VIN number, but no schedule date....

[Will_Robinson]

I ordered my FFH on 3/10. Last Friday (Apr. 3), the dealer told me they had the VIN for the vehicle, but no schedule date.

 

Can someone familiar with the process explain what's next? (my dealer just gives me generic answers like "We'll keep you posted when we hear something."). Maybe I am being impatient, but since I'm currently leasing a car month-to-month, I'd appreciate knowing if I'll be doing this for weeks or months.

[Grey]

I don't understand why the dealer is being evasive. If a VIN has been assigned, it's in the system. Call them Friday and ask for an update. Ford provides scheduling information on Fridays.

 

Ask them for the VIN and you may get an idea which week it is scheduled for. My VIN ends in 26592 and is scheduled for the week of 4/13.

 

All of the verified orders in the system before 3/31 have been scheduled.

[Will_Robinson]

My VIN ends in 33874. Does this mean that I am 7,000 units after yours?

 

When did you order yours?

 

I don't understand why the dealer is being evasive. If a VIN has been assigned, it's in the system. Call them Friday and ask for an update. Ford provides scheduling information on Fridays.

 

Ask them for the VIN and you may get an idea which week it is scheduled for. My VIN ends in 26592 and is scheduled for the week of 4/13.

 

All of the verified orders in the system before 3/31 have been scheduled.

[bbf2530]

I ordered my FFH on 3/10. Last Friday (Apr. 3), the dealer told me they had the VIN for the vehicle, but no schedule date.

 

Can someone familiar with the process explain what's next? (my dealer just gives me generic answers like "We'll keep you posted when we hear something."). Maybe I am being impatient, but since I'm currently leasing a car month-to-month, I'd appreciate knowing if I'll be doing this for weeks or months.

 

Hi Will. :D The VIN is created on the "Serialize Date", in the second step of vehicle scheduling. The build week is scheduled in the third step, which is the "Segment Date". And those dates can be separated by an indeterminate amount of time, according to numerous factors. So while I can not tell you whether your Dealership is being evasive or not, I can tell you that it is entirely possible to have a VIN, but no scheduled build date yet.

 

Below are the scheduling milestones dates:

 

Receipt Date: The date that MS&S recorded the order.

When the order is received from the dealers

 

Serialize Date: The date that MS&S transfers the order to MP&L and the VIN is created.

When the order is received by Material Planning and parts are ordered

 

Segment Date: The date that MP&L determines which week the order will be built.

When they figure what week that parts will be able to be delivered to the plant to build the vehicle

 

Sequence Date: The date that MP&L determines which day the order will be built.

When they figure what day that parts can be at the plant to build the vehicle

 

Blend Date: The date that MP&L determines when the order will be built within the assigned day.

When they figure the specific order that vehicles will be built. This depends on options and line constraints.

 

Produced Date: The date that VO finished assembling the vehicle

Your unit has been built!

 

Gate Release Date: The date that VO transfers the vehicle to Transportation Carriers for shipping

Your unit has left the building, and is in the hands of the shipper (rail or truck)

 

Ship Date: The date the vehicle left the Assembly Plant

Your unit has left the load site, and is on it's way to the dealer

 

Arrival Date: The date the Dealership received the vehicle

Your dealer has the unit in hand, doing the dealer prep thingy

 

Sold Date: The date the Customer picked up the vehicle

You came in, looked it over, said, "I'll take it!" and signed the papers

 

 

So as you can see, if your vehicle was "Serialized" but not yet "Segmented", it is "possible" your Dealer is telling you the truth. Of course, it is also "possible" that he is being evasive. Why they would give you the VIN, but not the build week (if the vehicle was "Segmented" and they knew it) would defy logic. But there is no definitive way for us to answer that question.

 

Concerning this question: "My VIN ends in 33874. Does this mean that I am 7,000 units after yours?". Due to various scheduling restraints, vehicles are not necessarily built in exact VIN order. Again, no way to tell by VIN exactly how many units will be assembled between one vehicle and another.

 

Hope this information helps.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[svjim]

Well I found this Ford maintenance site where you can look up your car with a valid vin number. I have to admit I was a bit depressed to see the Fusion Hybrid is being manufactured in Mexico. One of my reasons for buying it, was to buy American.

 

Ford Vin Look Up

 

Jim

[peteostro]

Well I found this Ford maintenance site where you can look up your car with a valid vin number. I have to admit I was a bit depressed to see the Fusion Hybrid is being manufactured in Mexico. One of my reasons for buying it, was to buy American.

 

Ford Vin Look Up

 

Jim

 

Yeah a saw that too. Wish they were made here, but at lease some money is going to US.

Thing is allot of foreign cars are made in the US and parts are made everywhere so there really is no US or foreign car any more. I guess we cant win in the Global economy.

[bbf2530]

Well I found this Ford maintenance site where you can look up your car with a valid vin number. I have to admit I was a bit depressed to see the Fusion Hybrid is being manufactured in Mexico. One of my reasons for buying it, was to buy American.

 

Ford Vin Look Up

 

Jim

 

Hi svjim. :D Just as an FYI: All Fusions, Milans and MKZ's (including Hybrid versions of the Fusion/Milan) are assembled in Hermosillo, Mexico.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[Will_Robinson]

Thanks for the VIN lookup link. My car is definitely there, but other than the sequence number (the last 6 digits), there is not really any info that tells me when I can expect the car to be built. I will call my dealer on Friday.

 

Does anyone else have a VIN number with the last 6 digits in the 133800 range? If yes, when is your car scheduled to be built?

[frankieboy]

Well I found this Ford maintenance site where you can look up your car with a valid vin number. I have to admit I was a bit depressed to see the Fusion Hybrid is being manufactured in Mexico. One of my reasons for buying it, was to buy American.

 

Ford Vin Look Up

 

Jim

 

Jim,

 

The fact the car is built in Mexico should not be a concern. It is designed in Michigan, and I am told much of the management in the Mexican plant is American. Much of the content is American as well. And when a Fusion or Milan is sold, it supports a domestic car company and helps keep many Americans employed.

 

On the flip side, buying a Honda or Toyota that is produced in this country has a benefit to the local workers, local suppliers, the American HQ of the foreign car company, but that is it.

 

I see buying the Ford as being better for the domestic economy and workforce than buying a domestically built Honda or Toyota or Nissan.

[bbf2530]

Thanks for the VIN lookup link. My car is definitely there, but other than the sequence number (the last 6 digits), there is not really any info that tells me when I can expect the car to be built. I will call my dealer on Friday.

 

Does anyone else have a VIN number with the last 6 digits in the 133800 range? If yes, when is your car scheduled to be built?

 

Hi Will. :D I am not trying to discourage you from asking questions. I just hope that you understand the information we are trying to explain.

 

Even is someone else here has a VIN "with the last 6 digits in the 133800 range", their production date (if they have one yet) will have no bearing on your production date. Your car may be produced weeks earlier or weeks later than their car.

 

A VIN does not necessarily tell when a vehicle was built (or will be built) in a production run.

 

In other words, the last 6 of your VIN are 133800. If you find someone who has VIN 133801, that does not necessarily mean that their car is coming down the line right behind yours. It may, it may not. The VIN is not always an exact sequence number. It has no real bearing at all on when your car will be produced.

 

Again, I am not trying to tell you what to do, just let you know that finding someone with a production date and a VIN in the same "range" as your VIN means nothing in relation to when your car may be produced. I just do not want you to be unnecessarily disappointed with invalid dates.

 

I hope this explanation is not too confusing.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[Grey]

I don't understand why the dealer is being evasive. If a VIN has been assigned, it's in the system. Call them Friday and ask for an update. Ford provides scheduling information on Fridays.

 

Ask them for the VIN and you may get an idea which week it is scheduled for. My VIN ends in 26592 and is scheduled for the week of 4/13.

 

All of the verified orders in the system before 3/31 have been scheduled.

 

Grey responds to his post - A VIN means Ford acknowledges the order - so it must have been verified.

 

 

And "All of the verified orders in the system before 3/31 have been scheduled."

 

It is possible that a VIN was assigned without being scheduled yet- that is why I said check Friday. It might have not made the Thur. night (4/2) cutoff last week - or the salesperson just didn't want to check yet.

 

Regardless, they should have been more forthcoming with the information they had, to relieve the customer's concerns about timing. I ordered 2/26 and was verified 3/2.

 

You can get a rough estimate of timing from the sequence date and VIN relationship, unless there are commodity issues. See what the dealership has to say Friday.

 

BTW, Ford builds about 15,000 Fusion/Milan vehicles per month.

[svjim]

Thanks for the VIN lookup link. My car is definitely there, but other than the sequence number (the last 6 digits), there is not really any info that tells me when I can expect the car to be built. I will call my dealer on Friday.

 

Does anyone else have a VIN number with the last 6 digits in the 133800 range? If yes, when is your car scheduled to be built?

 

OK Will, 134492 is not too far off your Vin number and it is scheduled for the week of 4/20. Per the other replies here, I'm not too sure that means anything.

 

Jim

[bbf2530]

Grey responds to his post

 

Hi Grey. :D I am not sure whether you felt the need to respond to your own post because of something I have posted in any of my replies? I hope that is not the case.

 

If you did, you misread my replies. Nothing I posted in my previous replies to Will was meant to correct or contradict any of the information you provided. Your information was correct, and my information was correct. I was simply providing the milestone dates for Will and providing more details concerning VIN's and production dates.

 

Ironically, the one statement you made that is misleading (I do not want to say incorrect) is your very last one, "You can get a rough estimate of timing from the sequence date and VIN relationship, unless there are commodity issues." The key phrase there is "unless there are commodity issues." Since neither Will, you or I have any idea whether there is or is not a commodity issue on his particular vehicle, by your own statement we can not assume that his VIN will give a rough estimate. That is a non-debatable fact, verified by your own words.

 

As I stated earlier, I agreed with everything you stated earlier, up until that last statement. And I agree that Will needs to keep in contact with his Dealer for the most up to date information. I just don't want him wasting time on a wild goose chase for the production dates of other people that have as much chance of being of absolutely no help to him as they do of helping.

 

In other words, if just 10% (or insert any percentage you like) of VIN's are not accurate due to commodity or other issues, then a VIN is not an accurate tool for production dates, even for a rough estimate. At least in my opinion, "may or may not be accurate according to whether there is a commodity issue" is simply not accurate.

 

I am not trying to argue or debate, just clarify my point of view concerning "accurate", since it seemed something in my replies bothered you.

 

Hope this helps clear any possible misunderstandings.

 

And if your reply to your own post was not aimed at any of the information I had posted, my apologies for misunderstanding.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[Grey]

No problems - hopefully the unit is scheduled for 4/20 or 4/27 and that puts it at the dealership before the end of May. I have heard of no commodity issues or paint restrictions so far. My issue is with the dealership, who should have done a better job communicating and managing the customer's expectations.

[WPWoodJr]

Grey responds to his post - A VIN means Ford acknowledges the order - so it must have been verified.

 

 

And "All of the verified orders in the system before 3/31 have been scheduled."

 

It is possible that a VIN was assigned without being scheduled yet- that is why I said check Friday. It might have not made the Thur. night (4/2) cutoff last week - or the salesperson just didn't want to check yet.

 

Regardless, they should have been more forthcoming with the information they had, to relieve the customer's concerns about timing. I ordered 2/26 and was verified 3/2.

 

You can get a rough estimate of timing from the sequence date and VIN relationship, unless there are commodity issues. See what the dealership has to say Friday.

 

BTW, Ford builds about 15,000 Fusion/Milan vehicles per month.

What is the Thur night (4/2) cutoff?

 

I ordered on 3/31 - should I have a VIN yet?

[Grey]

What is the Thur night (4/2) cutoff?

 

I ordered on 3/31 - should I have a VIN yet?

 

Ford schedules production a couple of weeks ahead - now they will be scheduling early May production. The dealers can go online and get any new scheduling information on Fridays.

 

If your order was verified and someone approved it as retail by 4/2, you should have a VIN assigned. If it was not input until 4/3 or later by Ford, you might have a VIN but are waiting to be scheduled tonight. Your dealer should be able to tell you more tomorrow.

 

I did not hear if there was a big influx of orders on the 31st, but if there were, that might slow down some of them getting into the system. See what they say Friday.

 

Glad you got in under the wire for the tax credit - hang onto your purchase order dated 3/31.

[frankieboy]

My FFH ordered in late February (502A, White Platinum) was scheduled for production week of 4/13. However, my salesperson emailed me yesterday, saying the car is being built this week. :D

 

He estimates delivery in 2 - 3 weeks.

[WPWoodJr]

If your order was verified and someone approved it as retail by 4/2, you should have a VIN assigned. If it was not input until 4/3 or later by Ford, you might have a VIN but are waiting to be scheduled tonight. Your dealer should be able to tell you more tomorrow.

 

Glad you got in under the wire for the tax credit - hang onto your purchase order dated 3/31.

Thanks. To qualify for the tax credit, I only need the purchase order, correct? It doesn't matter when the dealer entered my order into the Ford system?

[Grey]

Thanks. To qualify for the tax credit, I only need the purchase order, correct? It doesn't matter when the dealer entered my order into the Ford system?

 

I think if the dealership had the order in the system and verified by 4/3, you should be OK. Ask them if they can determine status through VOPC for you.

 

Regardless, you qualify for the full credit because you purchased/placed the order before 4/1. Even if it was delayed going into the system, you are covered. Just may take longer to get the vehicle if they didn't get it in and verified by 4/3.

[hybridfam]

Thanks for the VIN lookup link. My car is definitely there, but other than the sequence number (the last 6 digits), there is not really any info that tells me when I can expect the car to be built. I will call my dealer on Friday.

 

Does anyone else have a VIN number with the last 6 digits in the 133800 range? If yes, when is your car scheduled to be built?

 

My vin is 140882 and my production week is May 4th.

Hey maybe our cars will arrive with The Swine Flu from Mexico.....

[Will_Robinson]

Okay, got an update last week:

 

Ordered from dealer Mar. 10

Dealer received acknowledgment from Ford around Mar. 15

VIN number assigned around Mar. 30

Built around Apr. 16

Should be here in Michigan by May 5th or so.