Ford slashing F-150 customization by 90 percent
Click on the pic above for our high-res 2009 Ford F-150 gallery
As staggering as it may seem, the 2008 Ford F-150 pickup can be ordered in billions of different combinations. That's all going to change for 2009. In an effort to reduce complexity and cut spiraling costs in the process, Ford will be slashing the number of possible F-150 configurations by 90 percent. The automaker isn't leaving the rest of the lineup alone either. The Ford Expedition goes from 250,000 combos down to fewer than 10,000. The 2009 Lincoln MKS debuts with about 300 combinations, and the 2010 Ford Focus will offer only about 150, which is 95 percent fewer than the current model. Are you in the market for a 2009 Ford F-150 and worried that you won't be able to get it exactly the way you want? Don't fret, Ford will still offer more than 9 million combinations for next year's model, including a brown one we presume.
Gallery: 2009 Ford F-150
_thumbnail.jpg)
[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Epyx 1:39PM (8/18/2008)
Same go for the Mustang?
Reply
catgirlshyla 3:14PM (8/18/2008)
We'll probably still see the "Warriors in Pink" or the over 9,000 other Mustang Variants from Ford and the Third Parties.
Rally Man 1:42PM (8/18/2008)
Times are sure changing for Ford.
Reply
Marty 1:52PM (8/18/2008)
"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." -Henry Ford, 1922
It's come full circle.
sw 4:04PM (8/18/2008)
Yeah, for the better, before the Fusion came along I wouldn't even consider a domestic in my price range. Things only seem to get better and better as euro fords and turbochargers seem to be the future of the company.
Build a good car and you don't have to offer and advertise all the trinkets and baubles because the car will stand on its merits alone.
I hope the team responsible for dodge that's bringing wi-fi connectivity into cars reads and acts on my message.
geo.stewart 1:44PM (8/18/2008)
those numbers are staggering. how many of those options are PIO as opposed to mftr?
I guess when you sit down and think about it, for trucks, just engine size x color x cab config sets up a large no of possibilities. then add trim levels and ind. option combos.
Reply
RWD fan 1:44PM (8/18/2008)
How often do people actually order one based on possible configurations?
Every new vehicle I've bought has already been made, and I just had to shop around to find it on a lot somewhere, and then make a deal.
Do you even get to bargain on a built to order vehicle?
Reply
Joe K. 2:31PM (8/18/2008)
Most dealers will still deal on an order, but not nearly as much as one on their lot. Although that depends on the product. If a car is popular, or you want a weird combo that would be hard to sell if you back out, non-refundable deposit of a substantial amount and generally at a higher than on the lot sale-price (if a discount at all.) But like I said, depends on the dealer.
RWD fan 1:45PM (8/18/2008)
How often do people actually order one based on possible configurations?
Every new vehicle I've bought has already been made, and I just had to shop around to find it on a lot somewhere, and then make a deal.
Do you even get to bargain on a built to order vehicle?
Reply
Travis Rassat 4:47PM (8/18/2008)
I've done this a few times, actually. I would go to the manufacturer's website, build exactly what I wanted on their configurator, print it out, walk in to several dealers and tell them to give me their best price. I felt it was easiest for me because there weren't any variables - I'm not smart enough to memorize the cost of every option combination for a particular vehicle. I knew exactly what I had, and exactly what it listed for. It makes it easy to recognize the good deal.
I learned that it's also important to leave your trade-in out of the conversation. The dealers will try to leverage that, too - making it sound like they're really knocking a lot off of the new vehicle, but then give you diddly squat for your trade.
It also gave me a good feel for the dealers, too. I like the low pressure guys that didn't give me any trouble - they just put in the info, give me their best price, try to give me an idea of how long it would take, and thank me for coming in. Others would try to steer me towards something on the lot where the only similarity was the color, pressure me with the "what would it take for you to drive off in a new car today" B.S., introduce me to their manager (who would also try to strongarm me), and keep trying to change my configuration to be closer to something they had on the lot. Some will outright lie.
My results were mixed:
Back in 98, I bought a 1999 Chevy Silverado in Minnesota, and took my configuration to 8 different dealers - some in rural areas, some in the more metro areas. I knocked $3,000 off the MSRP (it listed at around $21,000, if I remember correctly), and the winning dealer beat the nearest dealer by $500. It was a small dealership with no showroom.
I bought a 2005 Chevy Equinox when they first came out in 2004 in Indiana. I hit 5 different dealers and knocked $1500 off the sticker (this one was around $24,000, I think). In this case, it was one of the big dealers in the Indianapolis area.
The latest was a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. Even before Hybrids got really hot, the Toyota dealers I tried wouldn't deal much - I only got $300 knocked off the $28,000 sticker, but felt I ended up with the nicest group of people with the least B.S.
I thought I did pretty well with the Chevys on the price. Part of that is probably because there are so many Chevy dealers and thus, more competition. Obviously, not so much on the Camry Hybrid - I think I may have done better on a non-hybrid. The biggest thing I had going for me is that I wasn't in a hurry - I was willing to wait however long it took to get the vehicle.
So, with all that said (sorry, I got a bit wordy) I guess the moral of my story is: If you're willing to wait, it's worth a try.
brn 1:47PM (8/18/2008)
Friggin ridiculous headline. You only need to remove a few options to slash total combinations by 90%. If the number used to be billions of combinations, it's now hundreds of millions.
I bet if the headline read "Ford still has hundreds of millions of combinations for the F150", people would have reacted differently.
Reply
RWD fan 1:48PM (8/18/2008)
How often do people actually order one based on possible configurations?
Every new vehicle I've bought has already been made, and I just had to shop around to find it on a lot somewhere, and then make a deal.
Do you even get to bargain on a built to order vehicle?
(repost for comment section fail)
Reply
Richard Warren 1:49PM (8/18/2008)
Every domestic vehicle I've ever owned was ordered after careful review of the options packages. The days of getting "exactly" what you'd like has not been there for a long time. The cost to the makers for all those options is staggering. This is a smart move.
Reply
MajorGeek 1:52PM (8/18/2008)
I ordered a car once and it sucked. BMW as well, go figure. Never do it again and I personally do not know anyone who has ordered a vehicle in their life, since most people have flexibility on options and color and can usually get what they need on the lot. Plus, we like instant gratification.
Reply
Zane 2:35PM (8/18/2008)
MINIs, Bimmers, Porsches... everyone I know does it all the time. Guess we live in very different worlds.
MajorGeek 2:46PM (8/18/2008)
Congrats, now read my post again. I said I ordered a BMW, wont do it again though. Ford is no BMW. Must be hard on your friends ordering Minis, last i knew, they were sold out.
Zane 3:20PM (8/18/2008)
First off, nobody can order a new Mini. All of us buy MINIs these days, so I'm not too sure what car you're talking about.
You said your experience of ordering a custom BMW had gone sour. Unless my eyes have gone bad, I never read the word 'Ford' anywhere in your post. FWIW, I've ordered two MINIs (an '07 R56 CooperS and '06 R53 cabrio) without a single problem. My friend just got his ED'ed E90 sedan re-delivered to the U.S. without a hitch, so maybe your Bimmer dealer rep was crap.
ItGuy 3:29PM (8/18/2008)
I ordered my G35 back in 03... Took 3 months, got EXACTLY what I wanted (dark blue, black, 6MT, Nav, premium, fully loaded) rather than what dealers had....
Worked out great and I got just what I wanted and even got it AT invoice.
MajorGeek 3:51PM (8/18/2008)
Not many options nowadays anyhow looking at most brochures, often at a Ford delaer you can get what you want on the lot. In the case of our BMW we wanted a few weird option (balck on black with pleather) that could not be had on most lots. Anyhow, heres where I lost interest trying to figure out your posts:
"First off, nobody can order a new Mini."
"All of us buy MINIs these days."
"FWIW, I've ordered two MINIs"
Uh huh.
MajorGeek 3:53PM (8/18/2008)
P.P.S If your dealer does not have what you want, you tell him, he does a dealer trade, you dont wait 3 months.