Well, it's official. I pick up a 2016 1500 Big Horn Quad Cab, 4x4, Pentastar, Bucket seats, 3.55, Anti slip diff, Heated Seats and Wheel Group and side steps in Delmonico Red next Friday.
I have to thank all the folks here that responded, it really was a big help. A special thanks to those who tried to get across that it doesn't matter how you get to 25% off, as long as you get it. It wasn't until I was negotiating face to face, and running the numbers countless times, that the point came through. As RAM is pushing their 20% off theme, all rebates are off the table. I pushed on a dealer that came to 24% off MSRP but wanted to cut short on the trade that essentially gave them back the 4.5% they were giving me on top of the 20% off. Admittedly, the dealership was at a disadvantage and, pretty much, in a no win situation as I knew I had an incredible deal on something else but was doing my best to try and keep my business local. While my local dealer isn't getting a sale, they'll get all my service.
That brings me to what I wound up with. About two weeks ago I came across a "used" 2016 Big Horn optioned the way I wanted with 5 miles on the odometer. That got my attention and, thank goodness, I actually found a salesperson that responded to an email inquiry. You have no idea how many emails I sent to other dealers and received no response. As it turns out the vehicle had just been put up on cars.com and the mileage wasn't listed correctly, it actually has 3300 miles on it. The dealer called and gave me the full story. It was a vehicle the dealer put into loaner service in July, as such it was being sold as used. Their asking price was below any new vehicle similarly optioned, even at a 25% discount. They also gave me my full asking price on my trade in. Even though it's used, giving up 6 months of warranty coverage wasn't a show stopper for me as I'm a long term owner and the lower buy-in price benefits my situation. In the end I got 32% off MSRP plus $5k for my 2002 Ford F150 with 160K. The down side is that I have to travel to pick it up. Even with the cost of travel I came out nearly $3000 ahead of what I could have purchased a new one locally. I'm OK with that as situations like this give us an excuse to travel and see area's we've never been to.
Thanks again everyone....