Ford opened up NH as another state where one can buy the FFE earlier this year. We live in VT but only 15 min from NH so that was good news for us. At least initially. I looked up (using Ford's web site) all the NH dealers that supposedly sell the FFE and started calling them. I've been driving a Tesla for over 2 years so it was a whole different experience talking to dealers. I was shocked at the complete lack of interest in selling us a FFE or even cooperating to help us find one. Some of the dealers were downright hostile! Anyone have any advice for us finding a place to lease one? We live near Hanover, NH/Dartmouth College area. Thanks.
Any NH or VT drivers?
- Thread starter hcsharp
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nallgaier
Active member
Hey hc,
I live in the Burlington area, and leased mine from Twin State Ford in St. J. about a month ago. I'm not sure if they have another yet, but they're very supportive of the FFE. My local dealership (Heritage Ford in South Burlington) didn't have one when I was looking, but extended inventory says they have one on order. However, from what I understand, my car was originally slated to go to Heritage and they refused it, which is how it ended up in St. J. I would suggest giving Twin State a call... I'm sure they'd be more than happy to work with you, and I had a great experience with them. Shout if you have any questions for me.
Nick
I live in the Burlington area, and leased mine from Twin State Ford in St. J. about a month ago. I'm not sure if they have another yet, but they're very supportive of the FFE. My local dealership (Heritage Ford in South Burlington) didn't have one when I was looking, but extended inventory says they have one on order. However, from what I understand, my car was originally slated to go to Heritage and they refused it, which is how it ended up in St. J. I would suggest giving Twin State a call... I'm sure they'd be more than happy to work with you, and I had a great experience with them. Shout if you have any questions for me.
Nick
nallgaier
Active member
Actually, I looked into it a little more, and the ffe that's "on order" for Heritage is actually located at Twin State... so if you want one, they've got one!
nallgaier thanks for the tip! They weren't showing up on our previous search but they are now. I didn't even know VT dealers were allowed to sell them yet! I called and talked to Tim who seemed quite knowledgeable. We made an appointment to drive up and see him tomorrow (Wed). They are 50+ miles away but had a lot better response than the local Ford dealers. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow after our visit.
nallgaier
Active member
Great! I worked with Tim when I picked mine up, great guy... tell him I pointed you in their direction, he'll get a chuckle out of that. Look forward to hearing how it goes!
Nick
Nick
nallgaier said:
I drove up and looked at the car today. I "borrowed" the car to bring home and show my wife and she liked it but they're not offering us a very good deal. Basically they want $340/mo with no down pmt, no trade in, 12k mi/yr, 39mo lease, we pay taxes + fees separately. I think I'll bring it back tomorrow and leave it there. I was a bit surprised because they told me on the phone it would be under 300/mo for a 36mo lease on the phone. Bait and switch?
nallgaier
Active member
Hmm, sorry to hear that... I agree that that doesn't sound like a good deal. I ended up getting $299 and change/mo. with no money down, including all taxes and fees, for a 10.5k mi/year 36 mo. lease on a 2013 white platinum tri-coat (adds ~$800 I think). I got it at the end of June before the 2014's came out, so I imagine you might get stuck paying a bit more, but your quote sounds pretty high to me. Maybe you can talk them down?
hcsharp said:
Have you looked at the currently available Ford Credit lease offers, available to anyone who meets the basic Red Carpet lease qualifications? Also, have you brought that to your dealer's attention, as redundant as that might sound? (Apparently, it's not.)
I would print out a current offer at Ford Payment Estimator for your particular model and terms and show the printout to your salesperson, while saying as little as possible. ("I was just looking at Ford Credit current lease offers this morning." Full stop. Now let him/her speak. That could be fun...)
For 2013 FFE, 39 months, 12,000 miles per year, $0 down, $0 trade-in, $922 due at signing: the monthly lease payment is $277, in effect until 9/3/13. For 2014 FFE, the exact same terms, $955 due at signing: the monthly lease payment is $310, good until 9/30/13. Assuming that you were looking at a 2013 (please correct me if I am wrong), $340 vs. $277 per month over 39 months comes to a nice extra profit of $2,457 for the dealer and an extra 23% in payments for you. On that model and year, on the cusp of a model year changeover, I totally agree that's not a good deal at all.
Also, those standard Ford Credit lease deals are, well, a useful, drama-free, starting point, before any negotiations ever get under way. If a particular dealer is somehow unable or unwilling to at least match, if not beat handily, those terms (as some here have posted in recent weeks), hard to imagine that the dealer actually wants your business. Time to visit another EV-certified Ford dealer.
nallgaier
Active member
OP was looking at a 2014. I'm not sure what you mean by $0 down with $955 due at signing... if you mean taxes and fees included with $955 down, then rolling that down payment into the lease gets you to about $335/mo. payment with no money down and including the taxes and fees for the 2014 (based on your quote of $310/mo with money down). IOW, $5 less per month than the original offer to the OP, and including taxes and fees. That's about the deal I thought they'd offer.
On the other hand, maybe you meant no down payment but the $955 due at signing is first month plus taxes and fees... not sure (think rolling that $645 in would get to a payment of $325/mo. or so, even better). Anyway, don't know what the OP did... was hoping to hear a better deal was reached!
On the other hand, maybe you meant no down payment but the $955 due at signing is first month plus taxes and fees... not sure (think rolling that $645 in would get to a payment of $325/mo. or so, even better). Anyway, don't know what the OP did... was hoping to hear a better deal was reached!
2014, cool. Thanks for the correction, nallgaier.
Here's a screen shot of that lease offer I was referring to, so that we're all looking at the same page (click on the image again to see full size):
The cap cost is not adjustable, so we can't modify for, say, leather -- hcsharp, does the car include that option?
Regarding that $955 due at signing, disclosure #9 reads, in part:
"It does not include taxes, title and/or registration fees. It includes the first month's payment and any down payment/trade-in value. Security Deposit is waived."
Since there is no down payment or trade-in, the other $645 must be the lease acquisition fee, right. So much for full disclosure, Ford. (Also conspicuously missing: residual value and money factor, although those can be estimated, ball park, by plugging the known values into another lease calculator.)
Again, a handy starting point for negotiations. However, this being one of the first 2014 models in stock, not sure how much leverage you'd have at this time, if any. I'd be curious myself about that.
Here's a screen shot of that lease offer I was referring to, so that we're all looking at the same page (click on the image again to see full size):
The cap cost is not adjustable, so we can't modify for, say, leather -- hcsharp, does the car include that option?
Regarding that $955 due at signing, disclosure #9 reads, in part:
"It does not include taxes, title and/or registration fees. It includes the first month's payment and any down payment/trade-in value. Security Deposit is waived."
Since there is no down payment or trade-in, the other $645 must be the lease acquisition fee, right. So much for full disclosure, Ford. (Also conspicuously missing: residual value and money factor, although those can be estimated, ball park, by plugging the known values into another lease calculator.)
Again, a handy starting point for negotiations. However, this being one of the first 2014 models in stock, not sure how much leverage you'd have at this time, if any. I'd be curious myself about that.
Thanks for all your tips! To clarify, it's a 2014, which has less incentives. There are still some 2013s around but in my case over 2.5 hrs away- not worth chasing. We did some more negotiating and... bought it! 36mo Lease, $297/mo, 12k mi/yr, no money down but we had to pay taxes & fees $865 plus the first lease pmt in advance. $16,900 residual. Plus they delivered the car to our door (we live almost an hr away). I'm happy with it and my wife, the primary driver, is very happy. Now both of us are driving electric!
It's funny when I go to the Ford Lease site that you linked, it looks just like your screen shot except the price is $308/ mo. I even tried the same zip code. All parameters are the same.
Apparently the dealer get's a $500 credit or kickback on some of the leases. To get my deal they essentially gave up the credit but that also lowered the finance rate that Ford's finance co allowed in the calculation.
Thanks again for your comments.
It's funny when I go to the Ford Lease site that you linked, it looks just like your screen shot except the price is $308/ mo. I even tried the same zip code. All parameters are the same.
Apparently the dealer get's a $500 credit or kickback on some of the leases. To get my deal they essentially gave up the credit but that also lowered the finance rate that Ford's finance co allowed in the calculation.
Thanks again for your comments.
I wanted to add that the dealer, Twin State Ford in St Johnsbury, VT likes selling and promoting EVs which was a welcome relief. I want to send them business just for that reason. They also offered to deliver the car to our door for free after we had negotiated the deal which was a really nice thing to do.
nallgaier
Active member
Sounds like a great deal! I'm glad you had a good experience with them too; I was also very happy with their support of EV's... I'm going to try to send some UVM folks looking for FFE's there. Hope they get another one on the lot soon.
nallgaier
Active member
hc, this is a little off-topic (it does qualify as a VT driver question!), but I wanted to ask you: how does the Tesla (I assume it's a model S) handle in the snow, given that it's rear-wheel drive?
nallgaier said:
I drive a Roadster but I've also driven a Model S in snow. The Roadster is great as long as the snow is not so deep that you have clearance problems (There's only 5" under the car). It's better than any front wheel drive car I've ever owned but not quite as good as my awd Subaru Legacy. The traction control is very responsive on the Roadster. The weight distribution is 40/60 with more weight over the rear 17" drive wheels. The Model S is good but not as good as the Roadster. I attribute this to the weight distribution being almost equal between front and back. The Model S has an adjustable air suspension so you can raise it up which is really helpful getting out of an un-plowed driveway onto the main road.
I'm curious how the FFE will do this winter. I've already noticed that the traction control is not quite as responsive as the Roadster. One reason we cancelled our Model S order is because it didn't have the phenomenal snow handling that the Roadster has. They've since improved it with a software update.
Congrats on your lease! Leather or not, sounds terrific. Good to know about the $500, too, thanks.
The Payment Estimator gives me $308 for 36 months or $310 for 39, at 12k miles. As far as I can tell, zip code has no impact on those figures, nationwide; also, no state incentives are built in, even though the dealer would presumably get them under a lease transaction. Not that there are any state incentives anywhere in New England. Apparently, we are not quite as progressive or green as W. Virginia...
I am still in a holding pattern. Around here, there are no 2014's on the ground within Boston "extended inventory" yet. For comparison, there are 11 2013's at 5 dealers, down this past week from a steady 12 since June.
The Payment Estimator gives me $308 for 36 months or $310 for 39, at 12k miles. As far as I can tell, zip code has no impact on those figures, nationwide; also, no state incentives are built in, even though the dealer would presumably get them under a lease transaction. Not that there are any state incentives anywhere in New England. Apparently, we are not quite as progressive or green as W. Virginia...
I am still in a holding pattern. Around here, there are no 2014's on the ground within Boston "extended inventory" yet. For comparison, there are 11 2013's at 5 dealers, down this past week from a steady 12 since June.
