deal?

[GunnerD]

Hey y’all, I’m new here. Looking for a replacement for the wife’s Honda Odyssey (We have 3 kids.) My brother sold me on the form factor of his Yukon XL Denali, but in my research it seems the Expedition Max is the direction to go if I’m buying a supersized SUV today. So I was waiting to see what changes the 2019 Expeditions had coming, and I’m satisfied now that there’s no significant changes, at least from my perspective, and I’m ready to buy a 2018.

Thinking about an Expedition Max Limited, in Magnetic, 4wd, with the 302A package, and HD trailer tow package. (Not sure about the rear entertainment system, given that I could outfit the 3 kids with iPads for way less than the cost of the RES. )

It’ll be the most I’ve ever spent on a car. Which leads us to the title of this post: how do I get the best deal? I can look up the invoice price on KBB or Edmunds. But, for this vehicle, what’s a reasonable selling price based on invoice as a reference? For what it’s worth, I’m in Amarillo, TX. For a significantly better deal I’d be willing to drive several hours.

 

[shane_th_ee]

Do you have access to X-plan (or A- or Z-) pricing? And how many acceptable vehicles are in dealer stock within 500 miles of you? (You can edit the url on Ford’s search dealer inventory up to 500miles...)

 

[GunnerD]

I had to google X, A, Z plan pricing, and no I’m not eligible for any of these.

There’s an acceptable Expedition just a two hour drive away from me. I haven’t yet looked out to the 500 mi radius to see how many others there are.

 

[Aquineas]

Hi GunnerD, I actually paid not too far off invoice (due to incentives) for a very similarly equipped Expedition from AutoMax Katy (outside of Houston). I got a great deal from Dustin Curry, if you're close enough to even consider it. Otherwise you'll probably get your best deal by making phone calls and being willing to travel. I'm not sure which part of Texas you're in, but generally speaking if you're willing to do your negotiation remotely, you fare better.

I would do more research on the rear entertainment unit (I wish I had before I bought mine). Just do a search on this forum and you'll see a few enlightening threads on it. To surmise, apparently it's good for individual people streaming or watching their own thing (the units are self-contained and completely independent from one another), but in my wife's old car (an Acadia, which I had to have the AC repaired on it 3 times), and despite its troubles, one thing it did have going for it was it had a single rear entertainment system and she could feed it DVDs from the dashboard. On the Expedition, each unit is independent (which theoretically could allow two people watching their own DVDs or streaming thing back there, but there is no centralized link from the front center console to the rear entertainment units. Apparently it's possible to connect them all via BT, but if you do that then Android Auto or CarPlay don't work, which is a bummer if your little-ones are too small to handle that. And if they are old enough to deal with that and the remotes, they'd probably be better off with tablets anyway.

In any case, good luck!

 

[GunnerD]

Actually it turns out that that one doesn’t have the HD tow package.

Loosening up the color requirements to include oxford white, platinum white, and ingot silver, and expanding the search radius to 500 miles as you advised, there’s about 10 that are acceptable within that radius, including one at a nearby local dealership. But none in Magnetic...

 

[GunnerD]

Houston is sort of farther than I really prefer to go. Easily a 9-10 hour drive. (Texas is big... I’d drive to Dallas though — only 5-6 hours.) Thanks for the recommendation though.

 

[aggiegrad05]

Hey y’all, I’m new here. Looking for a replacement for the wife’s Honda Odyssey (We have 3 kids.) My brother sold me on the form factor of his Yukon XL Denali, but in my research it seems the Expedition Max is the direction to go if I’m buying a supersized SUV today. So I was waiting to see what changes the 2019 Expeditions had coming, and I’m satisfied now that there’s no significant changes, at least from my perspective, and I’m ready to buy a 2018.

Thinking about an Expedition Max Limited, in Magnetic, 4wd, with the 302A package, and HD trailer tow package. (Not sure about the rear entertainment system, given that I could outfit the 3 kids with iPads for way less than the cost of the RES. )

It’ll be the most I’ve ever spent on a car. Which leads us to the title of this post: how do I get the best deal? I can look up the invoice price on KBB or Edmunds. But, for this vehicle, what’s a reasonable selling price based on invoice as a reference? For what it’s worth, I’m in Amarillo, TX. For a significantly better deal I’d be willing to drive several hours.

Spend the extra 5% and get the platinum...you’ll be glad you did. [emoji6]

 

[tim mcleod]

GunnerD,
Don't let the distance scare you off if the savings are good enough.
Can have a transport company-recommend Reliable Transport-bring it to you. You can get a quote online and compare savings vs. transport cost.
Good Luck !
Tim

 

[GunnerD]

Interesting thing I discover using the Ford inventory search function. Nearly every Limited Max with the 302A package is built with 2nd row bucket seats, though I think I'd prefer the bench seats for the extra flexibility trucking kids around.

 

[Crewmaster1]

If you are willing to order and wait you can negotiate easily, if you need one in stock your power to deal depends on what you're willing to drive home. If you pay invoice price and get food incentives you're doing good.