$24,950! Blank Slate Price announced

[bloo]

$40k for a 2wd XL is inexpensive?

I share your disbelief.

Constant gaslighting (LED dimmer lighting today) by automakers and their unpaid shills have distorted what an "affordable" pickup is. Yet history is a fantastic teacher.

Let's compare the MSRP of a 2000 Ford Ranger to a 2000 Ford Focus. One's a compact truck, the other a subcompact car. Both are budget vehicles considered inexpensive in their day...

Oh, look. An entry-level Ranger is about 500 bucks less than an entry-level Focus. It makes sense when you think about it. Fewer doors, lower emissions standards, ease of manufacture make the Ranger less expensive to build and buy. So what happened?

Exactly what @jmason said happened - corporate greed. And that's no BS.

Companies are out to make money, so I understand why they did this. What I don't understand are people who aren't auto executives excusing and enabling this behavor. Is hating on the poor so much in fashion that it's acceptable for the middle class to suffer, as well?

Scaling the Ranger and Focus to today's prices would have an entry-level pickup somewhere around 24,000. Nothing like that exists in the US market today. When Slate starts production in a few months, something will.

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

Lol slate got back to me about the pricing leak this us what they said very very tight liped

 

[tubes]

The Slate, as a concept, answered several questions for me right off. I want something simple. I don't want to have trim packages that install 9 things to get the 2 things I wanted out of that package. I HATE the dealer "experience" and will do everything I can to avoid it.

This. We keep seeing posts of $25k unicorn Mavericks, located someplace in the USA. Oh, and at a dealer that typically packs the deal with $1k+ in extras. That's before their "doc" or "admin" fees.

The reason those cheap Mavericks are unicorns is because of exactly what you mention: most dealer stock comes with packages. That's true of every Maverick in my area, which puts the base at about $29.5k before dealer BS and fees. It is hard to get out of the finance office with an offer less than $32k before taxes and registration.

But who cares about the Maverick. That's not what I want.

 

[LevelHeaded]

since I paid the $50+$250

curious minds want to know how you already paid the $250 that isn't due until 30 days after the 26th

 

[delaware]

Scaling the Ranger and Focus to today's prices would have an entry-level pickup somewhere around 24,000. Nothing like that exists in the US market today. When Slate starts production in a few months, something will.

My 2022 XL Ranger was $28k. In hindsight that was an absolute steal.

 

[LevelHeaded]

For me, the $24,950 price is great. The price isn't what may hold me back from executing on my reservation.

It's the fact that I have a baby on the way. I'm not sure it would be smart to replace one of our 3 vehicles with a 2-seater (and I don't think it would be easy to get a carseat into the rear of a 4-5 seater with 2 doors), but I haven't decided yet.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

I'm ready.

ROTFL. You took me back to my USAF C-130 days. We had a plexiglass bubble we'd put in the upper hatch during tactical missions. If you can see a fighter in a C-130, you can out-turn him enough down in the weeds so that he just loses interest. We're not a valuable target, and to engage us multiple times he is losing energy and making himself vulnerable to a counter-air CAP.

 

[motorolas]

For me, the $24,950 price is great. The price isn't what may hold me back from executing on my reservation.

It's the fact that I have a baby on the way. I'm not sure it would be smart to replace one of our 3 vehicles with a 2-seater (and I don't think it would be easy to get a carseat into the rear of a 4-5 seater with 2 doors), but I haven't decided yet.

I’ve had three two door cars years back (Acura Intergra and Mitsubishi Eclipse). When my teens were little, I had to do the papa twist to reach in to strap them in. Got a toddler now and am 10 years older so I get to try again. I’m looking to see if I still got it or I need to get some muscle relaxers and Bengay ready.

 

[bloo]

curious minds want to know how you already paid the $250 that isn't due until 30 days after the 26th

He reserved this one...

 

[tubes]

Constant gaslighting (LED dimmer lighting today) by automakers and their unpaid shills have distorted what an "affordable" pickup is. Yet history is a fantastic teacher.

Let's compare the MSRP of a 2000 Ford Ranger to a 2000 Ford Focus. ...

Oh, look. An entry-level Ranger is about 500 bucks less than an entry-level Focus. It makes sense when you think about it. Fewer doors, lower emissions standards, ease of manufacture make the Ranger less expensive to build and buy. So what happened?

Yes, yes. Exactly. Back in the early 90s, I remember a co-worker getting a pickup instead of a sedan. He was a nerd who I don't think ever lifted a tool. I asked him why. His answer was exactly what you said: cheaper because there is less stuff. He just needed a daily driver for himself.

I was not a potential pickup owner until I retired went from nerd work to light construction volunteering. I decided to look at pickups and I was hit straight between the eyes with WTF???

That's how I ended up having an old used Odyssey minivan as my construction vehicle. But it is way too old, unreliable, and gas hungry. That's what brought me to Slate. I don't want a 4 door Maverick, and sure as hell don't want the assault vehicles that crowd construction sites.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

I share your disbelief.

Constant gaslighting (LED dimmer lighting today) by automakers and their unpaid shills have distorted what an "affordable" pickup is. Yet history is a fantastic teacher.

Let's compare the MSRP of a 2000 Ford Ranger to a 2000 Ford Focus. One's a compact truck, the other a subcompact car. Both are budget vehicles considered inexpensive in their day...

Oh, look. An entry-level Ranger is about 500 bucks less than an entry-level Focus. It makes sense when you think about it. Fewer doors, lower emissions standards, ease of manufacture make the Ranger less expensive to build and buy. So what happened?

Exactly what @jmason said happened - corporate greed. And that's no BS.

Companies are out to make money, so I understand why they did this. What I don't understand are people who aren't auto executives excusing and enabling this behavor. Is hating on the poor so much in fashion that it's acceptable for the middle class to suffer, as well?

Scaling the Ranger and Focus to today's prices would have an entry-level pickup somewhere around 24,000. Nothing like that exists in the US market today. When Slate starts production in a few months, something will.

I traded a 2010 Ranger stripper (2 doors, 4 cyl, manual, XLT) for my Maverick. Actually, my price for a 2022 Ranger was a vastly superior deal. I got a vehicle that blasted my POS Ranger (It was a rattly, poorly performing death trap with axle hop) out of the water. The Maverick is a far more sophisticated and capable vehicle.

More imporantly, when I put the numbers into the CPI calculator - wonder of wonders. Adjusted for inflation, my 2022 Maverick cost exactly the same as my 2010 Ranger.

I think most people talk out of their asses about pricing. Because they deliberately ignore the effects of inflation. Which can be frigging dramatic. BLS has an online inflation calculator, and people should use it more often. Inflation is a stealth tax. And most people are oblivious to it.

Mind you, I'm talking about Maverick prices in 2022. In 2026, Ford has adjusted upward way past inflation - simply because Maverick demand is off the hook and the market will bear it. They're still selling every truck that comes off the line at Hermosillo.

Here's hoping Slate has the same problem. Too much demand.

BTW, those of us who actually owned a 2 door, bottom trim Ranger with manual door locks, roll up windows and the base engine - we were the Slate crowd long before the Slate crowd arrived and started strutting around about how they're revolutionizing the small truck world. Been there, done that.

 

[bloo]

Here's hoping Slate has the same problem. Too much demand.

Here's hoping they don't offer the same solution.

 

[1yeliab_sufur1]

For me, the $24,950 price is great. The price isn't what may hold me back from executing on my reservation.

It's the fact that I have a baby on the way. I'm not sure it would be smart to replace one of our 3 vehicles with a 2-seater (and I don't think it would be easy to get a carseat into the rear of a 4-5 seater with 2 doors), but I haven't decided yet.

True could lea e the carseat in the truck though I and have a stroller unless your gonna get that carseat stroller combo. But I don't have any kids yet XD. I do remember taking my younger brother with cat seat out of a 2 door car though wasn't that difficult.

 

[bloo]

BTW, those of us who actually owned a 2 door, bottom trim Maverick with manual door locks, roll up windows and the base engine - we were the Slate crowd long before the Slate crowd arrived and started strutting around about how they're revolutionizing the small truck world. Been there, done that.

Two-door Maverick ?

 

[sodamo]

Same here, but I do have to drive to the next major city and back once a year. That's 85 miles one way. I could probably do it on one charge if I drive slow enough, but I'll make sure I at least have tried a public charger once before I leave just in case.

80 miles for me and Costco has a charger. Will make a couple test trips to guage actual vs ABRP accuracy