1depd

That is exactly what I have, except in a Lariat version. Since the top rails of the bed are dark grey/black the black bed doesn't look so bad. Not to mention most people can't see into the bed to begin with.

I had to change the truck I ordered. The one I bought was sourced from Dearborn and did not come with a bedliner. I talked with the dealership and had them spray one in. It is a Tough bedliner. I have all of the paperwork for it. So the dealership did have the products on hand at least they did spring of last year.

It is possible that I was misinformed. I don't get to use the trucks very often, but I was told they had factory liners and when they arrived. It is very possible that the liners were applied aftermarket,and the person thought they came from the factory that way, because they arrived with the liners already in. I don't have much faith in my co-workers at times when it comes to actual knowledge of cars/trucks.

In my case the only aftermarket liners available locally were no names. If I wanted to get a Rhinoliner or Linex I would have to take a day off, fight through city rush hour traffic, find something to do at the shop while waiting for the liner to be sprayed, pay the premium price for the inconvenience, then drive two hours to get back home. In total I would have wasted an entire day just to get my bed sprayed. It basically boiled down to free-market principles. The big companies didn't feel the area I live was a big enough market to make it convenient to provide me with a service, so I went with the factory liner. We have factory liners in the trucks at work and they are holding up just fine after about 7 years use. Granted it isn't tough work, but it is about what I put my truck through.

The dealership didn't tell me anything. I bought my truck with Ford Credit so I got the 1k off, then refinanced it a month later when the first payment was due.

There is also the stability issue at higher speeds. I don't know if the F--150 specifically has issues, but do know that at higher speeds cars tend to lose stability as air builds up under it. The wife had a Ranger with a little 4 cylinder that truck could go 139. She was clocked at 139 by a deputy one day. Fortunately he had the same truck and "knew" it could only go 100 before the governor kicked in, so he thought his radar was broke and the wife got a warning.

Yup my Lariat has the light wood trim. At first I wasn't too sure I'd like the color combination of light wood, silver, and grey, but it's like a fungus. It grows on you. It does help that the interior is the pale adobe so the light wood kind of blends in to the surroundings. There is also the option of a dark wood interior for the Lariat, even if your dealership doesn't have it on their lot. You can't get the XLT with the "wood" interior from the factory.

It doesn't make sense from a driver's perspective, but from a lawyer's having the windshield wipers start first makes perfect sense. If the windshield washer is squirting while the wipers are sitting at the bottom then for a couple seconds the driver is blind. That results in liability for Ford. Damned lawyers!.!

I'd take the Ford financing, then before you make a payment refinance with your bank (all credit checks for the same item within 30 days are considered one check). The truck still considered new, you won't have to pay the higher interest from Ford, and you get the $1k incentive. I just did this and saved myself the $1k as well as over 2% in monthly interest. I took deliver April 20 and don't have a car payment due until June 30.

I asked this same thing a few months ago. I think the answer was October.

Just a thought. Have you tried to purchase Ford stock? You will need 100 shares and you have to own them for 6 months. In my case I would have paid $7-8 per share (I've owned them a lot longer than 6 months and paid a bit more for them), but saved over $3k. After the deal is done you can always sell your shares and recoup your money, or keep them and collect dividends (when they start paying again). I noticed my dealer became very friendly when I advised I had x-plan because I was a share holder. Apparently they thought I was a friend or family of a Ford employee. There aren't any Ford partners in this area so there are few x-plan sales here. The one guy who was familiar with the x-plan was mistaken in that he thought you had to own >$10k worth of stock to qualify.

ilmo--I had a similar experience with my bed liner. Before anybody gets froggy I know Line-X or Rhino is better, but I live in a human wasteland and those options aren't readily available. I ordered the truck with a factory bed liner. Changed trucks mid-stream to one that did not have the bed liner in it. I started checking prices and got a quote from the sales manager of ~$300 in an e-mail, I think. It was $25 more expensive than a no name local installer, so I went with the dealer option. When it came time to pick up the truck I was told the cost of the spray in is ~$480. I told the salesman the manager quoted me ~$300 and if I had to pay the higher price I would just go with the local guy. I also told him it price quote was in an e-mail that I could bring in if he needed. That wasn't necessary and he gave me the bed liner at the quoted price. I also bought the truck using x-plan as a shareholder. The salesman was the only person who knew a lot about the program (no Ford partners in the area), but was mistaken in the fact that I had to own over $10k in shares to qualify. I received very good service after he was advised I was a shareholder.

On another forum I post at a guy tried running premium instead of regular. He did get a small fuel mileage increase, but it wasn't enough to offset the cost of the gas. If I recall correctly he only ran one tank of premium through and his truck wasn't completely broke in yet. It wasn't an ideal survey, but he did it.

If those numbers are even close to correct, I'll be loving it. I am pleased with my mileage now, I can't wait to get it broke in. I have only ~700 miles on the odo and I'm getting right around 20 mpg in mostly rural driving.

I think I get what you are saying. Essentially the dealer makes approximately the same on a plan sale as they do on a typical regular sale, after negotiations. Correct?