geost1

I can definitely appreciate Ford's position on online tracking, if it's not technically feasible without major costs. The majority of new vehicle buyers take what's in the dealer's current inventory anyway. However not knowing what is going on with you vehicle, in most cases the customer service people have told me to talk to the dealer for more info, is one of the most frustrating parts. I've really had to search the net to find out several key pieces of info on my car, as my dealer obviously likes to tell fairy tales in the hopes of just keeping me happy. :blah: This is the first I've heard of an allocation system, and I've been spending the past 3+ months searching the net for info on this process. To be honest with you, this sounds like a poorly thought out system. A dealer should be able to order as many, or little, vehicles as they can sell. Then again, from a "Just in Time" inventory control system standpoint I could see the reasoning behind it. Incidentally there were two delays with my car that I consider understandable: 1. Parts shortage that delayed production of the SPORT model until the last week of July (Can't build cars if you don't have the parts) 2. Scheduled plant downtime, presumably for maintenance (Please maintain those machines that build my car) Having said that, 4 months is an unreasonable amount of time to have to wait. Once my car gets here I know I'll like it. I picked the Fusion because I've had the opportunity to drive one for a week last year and really enjoyed it. Further when it comes time to replace my pickup, the winter vehicle, I'll consider a Ford if there is a competitive product available to replace it. A lot of that is going to do with what Ford does to replace the Ranger, as I'm one of those that doesn't need a full sized pickup. In the end, I consider this to be a good product with an awful buying experience. I've been ranting a lot about my situation online , but 3+ months is a lot of time to complain. The dealership has lost my trust, and that can translate into lost $$$ considering my vehicles are dealer maintained. At the first sign the service department is being dishonest with me it's off to the other dealership. Thanks for listening, suppose I needed to get this all off my chest. :whew:

Dude I appreciate the offer but hope not need it. I fully understand you have no stakes in this, and believe me that's something I've kept in mind when talking to my dealer. Again sorry if anything I've said came off as questioning your integrity, I know you are just trying to help. Now having gone through this process though, I do have two real gripes with Ford: 1. It's awesome that you take time out of your schedule to do this, however that system really should be available to the customers. A lot of the grief I'm going through right now would be alleviated if I could check the status on my own at anytime, a lot but not all mind you. 2. Cars ordered for customers should get 1st priority over everything else, we're talking about pre-sold vehicles here! Anyone buying this way is telling Ford, "This is exactly what I want and I've put money down to prove it." Now if a customer changes their mind after the car comes in then they should lose their deposit, in my case that was $200. Almost a 4 month wait for a car is BS , I consider that a Ford issue. Now my car salesman is, well a car salesman; think of the old fable "The Scorpion and the Frog". OK there are some honest dealers out there, but they are rare IMO. The sad truth is, this guy is only hurting his dealership by lying to me. I got a great deal because I researched everything, knew the Invoice for the car w/options and about the 3% Holdback walking in the door. The dealer is still making that 3% of MSRP on this car selling it to me at invoice since the turnover is going to be days, at the most, rather than months. Yet when my two friends go looking for a Ford maybe they buy from the other Ford dealership, that's 15 miles away. Further, my vehicles are all dealer maintained from the day I buy them until they are sold. Something this dealer, not the salesman, better keep in mind considering there is another dealership so close. You fill a need that Ford has decided to neglect, the ability to track ordered vehicles through the process, and I thank you for that. I'll post a photo once the car comes in, and don't worry this car is exactly what I wanted. :shades:

First sorry for getting you worked up over this. I gave my dealer some small degree of credibility because of the deal he's giving me, well until now. In the grander scheme of things though there are a couple of reasons I've been running the "Prisoner's Dilemma" on him: 1. Some of the information he's been telling me hasn't sounded right, especially in the past few weeks; hence the reason I've been comparing notes 2. Like most salespeople this guys acts like he's my best friend. So having proof that he flat out lied is very useful in seeing past this false image 3. I've got two friends that are considering Fords, and they should know the info in #2 before talking to him or anyone else at that dealership 4. And honestly, I have been waiting quite a while for this vehicle and wanted as much info on its status as possible The tracking info you've provided has been helpful, however Ford really should make it available through their website for those of us that order vehicles. The information on the integrity of this dealer will also be quite helpful. Further I probably needed the slap in the face on this :punched: , actually been expecting a call any moment thanks to the BS I was told just this week... :blah: Thanks for the valuable information you've provided, more so on my dealer than on the actually location of the car. I won't ask you for any further updates, if the car isn't here next week I'll call Customer Service instead. This whole new car buying process always leave me well.. :barf:

Still waiting. Could you please check again, thank you. VIN: 3FAHP0KC5CR175098

My dealer told me the same thing a week before my car was actually finished, said that's what Ford told him. I think, don't know for sure just a guess, that our cars get sent to have the accessories and/or special body parts attached after they're built. So in our cases, our cars would have been built and then had the SPORT body trim pieces attached and any accessories installed. Again this is just a guess, but I know that my car was "released" from the factory twice. I also read another post from someone that had SPORT trim on a Escape that had his vehicle sent to a different facility to have that trim installed. :do what: The good new is the car is being worked on and now it's just a matter of time. Soon they'll be shipping it, that's when things really get exciting!

That's what my dealer told me, and he said that's what his Ford rep told him. Specifically he was told that my car was transferred with 5 others to a truck. They could not provide an updated ETA yet we agreed it should be here sooner than Oct 19th. He also told me that the rep wants him to call her when the car comes in, implying they have no way of tracking the truck... At this point I can't see the dealer getting anything out of making up a story like this, except an even more pissed off customer that will call back next week. Further he knows that I've been tracking this car's status through him, you (online), and have been calling Ford customer service; then comparing notes. Now he is giving me a really great deal on the car, invoice - factory incentives, so I've been reluctant to bother him for updates or walk away. I could see getting some BS story to leave him alone if I were calling him every week, but out of the 3+ months I've been waiting he's only gotten about 4-5 calls from me on this. Even if Ford lied to my dealer, or he lied to me, your report says my car was passing a point in Illinois. It shouldn't take two weeks to travel 500 miles, even by train, so I'm really hoping for a call in the next few days. So here's hoping my next reply to this post is a photo of my new ride, instead of another bump a for status update. :punched:

Thanks for checking Cyberdman. That ETA should be wrong because it was based off of the RailCar my vehicle was shipping on breaking down. According to my dealer, Ford transferred it to a truck for shipping after he complained. If it's on a truck in Illinois it shouldn't take another 2 weeks to get here, unless the driver is really old and takes a cross country tour of the US. I'm really hoping it's here this week and this was the last tracking request I'll need. Either way, I'll post a photo once the car arrives...

BUMP for update. Thank you. VIN: 3FAHP0KC5CR175098 Dealer: F44403 Order No: T117

Well according to Cyberdman those terms you have been hearing about, like "blend date", are outdated. From what I've been able to piece together the date on your Window Sticker is the day your car is locked in for production, all the parts are ordered and the factory is committed to building it. Other than that there is no other useful information in regards to build or ship dates on your Window Sticker. Just keep getting your weekly updates from Cyberdman in the tracking thread and try to be patient. If you want more details, the other thing I've learned is that the Dealer apparently has the most information and clout in this whole process. My dealer told me today that the rail-car shipping my vehicle broke down, hence the reason for the extra 2-week delay. He talked to Ford, passed on my disgust for all the delays along with just how long I've been waiting, and they transferred my vehicle to a truck along with several others. So maybe I'll get my car after 3 1/2 months of waiting instead of 4 or more. The waiting really, really sucks but the day will come when you're driving it off the dealer lot. Something to look forward to, at least that's how I try to look at it.

Nice. Supposedly our cars have the hydraulic power steering instead of electric, but this started to show up on all of the Fusion Window Stickers for 2012 including the SPORT. Customer service told me it's a typo but I'm definitely going to pop the hood when my car gets here to check.

Dude that's great news. Just out of curiosity, does your Window Sticker have this entry on it: POWER STEERING W/ EPAS Supposedly the "EPAS" part is a typo and I'm wondering if they ever fixed it.

No I hadn't. My bad... Just found out from Ford yesterday that my delivery date got pushed back another two weeks!!! :angry: If it arrives on the new scheduled date that means my car would have taken about 15 weeks, almost 4 months, to arrive at the dealer. What really pisses me off is that we're not exactly in the same boat at this point. They finished building my car on or about Sept 20, after almost 3 months of waiting at that time, and the rest of these delays have been with the shipping. It looks like it just sat waiting to be shipped for over a week!!! Talked to my dealer yesterday and expressed my displeasure in these delays. He's going to call Ford on Monday to find out what is going on. Up until this point I've been patient with the delays because they were for good reason, parts shortages and plant downtime. However pre-sold cars, like ours, should be given the highest possible priority in building and shipment. Mine was entered at Priority 10, the highest a dealer can put in, but there is also a higher 1-9 that apparently only Ford can use. In a nutshell, a 1-2 month wait for an ordered vehicle is reasonable, 3 months is pushing it, and 4 is moving into WTF is taking so long territory! Ford is rapidly turning happy and excited customers into frustrated ones with the unexplained delays and ridiculous wait times!

Actually I thought there was a production freeze on the HYBRID models until November??? In any event, I seriously doubt your location to RawisTheGameHhH has any effect on the order in which your vehicle is built. Take it from the guy that has been waiting OVER 3 MONTHS now for his car, don't try to read too much into anything. There are a million things that can happen from the time your order is confirmed and it arrives at the dealership. Just be patient and assume it is going to take as long as possible to reach you. If you can't wait, then I suggest you purchase one off of a dealer's lot. Yes I know there are no 2012 HYBRIDS on the lot yet, there is a production freeze haven't you heard???

On a vehicle that had it disabled or one that never had it? I'm no mechanic but if it was just disabled then you should be able to reactivate it. Now if it was never programmed into the system, well that's the real question....

Thanks for checking.

BUMP for update, thank you: VIN: 3FAHP0KC5CR175098 Dealer: F44403 Order No: T117

To take your thought one step farther, combine that capability with a navigation system's interface. There are already vehicles out there that can list available restaurants, movie theaters, ect. based off of the GPS using Sirius. Now when you ask your navigation system about local restaurants it might respond with an ad, or more likely give priority to the businesses that pay the company advertising fees. If this sounds far fetched just think how most navigation systems in vehicles are basically small computers. Computers can't be used as advertising tools, can they???

Just don't get too excited about your ETA, especially a month out, as they tend to change. The first ETA I got for my car was Sept 26, then Oct 3, and now Oct 5. Delays apparently happen all the time in this process, and at every stage. Hang in there and with any luck you'll be cruising in your new Fusion by November. Personally, I think the SPORT model is well worth the wait.

Thank you for the answers cyberdman. Does anyone else want to weigh in on this?

One factor I sincerely hope Ford takes into account is being cost competitive with these cars. My department uses Chevy Impalas. GM successfully proved with the Impala that it you take a truly bad sedan, slap on a pair of high performance tires and pre-wire it for lights, you end up with a truly bad police car! :barf: Just ask anyone that has to use them on the job... The one thing Impala has over the Charger and Crown Vic (Taurus now) is that it is cheap, in every sense of the word. Some departments don't need a huge engine or all the bells and whistles, sometimes cost is the deciding factor. So it would be great if Ford would make a basic version of the Taurus that might compete against the Impala. Really a shopping cart with a lawnmower engine attached could do better than what some bean counters make us drive right now. :titanic:

Well you can start by looking up the available incentives at the Ford website, if you have not already: http://www.ford.com/incentives/ Also your dealer can check for incentives from their system at the dealership. When you car gets here, and you go in to pick it up, definitely have the salesman do that. You could qualify for incentives that are specific to you, like a owner loyalty. Congratulations on your new car!

I have a generic question about some of the terms used in the tracking process. When cyberdman fulfills a tracking request some of the terms are self-explanatory, like "In Production" or "Delivered", and others are not. I was just wondering if someone could post a list of tracking codes with along with what they mean. Here are a few that are a bit confusing: Awaiting Shipment - Origin Received (Thought this meant released to the shipper???) Awaiting Shipment - Re-Released (Why would the factory have to release the car twice???) Scheduled to Day (Is this the day the car is scheduled to be built???) In my own case cyberdman reported that my car was "Awaiting Shipment - Origin Received" last week. On Monday my dealer told me the car was "released to the factory", while we discussing the vehicle prep. Then today, Wednesday, cyberdman reported my car "Awaiting Shipment - Re-Released". Now I'm not asking what happened with my particular car just for a generic definition for some of these terms. A list of them in order would be nice too. Incidentally my car should be here in about two weeks so I'm asking this question on behalf of the others that use this tracking thread, and quite honestly out of curiosity too.

Thanks again for checking.

BUMP for update. Thank you. VIN: 3FAHP0KC5CR175098 Dealer: F44403 Order No: T117

Due to the aforementioned production delays it took 2 MONTHS for my Window Sticker, again about a week after I got the VIN, to become available. Once it was though that's when things started to happen. :happy feet: