I've owned the following crewcab Ford F350's: 1989, 1995, 2000, 2007 (dually), and 2011 (dually).
The 2011 is by far the best of them. It is heavier duty, has far more power, is quieter, faster, and gets better mileage. The interior is better, the features are better - and yes, you pay for it.
As for the engine being manufactured in Mexico - don't see the problem with that. If they manufactured it in the US that would have just added to the price. People always complain about costs, and when the manufacturer does something to try and contain costs - people complain about that. For the new diesel motor, Ford built an entire new factory in Mexico dedicated to nothing but manufacturing that motor.
John Deere has manufactured diesel engines in Mexico for years. If you have a problem with things manufactured in Mexico, then you probably shouldn't be flying on any airplane with a GE jet engine as most of the commercial GE jet engines are assembled in Monterey, Mexico and have been for years. It has to do with quality control and not where the factory is located.
The new 6-speed automatic is rated for 1100 foot/pounds of torque so the 800 put out by the 6.7 liter won't even come close to taxing it.
The dealers where I live will deal with you. If you can get an X-plan PIN and the documentation to back up the PIN, then you can buy the truck at 0.1% over dealer invoice cost.
Just remember this for any vehicle manufactured by an American auto company. They have "hold back" which is usually 5% of the MSRP sticker on the vehicle. That comes back to the dealer from the manufacturer quarterly, so they can sell you a vehicle at no markup and still make 5% of the MSRP.
One thing you can do, is custom order the vehicle. The custom orders don't show up as part of their inventory and as such won't appear on their floorplan. This gives them more profit as the vehicle doesn't sit on the lot accruing floorplan charges.
Many dealers will give you a better price for ordered vehicles because of this - but, you have to know the game and indicate you understand how it works, as most dealers want to sell the vehicle, but also want as much profit as possible.
Don't pay for dealer "prep" charges which is mostly peeling off the shipping film, washing the vehicle, and inspecting it. Not worth $450 in my book, so I state up front I won't pay for that as that is part of what should be covered by the hold back.
Don't pay excessive document fees. X-plan allows the dealer to charge only $75 for that service and you shouldn't pay anymore than that either.
Shop more than one dealer. Let them know that if you can get the price you want you're ready to buy and not just kicking the tires. I usually try to deal with the commercial / fleet sales people as they're generally the guys who have been at the dealer for years, know more about the products, and aren't the newb sales guys who have to "check with the manager on that" for everything, and don't need a sales manager to OK the sale.
Have never paid more than 1% over dealer invoice for any of the F350's I've purchased. The 2011 had a sticker of $63,900. I had an additional alarm board added to the built-in alarm system (tilt sensor - Ford add-on part 7L3Z19A361 AA - which can be added at the factory as part of a custom order, or added later at the dealer), and a GPS vehicle locating system. The cost - $54.5K with tax, title, licensing.
