Question About Buying An 04 Bird

[FordMan21]

I recently got my pin for the X plan (again) and have started looking at 04 birds. Has anyone heard of any deals that are about to be announced? Does anyone know what the APR is or would the dealer be able to provide that to me? I'd like to get an idea if I really would be able to afford it before walking in to a dealer. The X plan website does figure in what the plan discount is but the payment calculator asks for the APR. If I do get a bird I'm trading in my 01 Taurus which I'm still paying on.

Thanks in advance for any info and I'm in the Atlanta, GA area.

 

[Quickdraw]

Its my understanding dealers have $3,500 "dealer cash" on 2004's that they can pass on to the customer or keep for themselves.

 

[FordMan21]

Good deal. Thanks Quickdraw. I did meet the owner of the largest Ford dealership near me and was told to "come talk to him when I was ready to get a T-bird". He's got a red one that I like. It has black interior versus light sand but I bet the black interior looks nice.

 

[njsusan]

My 02 red bird has the solid black interior - I didn't care for the two tone. Just a matter of taste.

 

[Quickdraw]

My interior too is all black. Although its not a daily driver and I keep it super clean, I wouldn't want to maintain white or a light colored interior seating surfaces.

 

[loochie]

I agree with Quickdraw - I like how the lighter interiors look, but I wouldn't want to maintain them. It's amazing how much dirt gets into the interior when you drivw with the top down alot.

 

[tbird]

A Plan is the real deal. I've seen regular customer buy at X plan prices when the dealer has dealer cash on a car.

 

[FordMan21]

How do you get A plan pricing? I'm guessing this is for Ford employee and I would have to get my friend to buy it for me.

I've been emailing a sales rep. Good news is with the X plan plus 3500 dealer cash the price is $34198 or around that figure. Bad news is I still owe $14791 on my current car. I'm probably going to have to wait for awhile. Someone told me about a black 02 for sale. The owner had paid for it in full recently passed away and the family wants $32000 for it. I don't know the milage but from what I'm told it's in excellent condition. It is the Premium edition.

 

[tbird]

If you don't have money to burn, you need to buy a used low mile car. Even at X-Plan you are buried alive even after 3.5 years.

 

[Quickdraw]

Fordman,
$32,000 for a used 2002 is too much - successfully completed ebay prices run well under $28,000 for a premium with hardtop. For a used 2002 from a private party you shouldn’t have to pay more than maybe $26,000. If your friend buys it for you on “A” plan he is supposed to keep it in his name for six months before selling it to you and that would complicate insurance.

If you owe $14,000 on your 2001 Taurus it wouldn't seem to be a wise move to trade up now.

 

[jerrym3]

A plan

As I understand it, any Ford employee or retired employee can request up to three A plan PINs per year. These PINs can be given to anybody (at one time, the purchaser had to be a family member).

I received my PIN from my mother-in-law, even after my father-in-law (retired from Ford years ago) passed away.

Be careful as to how you use it.

I went to a dealer to inquire about a Bird he had on his lot. He checked the validity of the PIN through Ford's system which then locked that PIN to that dealer. When I found the same car at a dealer closer to my house, I had to get another PIN.

 

[Quickdraw]

Jerry,
You're close but not quite there...

For 2004 each Ford employee is entitled to four "A" plans and four X-plans however the "A" plan can ONLY be given to the following family members:

Spouse
Parents
Spouse's parents
Sons and daughters (including in-laws and step-children)
Grandchildren
Brothers and sisters (including in-laws, half and step)
Same-sex domestic partners covered under the health care plan (same as it is defined for health care coverage in the "Salaried Employee Benefit Bulletin #152", dated June 8, 2000.)
Immediate family members of eligible same-sex domestic partners (same as it is defined above)

Even the following family members are EXCLUDED from "A" Plan eligibility:
grandparents
cousins
uncles
aunts
nephews
nieces

X-plan price is about 2 or 3 percent more than "A" plan and are for "Friends and Neighbors" of employees.

 

[FordMan21]

Originally posted by Quickdraw
Fordman,
$32,000 for a used 2002 is too much - successfully completed ebay prices run well under $28,000 for a premium with hardtop. For a used 2002 from a private party you shouldn’t have to pay more than maybe $26,000. If your friend buys it for you on “A” plan he is supposed to keep it in his name for six months before selling it to you and that would complicate insurance.

If you owe $14,000 on your 2001 Taurus it wouldn't seem to be a wise move to trade up now.

You think $32,000 is too much, take a look at this:

http://www.classyauto.com/viewlisting.php?listing_id=21272

😱 Sure it's yellow but come on!!! I called the guy about the black 02. One of the employees there is basically "joyriding" in it every day so I told him I'm not interested in it unless the price comes down. I didn't know beforehand that someone was using it. I guess the family of the former owner doesn't care though that would give me the option to test drive it. I have never test drove one but I have sat in it. It was a nice fit.

 

[Quickdraw]

Fordman,
don't forget, some early buyers paid $50,000 - thats $10,000 over sticker for these cars when they first came out. The link you gave is for somone totally out of touch with reality.

Heres one you can buy right now for under $26,000 Buy-It-Now price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2477255732&category=6240

 

[Quickdraw]

Fordman,

Heres the biggest dreamer you'll ever see:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3589460270&category=1132

He was asking $185,000 for his James Bond car and didn't even have photos.

 

[FordMan21]

Originally posted by Quickdraw
Fordman,

Heres the biggest dreamer you'll ever see:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3589460270&category=1132

He was asking $185,000 for his James Bond car and didn't even have photos.

😱 I was going to say the "D" word but I'll keep it clean!!! I though my dream was bad. That's funny.

I remember what some dealers were asking for when the 02 Birds came out. My dream was crushed at the time and when I got ready to trade in my 96 Taurus I went with the 01 that I have now.

 

[Quickdraw]

Fordman,

Heres the lowest price Ive ever seen on a Tbird but it has 56,000 miles on it. $21,995 buy-it-now price

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2477543546&category=6240


Or for $3,000 more you can get this one with less than 800 miles on it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2476500604&category=6240

 

[Brad]

I saw a dealership a few weeks ago that was selling 03's for 31K

They were new, however they sold the cars to their used car department and sold them as used (with 0 miles).

That was 2 weeks ago, and now that I may be interested in trading they are ofcourse gone.

My understanding is that 2003's had 6K cash to dealer on them, but that was pulled.

If anyone knows of a new 2003 for low 30's or less let me know (Red full accent would be nice). I've searched on Ford.com for inventory, but you have to do it by zipcode, and it only gives you a few dealers.

If I can hatch my scheme, I may have a cheap slightly damaged 02 for sale...

Quickdraw, are you familiar with Domino Ford out your way?

 

[loochie]

Brad,
what's "slightly damaged" on your car? Didn't you put alot of mods on it, too? Would you be restoring the exhaust back to factory or leaving the glass packs on?

 

[Quickdraw]

Brad,
Nope, sorry, I don't know anything about Domino Ford. I can give you an X-plan PIN that will let you get a new 2004 right about dealer cost and all rebates are on top of that. FYI: They stop production of the 2004s on July 2nd and start the 2005s July 19th.