Canadian pricing. How much room to deal?

Hi,

I'm seriously considering leasing a 2013 FFE. Can anyone give me an idea on how much leeway the Ford dealers have on this car to deal? Ford's got "employee pricing" on all models until the end of August which equates to about $3500 off the retail price. With my trade-in (they're giving me $6000 after initially offering $4000 on my Jetta), the lease comes out to about $480 a month after the $8500 government rebate.

I see some amazing leasing prices in the U.S., but no real special deals here. Lease is 3.99 % for 3 years.

I guess the employee pricing is the equivalent to the U.S. $4000 off.

Should I wait for a better lease rate? Has anyone heard of any upcoming special rates?

Only problem is that the longer I wait, the less my trade will be worth.

Thanks

At least in the US: The Focus Electric doesn't qualify for any employee pricing deals or vendor plan deals (No A-Plan, or X-Plan availability).

Although I can't help you with a Canada-specific FFE lease, I was so stunned to see those lease terms, I just had to go to ford.ca and see what the deal is. Let's see... C$480 (=$462 at the moment) a month for 36 months and C$6000 trade-in and C$8500 government rebate I assume the dealer gets... isn't that special. What is the residual value at lease end you were quoted?

I knew that the same car models are much costlier to buy or lease in Canada than in the US, but this seems to be practically highway robbery. The bad news is that, yeah, those aren't typos. The only good news I could find -- you'll be glad to hear that the "Employee Pricing" is good till Sep. 30th, not the end of August.

Also, it applies to all 2013 and 2014 Ford models in Canada, with only a few high-performance exceptions listed, such as F-150 Raptor, Mustang Boss 302 and Shelby GT500. So it's not related to the $4K MSRP drop on 2014 FFE and a corresponding de facto $4K price drop on 2013 FFE in the US.

It seems that, everything else being equal, one could lease 3 FFE's or nearly a Tesla Model S (60 kWh) in the US, with no trade-in, for the price of single FFE lease in Canada.

Depending on where you are located, have you by any chance looked into leasing the FFE in the US and registering it in Canada? Normally I understand that process is neither simple nor inexpensive (due to both paperwork and modifications required to meet Canadian standards), but maybe it's significantly easier for an EV. There has got to be an arbitrage opportunity here, given such incredible price differentials.

Thanks for the replies.

Why are prices for the leases on the FFE so much cheaper in the U.S.? I was aware that the prices are somewhat cheaper ($239 a month lease I had read), but I had assumed that price was with money down or a trade factored in!

Is the U.S. Government subsidizing these leases in addition to providing tax rebates? I know the market is much larger in the U.S. but wow!

The residual value they told me on the 2013 FFE is 34% at the end of 3 years.

The Provincial Government here in Ontario gives rebates in the form of a cheque to you or to the dealer when you buy these cars, with larger cheques coming to those people who buy models with larger batteries.

I obviously don't want to get robbed. My Wife and I were justifying the move from a car that's paid for to a lease payment by the fact that the car would eliminate one gas bill from our monthly expenses.

All told, we'd be out by $200 a month (over what we're paying now with two cars worth of gas to pay for) for the lease. We were also comforted that we'd have a car that's under warranty again, and one that requires minimal maintenance.

Her car already has 140,000 km and it's a 2007, so a few bigger bills would be upcoming for brakes, timing belt, clutch maybe and anything else expensive and unexpected. Not to mention the depreciation.

I just read that GM Canada will be offering a $5000 price reduction on Volt. Maybe that will cause a further price drop on the FFE?

I had also inquired with the Ontario Government Ministry of Transportation to see if they would be installing charging stations at our "On Route" rest stops located along Highway 401 (our busiest Highway) and they said that they're waiting to see what standard charging plug will be adopted by the industry CHAdeMO or SAE J1722 Combo before they install them at the rest stops.

I suppose this isn't so much of a big deal if you have a 220/240 charger at home, but it limits our comfort factor when traveling on longer trips or commutes.

Both the price discrepancy between Canada and the U.S. for the same vehicle, along with this Beta/VHS debate about the charger may serve to throw a bucket of cold water on my plans to buy the FFE, at least for a while until these issues are settled/addressed.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

We ended up getting the deal we were looking for and leased a 2013 FFE in Ice Storm! Got an additional $5750 off the previously mentioned deal, making it much more affordable. The Ford Dealership was great. Car's amazing so far! Very happy!

I was at Electric Mobility Canada's EVVS2013 Conference in Gatineau and a Ford rep from US mentioned retail pricing of $36,999 and a $10K rebate. I am thinking she had US and Canadian retail prices mixed up. Does anyone know if there is a $10,000 rebate on the Ford Focus Electric in Canada? Also what is the MSRP range? I am more interested in a fully loaded model.

Thanks,

Stephen Bieda

Hello Stephen,

Ford of Canada website shows a current price for the 2013 Focus Electric as $33,199. This includes a $8000 delivery allowance! The Province Ontario also gives a further $8500 rebate on the car toward purchase or lease.

The Province of Quebec gives rebates as well on EVs. They give $8000 toward the purchase of a Focus Electric and from $2000 to $8000 depending on the term of the lease. See link here:

http://vehiculeselectriques.gouv.qc.ca/english/rabais.asp

When we purchased our 2013 FFE here in Ontario, we got $8500 Ontario rebate, $3700 off for Ford Employee pricing (available to everyone..it's a summer time promotion), and a $5750 off delivery allowance for buying a 2013. It looks like Ford has bumped the delivery allowance to $8000 now that the Ford Employee Pricing is done for the year.

All of these cars come fully loaded. The only option is leather seats for an extra $1000. We got the cloth and love it. Way warmer than leather and more eco conscious (it's made of recycled materials). It's also a consideration that the cloth is warmer because in this car, you want to try and run the climate control and fan as little as possible because it guzzles battery power and therefore range.

Allen

EVFuture said:

When we purchased our 2013 FFE here in Ontario, we got $8500 Ontario rebate, $3700 off for Ford Employee pricing (available to everyone..it's a summer time promotion), and a $5750 off delivery allowance for buying a 2013. It looks like Ford has bumped the delivery allowance to $8000 now that the Ford Employee Pricing is done for the year.

Click to expand...

Ironic: In the US the FFE is not eligible for A-Plan (Employee) or X-Plan (Vendor) pricing at all!

The employee pricing may have been a mistake on their part, because they did mention that they had thought it wasn't eligible, but they gave it to me because the ford.ca website had said it was eligible and included it in the pricing structure.

At least the increased delivery allowance of $8000 from $5000 seems to include the employee discount that I received.

I'm just glad to see the Ford seems to be taking steps to decrease the price difference between Canada and the USA. Makes sense since our dollar is near par.

EVfuture

Hi EV, I too am looking to buy a Ford Electric in the GTA. Could you help me with some of your lease details?
what was the term, rate and buyback. If you could do it all over again what would you do differently?

Thank's in Advance.

"Maybe Ford",

I wouldn't do anything differently! I leased mine in the fall during Ford Employee Pricing and when they are looking to move out the previous model year and bring in the new one. We got quite a good deal and a fair trade in. I would have preferred a better lease rate like our American friends are enjoying, but all in all, the cost of leasing the car but not having a fuel bill nor maintenance was too attractive to pass up (also no CO2 emissions and having a fully warrantied car were major motivators!)

3 year lease, 25,000km included, 34% buyback I believe in residual value, so should be somewhere around $11-13,000 if we wanted to buy the car at the end of the lease, if I remember correctly.

Not all Ford dealers are Ford EV dealers. You will have to deal with an EV Ford dealer, but a call to Ford will tell you who sells them. I reccomend Oak-Land Ford in Oakville, Ontario. Ask for Shawn McGleish. He is a great guy and is familiar with the Focus Electric and all of the leasing particulars. Tell him the Ice Storm Metallic FFE guy sent you.

I'm up to 9000 km, no problems and no gas! Very happy with the car and the dealership experience!

I just wish Ford would promote these cars!!

So you're one of the two FFE's sold in Canada last year! LOL

It wouldn't surprise me! Ford does NOTHING up here to promote the FFE. I've had many people come up to me and tell me that they just bought a Focus and had no idea that there was an electric version. Many of them say that they would have bought one if they only knew, instead of the ICE version.

It stands to reason, I guess, that a non-EV certified Ford dealership wont't tell prospective customers to go elsewhere and buy an electric, if they themselves don't sell EVs.

Brutal.

When Ford cancels these cars due to "lack of sales" they will have only themselves to blame. I'm convinced many people would buy them if Ford made the effort to tell people about them and actively promote this car!

I called Ford to express my disappointment that they don't promote the FFE and they told me that they don't accept suggestions from outside the company.....what the hell?

I hope all of you are calling and emailing Ford in Canada and the U.S. complaining about this too!

Stupidity. I'm sure this car could be a sales success if they only put some effort into it. A shame.

I live a little NE of Toronto and have been looking at the various EV options. I was almost settled on the BMW i3 (friendly, helpful sales people who want to sell you the car!), when I learned about the Focus EV - all in all, it seemed pretty good.

I was starting to seriously considering the Focus EV - that is, until I paid a visit to the Ford EV dealer in my area. First they tried to show me the CMax, until I clarified I was only interested in the Focus EV - no gas engine! They really did not want to see me buy the Focus EV - nothing to test drive - other then a standard Focus - and they would not even consider bringing one in unless it was sold - their reasoning - they are not selling so why would we want to get stuck with a $40k vehicle no one wants!?

With that, I started to research even further and saw the current $11,750 US discount on a lease, that really turned me off - seems not just the dealers, but Ford Canada doesn't want to sell them! Now that I read you managed an additional $5,750 off during the Employee Pricing event (which currently provides $3,457 off), I think I'll find another Ford EV dealer and see if I can get somewhere with them - I now have some hope!

Thanks!

The Focus Electric deal that I just got was amazing. The 2017 lease payment (3 years) I have on this new car is literally HALF of what I paid for my 2013 Focus Electric! $245 a month taxes in!

This includes 20,000km per year.

The reason? Well there are a few reasons. Firstly Ford has discounted the MSRP on the car minus $3500 from last year. Secondly, the Ontario EV incentive has gone from $8500 to $14000 for this car (as long as you finance it or lease for at least 3 years)! Plus, I got zero percent lease financing and an $875 delivery allowance!

Smoking deal! This lease payment is what we were spending for gasoline on our ICE car...not to mention maintenance!

I understand all of the 2017s are now sold out, so anyone else wanting one will have to wait for the 2018 model.

EVfuture said:

The Focus Electric deal that I just got was amazing. The 2017 lease payment (3 years) I have on this new car is literally HALF of what I paid for my 2013 Focus Electric! $245 a month taxes in!

This includes 20,000km per year.

The reason? Well there are a few reasons. Firstly Ford has discounted the MSRP on the car minus $3500 from last year. Secondly, the Ontario EV incentive has gone from $8500 to $14000 for this car (as long as you finance it or lease for at least 3 years)! Plus, I got zero percent lease financing and an $875 delivery allowance!

Smoking deal! This lease payment is what we were spending for gasoline on our ICE car...not to mention maintenance!

I understand all of the 2017s are now sold out, so anyone else wanting one will have to wait for the 2018 model.

Click to expand...

Congrats on your purchase! When are you expecting delivery? I ordered the same colour as yours and expect delivery July 18th. I ordered on March 17th.

Thanks firetech! Congrats to you too! I ordered May 5th and they told me I'll get the car in October! Hope it's way sooner. I want to ditch this gasoline bill asap and get back to driving electric.