Question about Retail order delivery

[oldschool1962]

Hey all,

 

When I last posted I mentioned that we were accepting a new retail order FFH through the dealership as a solution to our issues.

 

We're only 3 weeks into things and we sort of expected things to take a bit longer........4-5 weeks was mentioned by the dealership GM......

 

With that said we are still curious though........For those that did place a retail order.........at what point during the process of placing a retail order were you able to get an approximate date of delivery? It's our hope and perception that a retail order is the same under all circumstances except possibly for the expedited process that was explained to us.......

 

We did contact the dealership by email on Wednesday and asked for an estimated date but haven't received a response yet.

 

Not wanting to appear impatient .............In all honesty we had some scheduled maintenance that might need to be done and wanted to avoid the expense at this time. Especially if we ended up turning the car in immediately after performing the work. If we had an estimated delivery date we could avoid the expense by not using the car.

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

Edited April 16, 2010 by oldschool1962

[bbf2530]

Hey all,

 

When I last posted I mentioned that we were accepting a new retail order FFH through the dealership as a solution to our issues.

 

We're only 3 weeks into things and we sort of expected things to take a bit longer........4-5 weeks was mentioned by the dealership GM......

 

With that said we are still curious though........For those that did place a retail order.........at what point during the process of placing a retail order were you able to get an approximate date of delivery? It's our hope and perception that a retail order is the same under all circumstances except possibly for the expedited process that was explained to us.......

 

We did contact the dealership by email on Wednesday and asked for an estimated date but haven't received a response yet.

 

Not wanting to appear impatient .............In all honesty we had some scheduled maintenance that might need to be done and wanted to avoid the expense at this time. Especially if we ended up turning the car in immediately after performing the work. If we had an estimated delivery date we could avoid the expense by not using the car.

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

Hi oldschool. :D While it seems like a simple question that would have a simple answer, unfortunately that is not the case. The short answer is that only your Dealer can give you the best up-to-date and accurate information, and many (not all) Dealership employees are too lazy to do so. Ironically, they will spend more time making excuses than providing helpful information. It is a control issue. Okay, enough of my editorializing.

 

The longer answer? There are too many variables. First, a true "retail" or "Factory Ordered" vehicle will take a minimum of 6-8 weeks (but recently that wait has been extended to 12 weeks or so). In the case of the Hybrids, due to limited supply and high demand, the delivery time can be longer than non-Hybrids. But of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.

 

Now, if your Dealer had a vehicle that fits your needs already on order (or was able to locate one already on order and trade), then the delivery time would be shorter. That may be the case here, since "4-5 weeks" is certainly an unrealistic delivery time for a freshly ordered Fusion, Hybrid or not. However, we don't know the answer to that question (and many Dealers will not tell you "the truth" even if you ask).

 

Your best bet is to call the Dealership, or better yet, stop in. An E-mail is very easy to "ignore" or "lose". Much harder to ignore a face that is right in front of them.

 

The other hope is that one of our helpful Dealership employee members reads this thread and offers to help you out.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[oldschool1962]

 

............. Now, if your Dealer had a vehicle that fits your needs already on order (or was able to locate one already on order and trade), then the delivery time would be shorter. That may be the case here, since "4-5 weeks" is certainly an unrealistic delivery time for a freshly ordered Fusion, Hybrid or not. However, we don't know the answer to that question (and many Dealers will not tell you "the truth" even if you ask)......................

 

bbf,

Thanks for all of the info. Simple has had no place in this up to this point so why start now. I kinda got that impression too but didn't want to go there.....but............. since you mention it...........

 

I hated to use the term "expedited" and then explain it because I didn't wish to appear boastful about the order being "expedited". We are not special although we did have special circumstances surrounding our current FFH and the Dealership once the RAV letter was sent out.

 

The truth of it is the Zone Manager had arranged for someone at the Factory to be waiting for a phone call from the dealership to "expedite" our order that day........March 29th. This offer was made to us regarding a replacement vehicle for our reacquired FFH in lieu of making the dealer do a DX for a vehicle that no one would trade them for.....mainly the Hybrid. There were plenty available in the area but no one would DX a Hybrid to our dealership. Now we understand why but at that point we didn't. It was explained to us that production would be expedited to expedited to 4-5 weeks.....we felt this was "deal-able" and was cause for us to be reasonable with the dealership and allow for the retail order. What we didn't want to do was retain the current vehicle for another 8-12 weeks which is why we initially insisted on a DX vehicle.

 

If pressed to say it.........What makes us hesitant and even apprehensive to go in to see them is something the Dealership told us....probably to keep us off their back. Basically we were told that they would not know when the vehicle would arrive at all. The only thing they would get was a release date the week before the vehicle would ship. I guess I just want to give them some space and myself too given all of the time I have spent at the dealership in the last 5 months. Sort of the "benefit of doubt" thing

 

I didn't want to go here with this since I have been in a decent place having resolved the initial issues with our FFH. Although it does take a bit of effort to ignore things that continue to happen but it's futile to say or do anything since the vehicle we have is going away.

 

But........Based off of what transpired with the dealership after we received our Reacquired vehicle letter arrived and we acted on it..........well let's just say our confidence in the dealership's ability to be honest and forthcoming about things has been almost eliminated. And....based what I have read here.....the dealership should be able to tell us something long before the "week before the vehicle is released." I've seen the "VIN Friday" topic but we don't even have a VIN yet. Email is also the best way to track things while keeping a log of our communications. Too many lost or ignored emails and that could cause issues too. Meaning Ford Customer Service may not take too kindly to that happening.

 

 

For the record I am grateful for what the Zone Manager has done to resolve our issues. But I am under the belief that it is perfectly reasonable to ask for a tentative date of delivery. Regardless of what is being waived for us.......not having the situation completely resolved is still emotionally taxing and sooner or later we will become impatient.....especially and not saying this is happening.......... if we are being ignored or put on the back burner. Trying to give the "benefit of doubt" to the situation but if we hear nothing after the next week ot two..............

 

And...............Yes!.......It would be a tremendous help if one of our helpful Dealership employee members reads this thread and offers to help out.

 

With what little we know now...............I wouldn't even begin to know how to thank them.

Edited April 16, 2010 by oldschool1962

[wease]

It took 2 months to get mine that i ordered in Nov.

They come from mexico so transport time can take a while depending where you are.

As for the scheduled maintenance,don't waste your money as you most likely don't need it done anyways.

Most of that stuff is only done to be a money maker for the dealer anyways.

Just wait it out as you will love the car.

 

Hey all,

 

When I last posted I mentioned that we were accepting a new retail order FFH through the dealership as a solution to our issues.

 

We're only 3 weeks into things and we sort of expected things to take a bit longer........4-5 weeks was mentioned by the dealership GM......

 

With that said we are still curious though........For those that did place a retail order.........at what point during the process of placing a retail order were you able to get an approximate date of delivery? It's our hope and perception that a retail order is the same under all circumstances except possibly for the expedited process that was explained to us.......

 

We did contact the dealership by email on Wednesday and asked for an estimated date but haven't received a response yet.

 

Not wanting to appear impatient .............In all honesty we had some scheduled maintenance that might need to be done and wanted to avoid the expense at this time. Especially if we ended up turning the car in immediately after performing the work. If we had an estimated delivery date we could avoid the expense by not using the car.

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

[oldschool1962]

Finally got a reply to my email from the Dealership. The Sales Manager is going to check the "Order Bank" on Tuesday. He'll notify me of any changes if there are any. In all honesty....I really believed that things would be more organized regarding info from a Company that has been selling cars for over 100 years. It's like a game of "spin the big wheel" concerning retail orders and when you get your car. I can't tell you how many 4 production run, Ice Blue Metalic/Charcoal Black leather, 502A package cars we have seen out there. I just figured the factory would send the next one that wasn't a specific customer order to the dealership and we'd be done. But then again...... bbf mentioned simple has nothing to do with things here. It's all good.....at least I know I'm not being ignored. That's a good thing in my book.

 

As far as scheduled maintenance is concerned......We just hit 9500 miles so what we have coming up is tire rotation/balance, oil change and and the 10,000 mile service. (I think that's basically all in the 10k service anyhow). As far as the 10k service I know I can probably fore-go the bulk of that one.......the rotation might not need to be performed but the Oil does for sure.

 

Basically, I am unsure if we can get hit with something when we turn the car back in when the new one arrives. Plus I'd like to get the stupid change oil message reset so it doesn't keep popping up when I start the car.

Edited April 20, 2010 by oldschool1962

[Grey]

"I just figured the factory would sned the nerxt one that wasn't a specific customre order to the dealership and we'd be done"

 

Every vehicle built has an order and they don't shift cars around. They put a reginal priority on your order which moved it up in the scheduling.

 

Check your owner's manual for the instructions on resetting the oil change indicator.

 

BTW, Ford updates the scheduling system Thur. evenings, so Friday will give you the latest scheduling info.

[Fuze-ion]

oldschool1962: I'm in Central Va too. I got mine (FFH) in 6-1/2 weeks. Most of the time was spent in transit, with the railroad. This was also during part of the bad weather-Jan/Feb. I know the weather wasn't bad in Mexico, but it was bad on most of the east cost. The vehicle travels across the Gulf Coast and into Georgia, and has to come up through the East Coast. I'll bet the vehicle has been manufactured and is on it's way. Hopefully you'll have it soon. See if you can get the VIN number.

[oldschool1962]

Well? I guess all I can really say is....... what is now happening is exactly why we originally didn't want to go with a retail order for a replacement FFH.

 

So much for being reasonable and making an effort to compromise for a solution to the Dealership's initial "temper tantrum" about doing a DX.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2010 by oldschool1962

[oldschool1962]

After 3 days of poking and prodding we were able to get a tentative time-frame. Should be with-in the last week of April or the first two of May. I did get a VIN# also. Is there some place I can enter it to fond out status? I vaguely remember seeing some reference to this question and maybe an answer somewhere else but can't remember.

 

We did find the Window Sticker on-line. Production date of 4/16/2010. Couldn't find the transportation status but we saw the window sticker. Put our minds at ease for now.

Edited April 22, 2010 by oldschool1962