Congrats! You should have stopped and bought lottery tickets on the way home. Every time I found one and inquired about it, it usually was not there, a demo they couldn't sell or it had a huge markup.
In my months of online searching, I found/discovered/figured out a few things:
* Don't trust ANYONE. Verify things yourself.
* Just because it's advertised doesn't mean it's for sale. Stupid, I know - frustrating, I agree, and - should be illegal, hell yeah. But, they still do it.
* If an ad doesn't have REAL, honest-to-goodness, honestly-without-a-doubt photos of that exact Bronco (especially INTERIOR photos) sitting on the lot, they don't have it. If it's just a stock Ford photo, or
even a bunch of photos from different angles, but are obviously Photoshopped in to the background, they don't have it. Check all the photos closely and you can usually find a small disclaimer across the bottom of one that says it's "on order" or "in shipment" or some other minor, but important detail. They'll even try to hide it sometimes behind a dealer phone number or other advertising.
* If you can find a VIN shown in the ad, use it to pull up the window sticker using the Ford site mentioned in the posts above - much more information on them that what the dealers bother to put in an ad.
* Be diligent. Be ready. Have financing (or cash) ready to go at a moment's notice. Think of kinda like how you used to search Craigslist for the good deals, and be ready to pounce.
* When you contact the dealer, let them know right off the bat that you're SERIOUS - not just "looking", or "checking", or "inquiring". Steamroller right over their sales pitch and get right to the point - give them the VIN, the stock number (if you can find it), the description, etc - and tell them you're on your way, and if it's not there to tell you, so you don't waste a trip.
* Use every method available to contact them - their "chat" window, call the dealer, send them emails - whatever. Don't just use the canned response form the website, put in your own message, short, sweet, and to the point.
* Don't limit your search to dealerships close to you - look EVERYWHERE. A vehicle can always be shipped. It's not cheap, but if it gets you what you want......it's worth it.
* If you've got an order for Bronco already in, leave it that way. It probably won't show up for YEARS, but you never know. Seriously, you don't know, because Ford won't tell us anything. Keep that order open - when (if) it ever shows up, buy it. Then decide whether to keep it or flip it. Ford and the dealers play their little games, but you're still in charge in the long run.
