In December of 1998, my wife wanted to get me a nice Christmas gift but I said I didnt need a gift from her. She did not pay much attention to me reply. We were coming home from dinner on the 28th of December and she suggested that we stop at the Ford Dealer just to take a look. I replied sure, why not?.

At the time, I was driving a Ford Ranger. I did not dislike my Ranger but I didn't go hog wild over it either. We looked around and saw some cool trucks and SUVs. This was the same dealer that I bought my Ranger from.

The salesman that sold me the Ranger noticed me and greeted me like we were buddies(typical salesman). I told him that we were just looking and browsing. He asked me if I wanted another truck. I said that I was thinking of getting something bigger than my Ranger.

He told me that he had a truck load of new F-150s in the back. Im thinking, ok, here comes the sales pitch).He grabbed that little golf cart and said jump on. We took a ride to the back lot of the dealer and guess what? Low and behold, there was an 18 wheeler transport with about 10 F-150s on it. They haven't even touched the dealers lot yet.

Nothing really stood out at first glance( keep in mind,the sun has already set and it was kind of dark). However, there was one long bed super cab on this truck. I said let me see the inside of that one. We climbed up into it and it happened to be an XLT fully loaded.

The truck was only a V-6, but that was fine with me and it got decent gas mileage.The long bed option was attractive to me because the wife and I had recently purchased 2 Yamaha Quads and they both fit in the bed of the truck without standing them on end.

I told Claude( that was his name) before we go any further,what kind of deal can you make. He told me that the truck listed for 26k but there were special incentives with it. He told me about a couple different incentives that would save me 4,300 dollars. After doing a little math we decided that it probably was not a good idea,cash was kind of tight being right after Christmas.

After I told him thanks but no thanks, he told me about dealer hold back cash.I had no clue as to what he was talking about.He explained that FORD Factory will pay the dealership 3 percent of the total vehicle value if they sell it within 30 days of its arrival to the dealer.

This 3 percent hold back cash is industry wide but varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. For example Ford is always 3 percent,regardless of the model car or truck.This means that they could sell the vehicle at factory cost..not MSRP and still make good money.PLUS all the incentives and factory cash back bonuses(if they apply) are still available to you.

I ended up saving 7,564.50 off the list price of 26k. That included a 1500 cash back incentive and actually buying the truck for around 18k. Tax and license are still a separate matter though.

Normally , the dealer will never mention this but I figure that the dealer was having a hard time filling their quota or Claude was feeling generous in light of it being Christmas time.I tend to believe that it was the "quota thing".

I researched this whole hold back cash thing recently at Edmonds.com and Claude was right on the money.There is a lot of other information to be found out there and I would suggest that you check out Edmonds.com before you buy anything.

Remember all dealers have a hold back cash program.But only utilize this information if you feel that your not getting the deal that you want from the salesman.I hear that some salesmen will just flat out play stupid.Don't be afraid to walk away and go to another dealer.Don't forget to tell the dealer about the bad experience you had with the last dealer.They love to get each others customers and will do almost anything to lure another dealers long time customers in.I think its a bragging rights thing..lol

My F-150 has been the best truck that I have ever owned and I will probably get another one when I decide to but another.It has also passed my mileage test by making it to Vegas and partially back on one tank of gas.(about 310 miles to the tank).

As a side note: I probably don't need to mention this but I normally find that when I take my truck to the dealer for repairs, I get the truck back and the problem was fixed but now I mysteriously have a totally new problem.I suggest that if you have any problems with your vehicle that you take it to your own TRUSTED mechanic if you have one.

Well, I got my Christmas present...Woohoo




Amount Paid (US$): 18,546
Condition: New
Model Year: 1999
Model and Options: XLT Super cab- Loaded