With the recent spike in oil prices has anyone noticed less willingness on the part of dealers to cut the price of the FEH below MSRP? My wife and I went shopping yesterday and one of the dealers found the perfect vehicle for us in terms of options at another dealer in state, but the offer price was less than thrilling, pretty close to MSRP.

On the one hand, I've seen some post on this board about the ability to beat MSRP as of late. On the other, Edmunds.com's "what others are paying" price for the FEH with the options we chose matches within a couple hundred of MSRP.

Has the tide turned again?

Robert
http://www.austinexplorer.com/
http://www.texashiking.com/

Hey, stranger! This is Shannon from WildTexas.com! Small world!

The selection isn't terrific down here in San Antonio, but if you can find a Ford Escape Hybrid that suits you at a San Antonio area dealership, maybe you can get the same deal we did -- we paid just several hundred over invoice, purchased March 6, 2006. However, we qualified for the X-Plan pricing due to my husband's employer and we used his employer's free price negotiation service (though I had to provide them with the VIN of the vehicle I wanted priced because their skills on locating hybrids was sadly lacking. They first told us there were NONE, so I had to throw a list from fordvehicles.com at them showing the half dozen or so that were in fact at local dealerships at that moment.)

Anyway, 0% financing is now offered nationwide I believe and I think dealers are using that as potentially an excuse to be less flexible with the price, but you just can't let them do that.

If you haven't used it yet, use the following (link below) tool at fordvehicles.com to locate dealerships in your area and search their current inventories. The data's not absolutely fresh (for example, our '06 Ford Escape Hybrid was still listed for about 1.5 weeks after we'd purchased it), but it should help.

Ford Vehicles - Dealer Locator
** In the "You can also select a specialty to further refine your search:" dropdown, select: ESCAPE HYBRID CERTIFIED DEALER

The results are dealerships in your area or near it, closest first. Drill down and you get the VIN and window sticker for the particular vehicle(s) on a dealers' lot.

Dealers usually have more than what's listed, at least hybrid-wise, in my experience. We'd seen a Ford Escape Hybrid on the patio outside Gillespie Ford here in San Antonio, on display (for all I know, it's still there), but it never showed up in Gillespie Ford's inventory with the fordvehicles tool.

If I can answer any questions about the Ford Escape Hybrid, shoot! I'm a newbie owner to it, but we're loving it so far. It's been on one road trip from San Antonio to Dallas and back, and it gets lots of city mileage and some short routine highway trips. My miles per gallon this next tank should finally push my lifetime miles per gallon to 31-33mpg, if not better, and I know it can do better than that with a little finesse.

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)

Hi Shannon! Thanks for the comments. Since I posted my initial question things have improved somewhat. I've cast a wider net and some other offers have come in, the latest being about $1,000 below MSRP - a step in the right direction.
I've been researching the FEH since before the first one came out, so it's kind of exciting to be on the cusp of finally getting one.

Robert

Depending on how you play your cards, you may even be able to get an '07.

First 4WD Hypermiler

Have you read the FEH FAQ?

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I suspect that discounts for the '07 model will be close to zero, at least initially. So far I've been able to drill down to about $1000 below MSRP. Still working!

Plus, I'm not sure what, if anything, the '07 model will have in the way of really new features. Lots of talk about '08 though. So from an economic standpoint it might be better to pick up an '06 if they're pricing them to move, relatively speaking.

Robert

Get a Hybrid from dealerstock before July1, and you get "0%" financing - not bad considering the mileage benefit, the Tax benefit - (1,950 tax CREDIT - on 1040 plus who knows on State taxes -_

Win Win - I think !

I thought 0% financing was through May 1. Either way, it looks like we may have a deal wrapped up by this weekend regardless. And that tax credit is definately something that I had in mind!

Robert

Tax credit is $2,600 for a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid FWD, by the way, The $1,950 is for an All Wheel Drive (AWD) model.

Ford Escape Hybrid (2wd) $2,600
Ford Escape Hybrid (4wd) $1,950

Reference: HybridCars: Tax Deductions

I look forward to potentially seeing another Ford Escape Hybrid on our travels around Texas to various parks. We have a loaded '06 FWD model (color-keyed bumpers, sunroof, Nav, etc.) in Redfire Metallic. She's lovely! I originally had my eye on the Sonic Blue but I later decided that color looks best on sports cars, like my brother's '05 Mustang. That, and I couldn't find a single Sonic Blue anywhere within a reasonable driving distance!

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)

When is the 07 supposed to drop?

Maybe I was lucky on the price. I got my MMH lower than the invoice price. I told the dealer I found a FEH that I can buy from the invoice, he said eventhough it is lower than the invoice he'll match it. Because I have no credit history at all, I couldn't use any of the sweet finance opportunities. Hopefully I will refinance later, but for know I am paying huge interest.