this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024

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Ford is cutting F-150 Lightning production due to waning demand (www.engadget.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

My friend bought one for 80k and loves it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah wtf, I thought demand was nuts, just that no one could get ahold of one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

There was demand, and then you see a sticker that says $15,000 dealership markup and you walked away.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No demand?? I want it. I just can't afford it. Do something about THAT.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

An 800v LiFePo truck would actually be able to tow reasonably as chargers improve. You'd have to stop every 120mi and change for 10-15 mins but I could live with 15 min stops every two hours.

Plus they don't have thermal runaway and burn your fucking house down while charging.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

They marketed the Lightning at $40-something-k, everyone wanted one. Then they only made them cost twice that, and "suddenly nobody wants one"

Same energy as "nobody wants to work anymore", really

[+] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

[deleted]

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This.

A friend of my parents desperately wanted one of the new Broncos, and they were just selling out everywhere, so they decided to work with the small local dealership and order one direct from Ford.

So they picked out every last detail, placed the deposit, and waited.

It was like 5 or 6 months then they finally got the call to come down, it was ready.

Well when they got there, the fucking piece of shit dealer tells them that he's increasing the price by 10k.

They ask why and what happened to the price they agreed on, and the guy tells them that basically these kinds of customer orders are the only way he can get more broncos from Ford, but he knows he can get more for this one so he's going back on their agreement. So they can either agree to the higher price right now, or go home empty handed and he will still sell it within the week.

I don't know how they walked out of that place not in handcuffs, because I'd have assaulted the guy.

They get home and call up Ford and Ford basically said, "Sorry you had to go through that, but we have no control over our dealers, so they can do that and neither you nor we have any recourse or any way around it."

Basically that story alone meant to me that A. I'll never drive a Ford, and 2. I will badmouth that little locally owned dealership any time anyone I know is considering using them, and I hope they go under.

The thing is, Ford can control that shit, they just have no desire or motivation to do so. Contrast that story with Subaru. Post pandemic when car prices were insane and demand was through the roof, Subaru of America mandated that all their dealers were not too MSRP on any new Subaru vehicles. If they found any dealership price gouging, they got one warning, then SoA pulled their fucking license to sell the brand.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

What's the name of the dealer

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Why would a salesman ever say that to a customer! Or even anyone!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

You don't need to be smart to be a car salesman. I think it may actually be a hindrance.

I had a salesman tell me once that I could get a really good deal on an R32. Someone at the dealership took it out for a joyride and rolled it, but because it wasn’t insured, they slapped it back together and sold it with a clean title.

Another time I had a sales guy try to sell me a truck with 100k miles put on it in 12 months with no maintenance records.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That’s why dealerships need to die. Manufacturers don’t like that shit either, but dealerships have been banding together to lobby to remain a shitty middle-man that greatly marks up prices.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Manufacturers love the dealership model, because those shitty middlemen at the dealerships shield the manufacturers from direct contact with the consumer and all of the consumer's problems and complaints. And the dealerships absorb the costs of holding inventory and investing in the real estate square footage required to sell cars.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Tesla seems to do alright without them?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

We have an outback and a model y. The experience in purchasing both was pretty similar. Every other dealership I went to would aggressively upset crap and grossly inflate the sticker price. I don't foresee buying anything other than a Tesla simply for the great charging network and purchase experience. Plus, I personally hate buttons everywhere.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

My Model X was in the shop for ELEVEN MONTHS because Tesla decided it's more important to sell new cars than to use those parts for repairs. And it wasn't anything weird like parts for the gull wing doors, it was suspension parts.

You should REALLY look into that shit before buying another Tesla. I love that car, but no way am I buying another Tesla until they get their supply chain shit together.

Also, don't forget that starting next year pretty much every EV will be using Tesla's NACS connector and charging network going forward. That's no longer a reason to buy Tesla.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

I don’t know, there are a lot of very recent examples of legacy manufacturers trying to sell direct and then getting caught up in litigation and politics with dealers.

I was recently caught up in a mess with Volvo. I leased direct through Volvo, no dealer. Then the program got shit canned because dealers through a fit. Volvo fought back, and now it’s back in many US states.