ScooterS

Tracking the Railcar! Hey: If you get the actual railcar number, I found this way to track the shipment: http://www.raptorforumz.com/showthread.php?t=13007 I tried it on one of the cars that had a rail number posted on a CSX shipment. It worked! My car was supposedly "born" today. I doubt that I will have a railcar number for a week or so. If anyone else gets a rail number, please try this and let us know!

Laurel: Sounds like it did take a bit of time to make it through the process. Mine is supposed to be built next Monday. I'll see if I can get a Wednesday report before everything shuts down for the long Thankgiving weekend.

Everyone has their own approach! I've been fortunate to be able to buy new. I've always figured that you are going to pay the same amout for a car each month. Sometimes it is on new payments, other times it is on repairs. The trick is not to have both! I drive about 18- 20K miles a year, so it is pretty easy to go through a car quickly. I try to take very good care of mine, which has helped me sell high and buy low. If you do it right, it isn't as expensive as some think.

dtorres: Great Explanation! I now understand! Thanks!!!

Laurel: Unless I missed something, it looks like your last check was on 11/2.... almost 2 weeks ago. ;)

I have a 2010 RAV4 I4 Ltd. I really like it. It is in great shape and I'm probably crazy for trading it. However, this is my 2nd RAV4 and after 5.5 years, I'm ready for a change. I do most of my driving running the freeway to work and back. Looking forward to increased gas mileage.

Model: C-Max Hybrid SEL Date Ordered: Saturday, 10/20/12 Promised Delivery time: 6 to 8 Weeks VIN Available: 11/5/12 Window Sticker Available: 11/13/12 Scheduled Build Date: 11/19/12 Actual Delivery Date: TBD State: TX

Start Thread Hijack: Hey Laurel.... are you going to get another status report on your car from the other site. I'm surprised that you haven't run a check to confirm that it got built and how long it took to get onto the train (hint) End Thread Hijack.....

I have a C-Max on order and am trading in my RAV4. Stay tuned for updates over the coming months!

Don't get more than you can afford, but a lot of the cool gadgets are part of the SEL.......

RMS: Me=Jealous! This information really helps. I was worried since my build date is in a week and my Window Sticker isn't on line. Looks like it may be a couple of more days. Thanks for update!

Crystal: Obviously, you have to worry about the payment! I may not have been clear. You need to get the dealer to reduce the price to keep your pament down, not charge you MSRP and extend the finance term by more months.

I posted this in another (buried) post, but thought that I would share things that I've learned about buying cars over the years. I hope that this may help folks who are negotiating on a new C-Max or any car...... Manufatcurers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) is the one on the Factory Window Sticker. Invoice is supposedly what the dealers pay for the car. However, most manufacturers give the dealers "holdback" or other discounts that drop the dealers cost below invoice. You can find the MSRP and Invoice price for the car by going to a site like NADA Guides www.nadaguides.com or KBB www.kbb.com and pricing out your car with all of the options. Most folks try to get a car at or near invoice. With a hot, new car that is hard to get, some dealers won't budge below MSRP. I think that the difference between MSRP and Invoice on a C-Max is about $1500- $2000. I got mine at about Invoice. Others haven't been so fortunate. Don't forget additional rebates (incentives) that will drop your price further. These include a $1000 rebate for all C-Maxes and $500 if you are a recent College Graduate. I think there is another rebate for current Ford Ranger owners. A few more thoughts..... Don't ever buy a car based on the payment! The dealer can work it so that you can have (almost) any monthly payment...... You will just pay for it over more months. It is easy to get "upside down" in a car where you owe far more on it than it is worth (owning a 4 year car on a 6 year loan). My rule is that I haven't bought a car until I've said "no" to the salesman at least 3 times. Haggle, haggle, haggle... Even if it isn't your nature, your lack of haggling is only hurting your own bankbook. Whether you buy from a local dealer, or online, you can bring your own financing or they will finance it at the dealer. They, of course, make a percentage from the bank on your loan. Avoid the Extended Warranties and Service Contracts they will try to sell you. They are uber high markup items for the dealer. You can get a "Genuine Ford" contract online for much less than the dealer will offer. See other threads here for the details. You may also hear of something called "X-Plan." This is a special program that provides a fixed price to certain Ford affiliates. X-Plan usually is just above Invoice price. Interestingly enough, members of The Experimental Aircraft Association www.eaa.com qualify for this price after they have been a member for a few months. Dealers aren't requred to do an X-Plan, but it may be the way to go for some buyers. Make sure you have a handle on the value of your trade-in before you go to the dealer. You may get a great deal on a new car, but get taken on the trade-in. The same sites for new vehicle pricing will also give you estimates of used car prices. Another good way is to get Carmax to give you a price to sell it to them outright. They do this all of the time (dozens of times a day). Don't hesitate to ask them for a value. It costs you nothing and takes about 30 minutes. We have a local dealer with billboards that claim they will beat any Carmax price by $500. You might find that you can do better if sell your car yourself (don't trade it in). However, you may want to check your State sales tax laws. In some states (not all) you only pay tax on the difference between the trade-in and the new car. If you don't trade it in, you pay sales tax on the entire price of the new car! That can mean a lot if you have an expensive trade-in. It may not matter too much on a lower value car. Example: Sales tax at 5% on a $30,000 car is $1500 on a car without a trade in. If you had a $20,000 trade-in, you would pay only $500 in tax (you'd save $1000 in taxes by trading-in). I hope this isn't overkill, Just a braindump of things that i've learned over many years and many cars. Others, Do you have any other suggestions??

Crystal: Manufatcurers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) is the one on the Factory Window Sticker. Invoice is supposedly what the dealers pay for the car. However, most manufacturers give the dealers "holdback" or other discounts that drop the dealers cost below invoice. You can find the MSRP and Invoice price for the car by going to a site like NADA Guides or KBB and pricing out your car with all of the options. Most folks try to get the car at or near invoice. With a hot, new car that is hard to get, some dealers won't budge below MSRP. I think that the difference between MSRP and Invoice on a C-Max is about $1500- $2000. I got mine at about Invoice. Others haven't been so fortunate. Don't forget additional rebates (incentives) that will drop your price further. These include a $1000 rebate for all C-Maxes and $500 if you are a recent College Graduate. I think there is another rebate for current Ford Ranger owners. A few more thoughts..... Don't ever buy a car based on the payment! The dealer can work it so that you can have (almost) any monthly payment...... You will just pay for it over more months. It is easy to get "upside down" in a car where you owe far more on it than it is worth (owning a 4 year car on a 6 year loan). My rule is that I haven't bought a car until I've said "no" to the salesman at least 3 times. Haggle, haggle, haggle... Even if it isn't your nature, your lack of haggling is only hurting your own bankbook. Whether you buy from a local dealer, or online, you can bring your own financing or they will finance it at the dealer. They, of course, make a percentage from the bank on your loan. Finally, avoid the Extended Warranties and Service Contracts they will try to sell you. They are uber high markup items for the dealer. You can get a "Genuine Ford" contract online for much less than the dealer will offer. I hope this isn't overkill, Just a braindump of things that i've learned over many years and many cars. Good Luck!!

Which begs the question...... Who created the forums (Ford or someone else) and who are the Moderators????/

I believe that you should be able to buy it anytime before the basic 36/36,000 ends. I'm thinking that there was a checkbox on one site to ask if it was past 12/12,000. The price might go up a bit at that point. In any case, your warranty begins when on the date that you bought your car. You can't put 20,000 miles on it over 2 years and then get 120,000 miles and 9 years off of a 100,000 mile, 7 year warranty. Others feel free to correct me... YMMV

I was preparing to buy a new Escape, when I saw this on the Web.

I hope dad will post in the Order to Delivery Time thread under buying, ordering and leasing. Several of us are tracking our orders there. It may help others figure out their wait times. Congrats again to both of you!

I Kinda thought that he would like it too! Congrats!!

I recently told my wife that we don't need to hire a Housekeeper, we really need a Network Administrator!

I suspect that Dad may end up liking the C-Max. The higher "upright" seating position have won over many of us in "Dad" age.

I would certainly do a google search for the Online Ford Warranties. A quick check of one was $1280 for 100,000/6 year/$100. It should only get better from there if you shop several sites. Make absolutely sure that you get the OEM Ford Warranty (not aftermarket). You shouldn't have a problem with it working at any dealer around the US. A lot of people haggle with the dealer for hours over a couple of hundred $ and then needlessly give back $1000 or more when the finance guy upsells the warranty. If you sell the car before the extended warranty is up, make sure that you get the balance of it refunded. It is prorated from day-one, so you may not get as much as you would like, but the balance is refundable. YMMV.

Congrats! I believe that it is built on their "C" platform and has the "Max" of everything, Height, Gas Mileage, etc. (or something close to that).

I find the number of 50- 60 something's posting here to be interesting. I suspect that the higher seating position in the C-Max contributes to that. I would have guessed a younger age group.

I don't believe that there are any in stock as of yet. I suspect that they haven't been released to the dealers.