These puppies are hard to find

I believe dealership allocations / stock are based on sales performance & other variables. You will see them on lots, but in limited numbers. Dealerships get a limited # of allocations "per allocation period, not forever.... I guarantee you there is WAY more than 100 ST's being allocated for dealer stock. 100 probably doesn't even cover Canadian stock ST's, let alone North America. If they were THAT limited in number, they would be advertised as such. And they would be much more expensive.
Your dealer might have sold their one allocation and were not expecting another very soon... They profit and increase their sales performance by getting you to place an order. They lose that opportunity by letting you walk away feeling you can do better elsewhere.
It is true that SVT products are more limited than regular models.. And that is why allocations are much lower. But they are not limited to anywhere near as low as 100.. There will definitely be ST's on lot's , throughout the year.
You can still find Focus ST's & Raptors that are a year old still sitting on lots... And you can easily find them heavily discounted, because they have unsold allocations. Not in massive #'s.... Because they are indeed "limited" but that word is not quite as exclusive as one might hope.
When compared to standard models however, it is really quite exclusive.
Dealerships love to play the "exclusivity" card with SVT products. Hype you up and get you so excited about it, that by the time you sign the papers for MSRP pricing, you feel like you've gotten a deal.
When I was Raptor shopping, I did my research and found about 18 local SVT Raptors.... that were all AVAILABLE at that time, on lots or in warehouses waiting to replace lot vehicles.. But every dealer I went to claimed that the one they were showing on their lot, was the ONLY one available province wide.. lol. When I bought mine, they replaced it the same night with another Raptor the exact same color. They kept the extra's in their warehouse. (I already knew exactly how many they had.) But they generally assume most customers are ill-prepared/informed.

And, hate to be "that" guy but.... you can definitely do better trading in than selling private too... I did better by thousands on my deal. Hassle free.
They have my truck listed for less already than what I would have had to sell it for privately. I came out on top, and saved several grand. I haggled 7 grand higher than they were willing to offer me during initial negotiations.. And well above black book. And that's before tax savings and incentives.

Knowledge is power ! Seriously prepare yourselves and don't walk into a dealership until you have... You do yourself a disservice and cost yourself a lot of money by not doing so in advance.

If I went in unprepared and accepted what the first 3-4 dealerships offered me. I would have basically walked away with an ST and an empty pocket.
Instead I'm walking away with an ST and a 12 grand cheque. And still saving several grand on top of that.

That is a GIGANTIC difference.

im having one delivered tomorrow. im in atlanta a large market. took me about a month to work the deal. they are not easy to find. many of the bigger dealers have none, some have 2 and some have one. and they are not moving instantly. i suspect that ford is a bit nervous about this car because in this country, hot hatches may not sell, especially when many younger folks want a mustang.

so i started at dealer a, just looked. dealer b wanted to add all kinds of fluff, nitrogen filled tires, paint and fabric protection and window 'security' etching for 1000+. i drive one and decide yes i want one. and go to truecar and cars direct. and eventually get a dealer agreeing to sell me a car for 1.00 over invoice. had to order, 2 months. thats ok, it will be car number three, cash purchase, no trades. but before i order i want to verify i want recaros. i find a dealer about 30 miles away has one. so i go test drive. fully loaded. they try to sell me the car and i say no, i want a specific car, cash only deal willing to wait. so they find one several hundred miles away for the same price as the truecar deal.

so you gotta work to find them. ford around here at least sells mustangs, f150s and explorers. so i think you dont see these because they are and will be a niche market. i have the flexibility of paying cash and having two existing cars as daily drives.

for me this is my next toy project. also looking at a vette but that car (c7) has some teething problems with quality (check corvette forum) and i will wait till 2015 before i jump on that car.

and i want an awd version of this car (probably never happen but one can hope). 2.0l turbo awd......

I think there could be a reasonable business case for a Fiesta with a Fusion AWD style drive train but first Ford has to make a market for it.

Subaru pretty much owns the small car AWD market but Ford only puts AWD in family size cars that weigh close to two tons.

Ford is finally figuring out that rally is a good way to market cars but they aren't giving us real rally cars yet. The STs are a good start but about 20 years late (RS2000...).

So Ford, next time you design an AWD family car, make sure the floor pan stamping can be chopped down to fit in a car like a Fiesta on the production line, then you'll have a parts bin rally car that the hard core minority will love to buy and modify and give Ford some real street cred.

While you are at it, start designing your ST/RS/SVT cars with racing classes in mind. Racers will buy your cars if they can win, everyone looking for a driver's car will notice and eventually people will figure out that STs and such are made to go around corners (both left hand and right hand).

mamiata1 said:

Thanks for the replies guys. I think at this point I will just try to be patient. While I have sold cars as a private party I'm reluctant here mostly due to the high asking price and potential for scams. Also if I walk into a dealership and order an ST I think my negotiating power for the trade in takes a big hit. They know how much I want the car.

I did some homework on the trade in and since my dealership experience have done even more. If the black book numbers I found on the web are realistic I think I can find a dealer (eventually) that will make me an offer I can accept. And hey, after all I do like my Fiesta SE it just doesn't have a turbo or Recaro seats or 17" wheels or lowered suspension or ...

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came back to this and noticed you are reluctant to do a private sale do to scams etc. the way to deal with this is once you have a buyer, require that the buyer meet you at his bank and in your presence and with a bank employee, cut a cashiers check. then have the bank employee cosign the bill-of-sale.

i sold a very nice bmw m3 this way to a doctor. car was almost pristine and i got a lot of money for it. no way was i gonna accept a check from the person without having it made out in front of me in the actual bank where the person had funds. anyone can print an 'official' cashiers check on a computer these days. I suppose there are variations on this. but i would not sell a car without absolute certainty that the funds were valid. and i have NEVER traded a car. all car sales have been private.