Deanh Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 I bought a brand new Focus yesterday. I am very happy with this car. I traded in my 2002 Focus in on it. Seems like a lot of car for the price. Thank god we all are not like you. Mucho Congrats...enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted July 8, 2010 Author Share Posted July 8, 2010 Inflation from 2007 -2010 is 2.28% Social Security recipients haven't received a cost of living increase in two years. Most economic forecasters are saying these times are deflationary, not inflationary. Certainly those of us who have seen our homes drop at least 35% see it as deflation. And almost 0% interest on your money and 4% mortgage rates. And I'm sure Ford management brings this up when negotiating and telling the UAW that they can't afford to pay them more money. If the UAW still had COLA, they would have gotten very little over last two years, that's for sure. In the meantime, A Focus SE goes from $16,000-19,000 with dated 4 speed auto and basic design that hasn't changed much in 10 years. And no, I'm not willing to pay $3,000 for MY TEEN feature and ESC. No wonder most dealerships survive on their used vehicle section. More and more customers are going there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted July 8, 2010 Author Share Posted July 8, 2010 I bought a brand new Focus yesterday. I am very happy with this car. I traded in my 2002 Focus in on it. Seems like a lot of car for the price. Thank god we all are not like you. S? SE? SES? SEL? How much did you pay for it? What did it list for? Hines Park LM has a 2009 Focus SEL on its used car lot with 7,000 miles and rest of warranty selling for less than $15,000. I like the Focus...it seems like a very refined little car. I had a 2007 Focus SE as a company car and loved it. I believe my employer got it for under $12,000 new. It had power windows and 90% of the features the present SE has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted July 8, 2010 Author Share Posted July 8, 2010 #8 Your House Value #9 Your Investments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigander Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 S? SE? SES? SEL? How much did you pay for it? What did it list for? Hines Park LM has a 2009 Focus SEL on its used car lot with 7,000 miles and rest of warranty selling for less than $15,000. I like the Focus...it seems like a very refined little car. I had a 2007 Focus SE as a company car and loved it. I believe my employer got it for under $12,000 new. It had power windows and 90% of the features the present SE has. SE 17415.90 A plan 2 year lease $500 rebate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjl Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Buying a brand new vehicle is a luxury. That's why we have cheap used cars. Or cheap new cars like the < $10,000 (MSRP) Nissan Versa 1.6 Base and Hyundai Accent Blue. New Focus loss leaders frequently show up in the friday papers for $12,000 or $13,000. Not as good as the $10,000 Focus loss leaders in 2006-2007, but in neither case is the price anywhere close to MSRP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 (edited) Or cheap new cars like the < $10,000 (MSRP) Nissan Versa 1.6 Base and Hyundai Accent Blue. New Focus loss leaders frequently show up in the friday papers for $12,000 or $13,000. Not as good as the $10,000 Focus loss leaders in 2006-2007, but in neither case is the price anywhere close to MSRP. you DO realize that Versa is sans destination fee of $720, has no A/C, no power features, no Stability control, no ABS,brake assist, map pockets or even a radio or clock right?.... Edited July 8, 2010 by Deanh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 And Ford LOST $3K on that Focus (if that price is correct). Prove it. Prove it. Prove it. You can't. Retract your statement. Admit your wrong. No snippet from any news article will prove that statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperPilot Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 (edited) Maybe I can put it another way. A buddy of mine bought a new 2008 Focus SE a couple years ago and final price was $11,500. It was A plan price, and he said anyone could have bought it for about $12,200 new. That was only two years ago! Now the Focus is exactly the same car, and best transaction price is probably $16,000 on Focus SE. You could get heated seats on a 2007 Focus SE no problem and now you you have to buy $21,000 Focus SEL to get same. This is progress? I call it gouging. I own Ford stock and want a profitable Ford like everyone else, but again new vehicle prices are getting out of hand. Sorry, in case you're unaware, the Fiesta is now the new entry-level car. Expect the Focus to become more expensive with the new model, not less. Remember people used to pooh-pooh Ford's sale figures because so much of their sales were to fleet? Ford's days of fire-saling cars are over. Thank god. Edited July 9, 2010 by ViperPilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 You can't. Retract your statement. Admit your wrong. No snippet from any news article will prove that statement. Oh stop it. Mulally said it and he had no reason to lie about it. If you don't accept it then that's your problem. Bug off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marginal Economist Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Maybe I can put it another way. A buddy of mine bought a new 2008 Focus SE a couple years ago and final price was $11,500. It was A plan price, and he said anyone could have bought it for about $12,200 new. That was only two years ago! Now the Focus is exactly the same car, and best transaction price is probably $16,000 on Focus SE. You could get heated seats on a 2007 Focus SE no problem and now you you have to buy $21,000 Focus SEL to get same. This is progress? I call it gouging. I own Ford stock and want a profitable Ford like everyone else, but again new vehicle prices are getting out of hand. I saw an ad today for a 2010 Focus SE for $10,999. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted July 9, 2010 Author Share Posted July 9, 2010 I saw an ad today for a 2010 Focus SE for $10,999. When you go to that dealer, I believe you will find that Focus SE long gone at that supposed price. I would imagine a Focus SE without auto and no options should go for around $14,000 or so assuming no A/Z plan. Add in auto and cruise control, and $15,500 final price out door minus sales tax and license fees. Add in loan interest rate, and you are up to $17,000 or so. That's what I would expect to pay for Focus SE with auto and cruise control. Wait until 2012 Focus hits dealerships, and knock off another $1,500 in added incentives. In fact, still a lot of 2010 Focus out there even though 2011 are coming in. There should be some good deals coming on 2010 and 2011 Focus as Ford starts to clear lots of them in preparation for next Focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marginal Economist Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 When you go to that dealer, I believe you will find that Focus SE long gone at that supposed price. I would imagine a Focus SE without auto and no options should go for around $14,000 or so assuming no A/Z plan. Add in auto and cruise control, and $15,500 final price out door minus sales tax and license fees. Add in loan interest rate, and you are up to $17,000 or so. That's what I would expect to pay for Focus SE with auto and cruise control. Wait until 2012 Focus hits dealerships, and knock off another $1,500 in added incentives. In fact, still a lot of 2010 Focus out there even though 2011 are coming in. There should be some good deals coming on 2010 and 2011 Focus as Ford starts to clear lots of them in preparation for next Focus. Who adds loan interest into the price? Your financing of the vehicle is between you, your checkbook, and/or your bank. MSRP: $16,885 - Ford Rebate Off MSRP: $3,000 - Dealer Discount off MSRP: $2,886 = Sale Price: $10,999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted July 9, 2010 Author Share Posted July 9, 2010 Who adds loan interest into the price? Your financing of the vehicle is between you, your checkbook, and/or your bank. I do. It's real money, not play money. The dealer often makes more money on the financing than the selling of the vehicle. Ford Motor Credit does OK also. Now if you pay off the loan early, you do save a few bucks. I know I always do payments on principal with my home mortgage to cut down on the interest expense and thus shorten the loan a number of years. I pay cash for new cars...no loans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Certainly those of us who have seen our homes drop at least 35% see it as deflation. An "Insane speculative bubble that only morons thought was real that has returned to historically reasonable numbers" is a far cry from deflation, in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjl Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Sorry, in case you're unaware, the Fiesta is now the new entry-level car. Expect the Focus to become more expensive with the new model, not less. Early rumors seem to indicate that the MSRP will be similar to the old Focus for similarly equipped cars, but more higher end features will push the top end model to a higher price range, and rebates will be much less or nil (effectively a $2,000 to $4,000 price increase). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjl Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 When you go to that dealer, I believe you will find that Focus SE long gone at that supposed price. If it has a manual transmission, expect it to be there for a while. I remember in early 2009, a Ford dealer ran ads for new 2009 Fusions (base S model, manual transmission) for $11,988 (yes, under twelve thousand dollars) with 3 at this price. Checking the dealer's inventory revealed that it was a few months before even one of them sold, even though the ad for those cars ran every few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Mulally said it No, he didn't. Nice to know you can't admit when your wrong, tho. Says a lot about a person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 (edited) No, he didn't. Nice to know you can't admit when your wrong, tho. Says a lot about a person. I'd say your wrong Mulally Says Ford Will Make Money on Redesigned Focus And this article from 2006: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_25/b3989091.htm?campaign_id=search In May, an otherwise dismal month for Detroit, Ford Motor Co. (F ) sold more than 20,000 Focus subcompacts, the fuel sipper's best showing in nine months. That's great news, right? Not really. Ford lost an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 on each Focus it sold. IIRC Ford was able to at least break even on the the 2008-2011 Focus since then.... Edited July 9, 2010 by silvrsvt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted July 9, 2010 Author Share Posted July 9, 2010 An "Insane speculative bubble that only morons thought was real that has returned to historically reasonable numbers" is a far cry from deflation, in my book. So everyone who has bought a home in the last 40 years or so is a moron? Kind of harsh, don't you think? Renting is not all its cracked up to be either. This "bubble" has been going on since the late '40's. But you still have to live your life and enjoy it. Owning a home brings joy to lots of people incuding me. More important than the car you drive. Hindsight is not helpful since no one can predict the future even though charlatans try to convine you that they can. In these times, you can't even predict the price of oil from week to week let alone the price of homes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 I'd say your wrong Here is the original quote back in 2008. But Pioneer chooses not to believe this story although I don't understand why. Focus production is staying in the U.S. so this wasn't some scheme to justify taking work away from the UAW. And it certainly had nothing to do with contract renegotiations - those were based on overall costs compared to other mfrs. His convenient definition of "proof" is something that only Ford insiders have access to and which can't possibly be confirmed on an internet forum. If you believe they broke even on the original invoice prices (which is probably optimistic since they were competing with other cheap vehicles mostly on price alone) then it's not hard to understand that adding a $3000 rebate (which were common in 2008) puts you $3K in the hole. Some people only believe what they want to believe. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18923357/ Although Mulally lacks in-depth auto industry knowledge, he is also free of many of the intellectual biases and habits that have gotten Detroit into so much trouble. "He doesn't know what he doesn't know," says Ford Americas President Mark Fields. When Mulally was reviewing the company's 2008 product line last September, for example, he was told that Ford loses close to $3,000 every time a customer buys a Focus compact, according to one executive. "Why haven't you figured out a way to make a profit?" he asked. Executives explained that Ford needed the high sales volume to maintain the company's CAFE, or corporate average fuel economy, rating and that the plant that makes the car is a high-cost UAW factory in Michigan. "That's not what I asked," he shot back. "I want to know why no one figured out a way to build this car at a profit, whether it has to be built in Michigan or China or India, if that's what it takes." Nobody had a good answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 I was looking at a 2011 Focus SE at Ford dealer today. With sports appearance package, auto, and cruise control the sticker was $19,700. Jeeeesh! With prices like this for a Focus, I don't have a lot of confidence abouft future new vehicle sales. There is nothing happening in the economy that justifies people paying $20,000 for a Focus SE. I would hope that the final transaction price is not over $16,000, or auto sales are not going to move up much from here. LOL you are the lucky ones. Good job you don't live in the UK the entry base model Focus cost $27,123, then you would really have something to really be grumpy about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 So everyone who has bought a home in the last 40 years or so is a moron? Kind of harsh, don't you think? Renting is not all its cracked up to be either. This "bubble" has been going on since the late '40's. But you still have to live your life and enjoy it. Owning a home brings joy to lots of people incuding me. More important than the car you drive. Hindsight is not helpful since no one can predict the future even though charlatans try to convine you that they can. In these times, you can't even predict the price of oil from week to week let alone the price of homes. The current housing problem is a recent invention, fueled by low interest rates and poor lending practices. People bought (and were allowed to buy) more house than they could reasonably afford and lenders approved loans to people who should never have qualified in the first place. Nobody cared because the ones doing the selling and lending got their profit up front then sold the loans to somebody else, who sold them to somebody else, etc. etc. High demand caused prices to skyrocket faster than they should have. When the economy tanked, the house of cards came crashing down. Anyone who could reasonable afford a house before the bubble can still get one now. The ones who can't get homes now never should have gotten one anyway. Here is an analogy. Let's say Best Buy decided to offer a $5000 line of credit to anyone who wanted it regardless of their credit history or current financial situation. All of a sudden everyone wants a new 3D LCD flat screen TV and because of super high demand prices go up. Best Buy's profits go way up, 3D LCD tv prices go up and everybody's happy. Best Buy doesn't want to carry all these accounts so they sell them to a finance company at a small discount. Best Buy is fat, dumb and happy with no bad debtors to worry about. The program stops, demand drops and LCD prices return to normal. The finance company can't collect on all the bad debt and needs a bailout to stay in business. The recession also played a big part but that's temporary. When a house goes up in value 100% in 3 years without justification it doesn't take a genius to see that's not realistic and that an adjustment is coming right around the corner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 No, he didn't. The article says he did. YOU prove that it's a lie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 No, he didn't. Nice to know you can't admit when your wrong, tho. Says a lot about a person. Be careful. That's a sword that cuts both ways. It seems to me there's a fair amount of proof he did say it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.