Purchasing a new 2011 V6 mustang in about a month. This would be my 1st car purchase.

V6, Manual, base model:
MSRP: $22,995
Invoice: $21,928.00

Since it's close to the end of the year, I was hoping to get a better deal, and I was seeing if any experienced buyers could give me some tips.

Also there's a $1000 rebate and a $500 student rebate available (they can be added together).

10/25/2010 9:51:21 AM

where are you getting your info from? i find it hard to believe that msrp is only a little over a grand above invoice. my guess is invoice would be in the 19 range.
i have found that crossroads-owned dealerships are usually going to be able to negotiate the most.

10/25/2010 10:02:33 AM

I checked both KBB and yahoo autos invoice is about right (but it does include the $850 Destination fee)
Also I moved out of state

10/25/2010 10:19:20 AM

msrp and invoice are somewhat made-up numbers. you don't think dealers can check the internet?

I wouldn't expect a killer deal on a 2011 because they just upgraded the engines for this model year.

10/25/2010 10:31:10 AM

305hp.

10/25/2010 10:41:41 AM

Yeah if you don't care about performance you can get a new 2010 that looks nearly I identical for super cheap. But then it has a lot less power and worse fuel economy too.

10/25/2010 10:45:10 AM

I've done lots of research and been to lots of dealers, the MSRP and Invoice is pretty close. In addition I do have a Ford A-Plan discount which is about $900 less than the invoice but I wouldn't qualify for the student discount and it's non-negotiable.
Right now I'm just comparing to see if dealers would be willing to go below my A-plan price. I'm getting a buy's order faxed to me but i'm thinking no less than $20k

as far as the year, I would like it to be this years since the 2010s feel heavy and underpowered.

10/25/2010 11:01:21 AM

Not my cup of tea, but a friend of mine picked one up a few weeks ago. It had decent power and actually sounded good too.

10/25/2010 11:10:50 AM

Wait until the next years model comes out and buy a 1yr used model.

You'll save yourself the depreciation hit and a good chunk of money. It almost never makes sense to buy a brand new car.

10/25/2010 12:29:53 PM

Quote :

"It almost never makes sense to buy a brand new car."

10/25/2010 1:20:25 PM

You guys are right but I've been waiting to get this car since Christmas of last year, I don't know how long I can wait.

I got a quote from a dealership for a grand total of about $22,339.58 Still kinda high

10/25/2010 1:30:17 PM

wow 97 hp increase from 2010 GT to 2011 GT. good job ford.

10/25/2010 2:04:24 PM

It's actually quite scary cause now all the dumb broads who just wanted a mustang have 305hp and can kill you when they drive like a dumb broad.

10/25/2010 2:17:55 PM

Desireable used cars have been holding their value pretty well recently. There's no guarantee you'll save much money by waiting a year.

10/25/2010 2:23:39 PM

^ i suppose it's subjective...a used car is a used car and in the majority of cases (i realize there are exceptions), it's going to be cheaper

whether the amount is enough ($5k, maybe?) to justify the fact that you're getting sloppy seconds is up to the person

10/25/2010 2:34:30 PM

I drove a brand new one, 6 sp manual... sounds good and the transmission was nice.

Also could have driven the Roush 427R, but by the time my turn came, it had overheated and they postponed the testdrives But goddamn, the Roush sounded freaking monstrously sexy

10/25/2010 2:36:02 PM

I drove the new '11 GT. Fast no doubt, but steering feel sucks and suspension is floaty.

10/25/2010 2:38:59 PM

there is no reason whatsoever to ever buy a V6 Mustang. Utterly pointless, crappy car.

There is also very rarely a reason to buy a brand new car.

A brand new V6 Mustang is, therefore, on the short list of stupidest automotive purchases that one could make.

10/25/2010 2:41:40 PM

hahaha i knew that was coming.

10/25/2010 2:46:26 PM

Quote :

"It's actually quite scary cause now all the dumb broads who just wanted a mustang have 305hp and can kill you when they drive like a dumb broad."

Also, now my car is slower in a straightline than a base Mustang

[Edited on October 25, 2010 at 3:03 PM. Reason : FML]

10/25/2010 3:02:29 PM

Looks like initial depreciation on the V6 Mustang is about 4.5-5K.

Which is 30% of the value of the car. If you're okay with that, go ahead. I can't think of any other product people buy that they are willing to lose 30% of the value just to "buy it now".

10/25/2010 9:17:54 PM

That initial deprecation probably has a lot to do with the new car being so much better than the previous model year. I suspect the 2011 has killed demand for the 2010. If that is the case we can probably assume the 2011 will hold it's value quite a bit better than the 2010.

10/25/2010 9:27:49 PM

Quote :

"I drove the new '11 GT. Fast no doubt, but steering feel sucks and suspension is floaty."

Ironic how that's not the opinion of all the pro drivers that tested it but then it being .01 sec behind a m3 probably pissed you off and made you go flaw hunting.

10/25/2010 9:50:54 PM

about 19k

tell them you want it for 20k out the door and you should be able to get that

that includes tax tags and title

or buy a used one and save a little $$ for essentially a brand new car.

10/25/2010 9:54:45 PM

Quote :

"Ironic how that's not the opinion of all the pro drivers that tested it but then it being .01 sec behind a m3 probably pissed you off and made you go flaw hunting."

I'm not going to go back and re-watch the test you're talking about again, but I do remember seeing the vid. Iirc the pro driver from the video said basically the exact same thing that 1in10^9 said....It didn't handle the turns nearly as fast as the M3 and therefore it felt slower, but it had gobs of torque and horsepower to catch up in the straights resulting in the narrow difference in lap times.

Both cars have their merits. The Mustang GT is definitely above and beyond for it's price point, but this thread isn't even about the GT.

[Edited on October 25, 2010 at 10:19 PM. Reason : l]

10/25/2010 10:02:37 PM

Quote :

"I can't think of any other product people buy that they are willing to lose 30% of the value just to "buy it now". "

Think really hard about this one while you're at work.. on a ... computer, or next time you use your cellular telephone. As for me, I only buy used desktops from the flea market, and have a rotary phone. I was originally going to get a cordless for the house, but once cellphones came out, I figured I'd wait till the next big thing, but satellite phones never caught on so I'm still waiting.

10/25/2010 10:30:55 PM

I bought a bottle of Grey Goose tonight and it has already lost 80% of its value.

10/25/2010 10:32:48 PM

Quote :

"Ironic how that's not the opinion of all the pro drivers that tested it but then it being .01 sec behind a m3 probably pissed you off and made you go flaw hunting."

Let me ask you first - have you driven the GT or you are just talking out of your ass? Have you driven M3? I actually went to test drive the car because I read great things about it. Take it for what is worth, but go drive an E46 M3 or any E9x and then go drive a mustang and let me know what are your observations. New GT is powerful, but that's pretty much it. It's a pony car after all.

10/25/2010 10:35:55 PM

^^^ cell phones aren't really a good example, since they're generally heavily subsidized by the service provider to buy new in exchange for contracting service. it's usually cheaper to buy a new one than a used one.

i'm typing this on a computer that i bought used like the true cheap bastard that i am, but i'll even defend buying new computers to an extent...for one thing, the pace of computer technology advances much faster than that of cars (particularly grocery-getter type cars). A 3-year old car can be pretty much exactly the same as the current model...a 3-year old computer is nearing obsolescence.

For another thing, while the % might be comparable, it's not quite the same thing to take a depreciation hit of a couple hundred bucks as it is to piss away many thousands.

...but again, the computer I'm typing all that on is one that I bought slightly used at a nice discount.

[Edited on October 25, 2010 at 10:45 PM. Reason : V6 Mustangs are totally gay under all circumstances, though...not worth pissing away tons of $ on.]

10/25/2010 10:44:09 PM

You guys can talk junk about the V6 all you want but i think 305 HP is pretty fast.

I'll try to ask for 20k total.

10/25/2010 11:09:11 PM

I was going to come in here and point out that 305 hp only takes you so far when your car weighs 3500 pounds. But upon further inspection, 305 HP will probably take your average Mustang driver as far as they can handle. Motortrend is saying this thing can do 0-60 in 5.1 seconds.

[Edited on October 25, 2010 at 11:32 PM. Reason : http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/112_1003_2011_ford_mustang_v_6_test/index.html]

10/25/2010 11:32:01 PM

Let me play the devil's advocate..

Cars do age, and a 3 year old car is not new. For one it likely either doesn't have a full warranty, or it's about to not have one, for someone who's not very mechanically inclined, something to consider. As for the pace of development, my 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S was a borderline super car then, fast forward 15 years, and I believe a V6-maxima/6speed would've given it a run for it's money. Case in point, isn't this V6 Mustang faster than the last GT, not to mention safer/more fuel efficient?

Typing this on a new MacBook (I get a new one every year), and I bought an unsubsidized iPhone4. I'm pretty happy with the iPhone4 though, so probably won't upgrade in 6 months, asthis has everything I'd actually wanted. I'm sure if I had a few more (millions) dollars, I'd buy new cars too. Let's face, the only reason I didn't buy the 911 new is because I can't justify it, can you really argue otherwise?

10/26/2010 12:30:09 AM

well, i mean, you're kinda agreeing with me...buying new cars is dumb as long as you have to justify it. If money is no object, then yeah, walk into the dealership and throw down your Mastercard.

and I'd have beef with a V6 Mustang no matter how fast it was. It's just fundamentally wrong. If the V6 had 500 hp, you should still get the V8 with 600 or whatever. I'm not even a horsepower guy, and Mustangs totally aren't my thing, but the whole point of the car is to get a lot of straightline power for dirt cheap. While I'd never buy one, I have an appreciation for what it is. If you aren't going to get the V8, get something else. Something that's, you know, like...good at stuff. A 3-series, for example.

10/26/2010 12:49:39 AM

Hah, I did my best... Somebody's gotta keep buying new cars so there's used cars for me to buy...

On that note, can't wait to get an e90 for $10k.

10/26/2010 1:30:44 AM

So i found this used car dealership that has great deals. http://offleaseonly.com/

I may just have to get a used car for a year and wait for the 11' to drop in price.

10/26/2010 11:20:22 AM

^ damn, those prices are really really good.

what's the switch to that bait?

10/26/2010 12:13:32 PM

I've found success buying a new car in the last couple of days of the quarter.

10/26/2010 12:52:37 PM

^^ It does seem too good to be true but i called in and they quoted me the final price (tax and tag)

^Thanks I'll probably have to wait till December-ish then

10/26/2010 1:37:52 PM

Ahmet: a cell phone isn't a good example, because there is rarely any initial depreciation. And I'm on my 5th free iPhone 3GS, my girlfriends we bought used and off contract and I could resell it today for 80-90% of what I bought it for, for a three year old device, not bad.

Computers are the same way, they have sliding scale depreciation, no initial hit. I actually just sold my old desktop for 80% of what I bought it for two years ago. Now I just use a Mac mini, and I know I can sell it for close to cost if I wanted to.

10/26/2010 1:43:58 PM

If you're going to finance, getting 0% or something close to it can take a lot of the sting out of the depreciation loss of a new car...assuming the alternative is paying thousands in interest over the course of the loan.

10/26/2010 2:01:08 PM

Have you bought a new stereo, washer/dryer, how'bout furniture, or a TV? My point was simply that people buy new things all the time. I assume most people work so that they can afford things right? Just comes down to preference.

10/26/2010 3:36:52 PM

Quote :

"i think 305 HP is pretty fast."

this thing has 2550 HP:



do you think it's pretty fast?

10/26/2010 4:56:34 PM

I bet it could crush your car (pun intended), It'd be nice if it had 31mpg

10/26/2010 5:34:04 PM

Probably closer to 31gpm

10/26/2010 9:49:28 PM

Quote :

"Have you bought a new stereo, washer/dryer, how'bout furniture, or a TV? My point was simply that people buy new things all the time. I assume most people work so that they can afford things right? Just comes down to preference."

Yes, no, yes, yes.

I can sell my stereo for what I purchased it for, same for the furniture (I've actually made money on almost every piece of furniture I've resold), and the television I bought now ~4 months ago and I could sell it for almost exactly what I bought it for.

My point is that NEW CARS are unique in that they depreciate dramatically just because you purchase it. Almost no other product operates that way (boats do, for the same reason).

Most products have a linear timeline for depreciation, Cars have a logarithmic depreciation timeline.

You are MUCH better off buying 1 or 2 model year old vehicles, from a strict value perspective.

10/27/2010 9:30:41 PM

and you are much better off getting your pony car complete with all 8 cylinders worth of ponies.

10/27/2010 10:35:51 PM

^ i understand the sentiment, but WHY? i mean...unless you're going to race it or something, will the V8 do 45mph around raleigh any better than a V6? my bet is performance is the same, but you get better mileage out of the V6 (which isn't a bad V6, either)

even if you're doing highway...will the V8 do 70mph better than the V6? mileage is much closer, but i'm betting the V6 is STILL more efficient

*shrug*

10/28/2010 7:48:21 AM

^^for 90% of the people that buy this car you don't need it. The new V6 has as much horsepower as the V8 of just last year. Saying you're a sap b/c you got the V6 used to be true, but its more difficult to say that now since the car hits 60 in 5.1 seconds and handles better than the V8 (due to a lighter engine).

10/28/2010 9:01:45 AM

V8 and mustangs just go together. For exhuast rumble, down low torque. V6 no matter how powerful will never have the appeal as V8 pony car. I agree that if you are already buying a pony car you should get a V8.

10/28/2010 9:13:34 AM

i mean if hes happy with a V6 so be it...

personally... a V6 musttang is just un'merican!

10/28/2010 9:26:23 AM