OK, all, Here's a story to tell regarding my quest to get into the loop for buying a new GT 500.
I contacted a regional SVT Dealership (Brandon Ford, Tampa, Fl.) some time ago to establish that I am interested in purchasing a new Shelby next year - kind of a 'meet and greet', if you will. Went well, until I got a call last week.
I was told by this salesman that, first of all, the dealership will be alotted 3 on the first go round - and, they are all taken so far; to the dealer owner, GM, and sales manager (or some combo thereof) are getting them. WHATEVER, capitalism at it's finest...
THEN, he dropped the bomb.
They're gonna list them for $70K! I said "excuse me"? He gave me the ole line about 'market demand', and the standard markup will be this for the new GT500's - he made a comparo to the Ford GT, which has a MSRP for ~ $125K, and no one is selling any for less than $200K.
Now, I know there was a standard 5 grand or so markup on the 03 and 04 Cobra's, and I expected maybe a little more on the Shelby's, but, ****, talk about price gouging!
YES, this is a limited edition stang, and YES, it has SHELBY on it, and YES, it will be the most powerfull production Mustang to date, but, it is a MUSTANG, not a one-off exotic. Lets face it, it's a new, slightly re-designed 'Retro Body' with a 5.4 lightning block/Eaton combo in it. I then called SVT directly and was told the production run should be around, and I quote, "10 to 12 thousand units".
Lets all remember that the limited edition '00 R Models were only 250-300 in total (I think), and they listed for $60-70K.
I am wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences. I am not a wealthy individual, smack in the middle class, and I thought Ford's idea was to market this car so that exactly that population would have access to these cars.
I can tell you this: I will NEVER purchase a car from Brandon Ford, and I will NEVER have anything good to say about them. if asked.
In my quest for an 03 or 04, there WERE Dealerships that did not subscribe to the markup and sold them for the MSRP. I am sure there will on the GT 500 as well...SOMEWHERE!
I to want a GT-500 but absolutely will not pay for mark-up on a car. In San Diego, I gaurantee every dealership that has one will be putting some sort of market value addition on the price of the car. I will buy my time and hopefully find one for sticker (or lower) at some point and time. When I bought my 03 Cobra, every dealership in the area was adding a ridiculous $5000 mark-up on all Cobra's. I just happened to be driving by a dealership one day and my wife noticed a Cobra in the back, just off-loaded from the truck. I went in and bought it at sticker. The dealership honored the price even though they were planning on marking it up $5k.
I agree, this car isn't some exotic that demands a high price. It's supposed to be a $40k car. I love the new Corvette as well and might just go that route instead. An exhaust, cam, intake and tune should give that lightweight sports car a good kick in the ass.
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There are only three things the copilot should ever say:
1. Nice landing, Sir.
2. I'll buy the first round.
3. I'll take the ugly one.
70 grand is way to much for that car. I dont care if it does have Shelbys name on it.
That kind of price is pretty close to Viper territory. I understand that they want to make some money off it but they should try and keep it in the 40's, anything to close to 50 is already Vette money, and as mush as I love the Stang'/Cobra its still no Vette.
I'm "on the list" at 2 ford dealers so far. I plan to do the same with every ford dealer in the state. Comparison shopping between dealers can be interesting. The number of cars they COULD produce probably is about 10-12,000. Unfortunately, the actual quantity made will likely be between 3000-7000, and this will probably include production runs in late 2006 and throughout 2007 (3000 cars made over 2 years is not a high number at all).
When the dealers start receiving cars, we'll see what some horse trading will yield.
Telling you that their management people are buying all the early allocations means nothing - virtually all of these cars will end up being sold off so long as a high markup is earned. These same people have ready access to whatever shipments occur and their first duty is to their company's bottom line. Most larger dealers are no longer sole-proprietorships but large corporations instead. Big companies don't allow employees to rob them of potential profits, ergo, so long as they make profits, the sales will occur.
As for paying more than MSRP (much less double)... No way. Let the well-connected (more equal hogs) and the rap stars exhaust themselves fighting over the early production run, if they must. I'm patient. After a few magazines run comparisons of the "$70,000" shelbies and $35,000 chargers, LS pontiacs & chevies, the furor will hopefully die down. At some point Ford will NEED to have a mustang on the streets that can beat the competition at both the race track AND the bank.
If not, I guess I'll keep my 02 GT and go ahead with my Kenne Bell supercharger plans - and stalk the roads looking for an 07 shelbie to take my frustrations out on.
Ford's stock and sales are in the toilet, with no upward movement in sight. The mid-year introduciton of the Cobra is their only bright spot - and having the price for a mustang double at the dealership is about the ugliest PR they could hope for.
The new management team will probably have a fit over this - but their ability to control an inbittered dealer network remains to be seen!
My uncle is getting a GT-500 and he's only paying 45g for it....
If the GT-500 is going to be 40K and your uncle is going to pay 45K, then he is getting screwed. As said above, the car isn't anywhere near production yet anyhow.
I'm still thinking of getting a new C6 next year. I'm going to wait and see if I can get a GT-500 without a mark-up and if not, a nice Corvette will do just fine.
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There are only three things the copilot should ever say:
1. Nice landing, Sir.
2. I'll buy the first round.
3. I'll take the ugly one.
my father works for a dealer here in mass. bonnell ford. they claim they DO NOT mark up there cars. i know they didnt for the new t-birds (other dealers were marking them up 8k).
nor did they mark up the 03 cobras.
on top of all that i get the family discount. i could've had a 35k 03 cobra for 28k. wish i could afford it though. but by no means am i saying i can get my hands on the 07 shelby. i was just giving you guys another place to check ...Bonnell Ford. they are an SVT dealer and a Roush dealer. they are located in Winchester Mass.
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1998 SVT Cobra #4941 of 5174 built on June 19,1998
4.30s, Speedcal, WMS CAI, Pro 5.0 shifter, Sniper Tuner, March pulleys, Mac O/R H pipe, Flowmaster orig. 40's, King Cobra clutch, D/S rotors, FRPP 9mm's, Max. Motorsports C/C plates, Termy front control arms, H&R SS springs, MM solid steering rack bushings, Tokico HP struts and shocks, Mac subrames, HID Bi-Xenon 6000k kit, Saleen 18" wheels, Saleen S-281 spoiler, sequential tails
Up Next: Termi diff, 31 spline Axles, LPW girdle, MM LCAs
MMFF had an article on SVT. It seems you no longer have to go to an SVT dealer to purchase and SVT vehicle. Your local dealer should be able to get one
So shop around guys and let the greedy get hosed or Fu#$ed
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Tony Berger
91 LX 337 Incon Twin Turbo
D&D Viper T-56 6 speed
Maximum Motorsports front to rear
94 Cobra
99 Lightning
and it's JUST-N-LX
Hey Crani-pa,
since your in FL, try calling Jazz Shasteen at Freedom Ford in Clearwater, FL.
they were only expecting the car to hit around 45-50K since the MSRP is around $36.9K
Tell him PMP sent you. He'll know us. We sponsor all their SVTOA Events & are booked up with them to March of 06 & we are including them in our TV Show for Speed Channel.
I'm also on the list for two of them.
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03 White SVT Cobra
Mods: Whipped
620rwhp/590rwtq @ 18psi on 93 octane
#3285 out of 8394
Shelby GT500 Worries...READ! 
