UltimateX Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 I have tried to email this to Ford, probably unsuccessfully. Maybe someone at Ford will see this. Alan Mulally: I have owned many Fords and Mercury’s over the years and I have been very happy with all of them. Earlier this year I saw several things from Ford that compelled me to consider replacing my current car, particularly the Sync and new redesigned Freestyle (Taurus X). This May I came to the conclusion that my 2000 Mercury Sable Wagon needed to be replaced, so off I went and tested all the competition along with an 07 Freestyle. The Taurus X came to the top of my list sight unseen, so I talked to my local dealer and they said I could put $500 refundable deposit down and order a Taurus X with Sync. I understood that Sync was late availability, and I would have a long wait, but my car was fine for the moment. In July the first Taurus X’s came in and I was able to test drive the vehicle, and confirm that this was the vehicle I wanted. So at this point it was a waiting game, but I placed my order in May so I reasoned that I would be one of the first in line to get my Taurus X with Sync. I stopped by the dealer once or twice a month for the first four months, just to check on the status and to see if they had heard any rumors about the release of Sync. On September 22, the dealer informed me that the hold on the Sync would be lifted on October 8th, so I figured that we were on the home stretch right. Here is the Chronology the order: 05/21/07 Order with $500 deposit 06/08/07 Sync is placing hold on order until October 09/22/08 Dealer says hold on Sync will be lifted October 8th 10/16/08 Taurus X on material hold, still. Dealer called regional sales rep. The hold was lifted in the afternoon. 10/19/08 Salesman called and said the car is being built as we speak. 11/23/08 Sales Manager informed me that the car was "clean" to build and would actually be built between 11/1 and 11/7 11/02/08 Still not built 11/12/08 Being built today or tomorrow. Delivery 2-3 weeks out. Need to sell the Sable Sunday, Dealer will try to get me a loaner. 11/16/08 Still not built, Status seems to have moved to "almost might be built soon maybe". As you can see my car was built and unbuilt several times over about month, leading me to become very frustrated with Ford and the order process. Based on this information, I sold my old car to a friend of the family, and promised it to him before the Thanksgiving weekend. So tomorrow I am selling the car to him, and it is looking like I may not have a car for at least several weeks now. This has left me in a very awkward situation were I may be forced to rent a car or consider a different vehicle. I have the money and I need a car, Ford makes the cars and needs the money. We are not talking about a rare Shelby Mustang; we are talking about a family car. This could be a beautiful thing, if we could just make it work. Maybe we could even build a whole business model around selling cars to customer who actually want them. This is what you need to do: - When a customer orders a vehicle, give them web page were they can track their order and see the status. The current system of asking the High Priest who consults the Oracle and comes back with a cryptic answer is not working. You could even throw in some digital cameras on the assembly line showing the vehicle at key positions in the process. Physical evidence that it is actually being built. - I found some information on the internet about allocation, and this process sounds like a mess. Retail paying customers should have the highest priority, again going back to the concept of selling cars to customers who actually want to buy them. I talked extensively with the dealer and they are very frustrated with this order, but also seem to have a lot of issues with the overall process. - Your parts suppliers need to be more adaptive to market demands. If chrome wheels are popular, make more chrome wheels. - You need to advertise your vehicles with exciting and compelling ads. The first Taurus ads were sappy, boring and rare. I hope Jim Farley is going to change this. The new Sync ads are great by the way. - I would also like to see more U.S. built vehicles, please don’t move anymore manufacturing to Mexico or Canada. Alan, thanks for your time. I hope this provides some incite from a customer’s point of view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Local1111 Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 11/23/08 Sales Manager informed me that the car was "clean" to build and would actually be built between 11/1 and 11/711/02/08 Still not built 11/12/08 Being built today or tomorrow. Delivery 2-3 weeks out. Need to sell the Sable Sunday, Dealer will try to get me a loaner. 11/16/08 Still not built, Status seems to have moved to "almost might be built soon maybe". sounds about right to me. So what's the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford4v429 Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 (edited) ultimateX- did you see the tracking thread here: http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index...showtopic=14397 these guys have kinda picked up on the 'customer support' that 'Kzinti' was offering all us impatient buyers waiting for mustangs-and fusions, gt40's...get your vin from your dealer(YES THEY DO HAVE IT), see if the guys in the forum above will help out- sadly neither the dealer nor Fords 'customer service' cant get the REAL info the factory guys have access to. It still amazes me that Ford hasnt taken the ball and ran with it with the awesome service/help/peace of mind/whatever you might call it that Kzinti started several years ago- then apparently got in trouble for. I keep hoping to hear of ford's latest 'recovery' plan involving shifting priority to '1' on EVERY actual retail order(actual as in with a name attached- if the name backs out, the car goes back to allocation banks to keep dealers from faking high demand orders), making tracking a published service offered to all buyers, paying same rates to dealers for warranty work as customer pays so they wont act like they hate warranty work(which they all do and it shows). So far none of these basic things Ive noticed as a buyer are 'a problem', makes me wonder if the execs getting free cars without actually having to go to a dealer as a average customer is why...like our government, they are so detached from the working class I dont know if they'll ever figure out why all the brainstorming plans havent fixed a heck of a lot of still growing problems... I do wish them luck, but they really need to look at the situations from a customers eyes, not from a spreadsheet that just says chop/slash/move to China. I want American made stuff, I want no hassles with buying it, I want to be able to track it like a $1 fedex envelope without a hassle, and I want dealers to give it the same priority as a 'customer pay' job if it breaks. I really dont think I'm alone here- but I still get the feeling the guys at the top dont get it because they have never actually dealt with these issues due to their social status in the corporation. all the 'cost reductions' in the world will not change the self inflicted root causes of customer perceptions eating away at brand loyalty. Edited November 17, 2007 by ford4v429 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 (edited) If it makes you feel any better read some of these complaints on the Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet, some folk have had to wait nearly a year so your problem is not so bad, there are lots of websites with disgruntled Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet moaning about the long wait. Have a look at this website 821 folk moan about Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet, it might make you feel better. http://www.topgear.co.uk/news/2007/03/29/f...oupe-cabriolet/ Edited November 17, 2007 by Ford Jellymoulds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danglin Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Sorry to hear about your trouble. Back in 2004 when I ordered my F250, I was told it would take about 6 to 8 weeks. I got it in 3!!!! Needless to say, I was very Happy! I did not have to give any deposit on my vehicle, they just ordered it, and told me if the deal, we would make when the truck came in, fell through, they would just put it in inventory!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimateX Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 If it makes you feel any better read some of these complaints on the Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet, some folk have had to wait nearly a year so your problem is not so bad, there are lots of websites with disgruntled Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet moaning about the long wait. Have a look at this website 821 folk moan about Ford Focus Coupe-Cabriolet, it might make you feel better. http://www.topgear.co.uk/news/2007/03/29/f...oupe-cabriolet/ The worst part was not the wait, but the constant flip-flopping on whether it was built or not. This week it is getting built for the third time. The dealer did come through and provided me with a demo car off the lot. My issue obviously is not with the dealer, but rather with Ford and we they manage there order process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regfootball Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 why not buy one off the lot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimateX Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 why not buy one off the lot? I wanted Sync, and there are no Taurus X with Sync in the area yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordtion Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 why not buy one off the lot? Geez, have you read all of the above postings? The guy wants Sync, not that hard to figure why he's waiting for what he orderd......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surgen Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 The worst part was not the wait, but the constant flip-flopping on whether it was built or not. This week it is getting built for the third time. The dealer did come through and provided me with a demo car off the lot. My issue obviously is not with the dealer, but rather with Ford and we they manage there order process. The flip-flopping is with your dealer, not with Ford. In the very short term (within several weeks), there is absolutely no confusion between the dealer and the manufacturer of what is being built - and what is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperPilot Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 The flip-flopping is with your dealer, not with Ford. In the very short term (within several weeks), there is absolutely no confusion between the dealer and the manufacturer of what is being built - and what is not. Exactly. Ford has made a web page accessible to the dealer called "Vehicle Visibility". If your car has a DORA they can tell you EXACTLY where it is in the process. What train it's on, if there are any holds, etc. If I could tell you where it is, they can too -- the link is right on the Ford Dealer Network homepage. , Unfortunately, due to internal Confidentiality Rules, I cannot divulge information from the system (Yeah, I like my job and don't want to lose it.) If your dealer can't be bothered to get the information or cannot figure the system out, then shame on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimateX Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 As of Tuesday the order status was "submitted to plant". I found this thread which explains the allocation and build process. http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index...amp;mode=linear According to the thread I still have to go through "Scheduled", "Locked In", "Bucked" and finally "Produced". Then I have the shipping process which could be as long as two weeks. I don't know who to blame, the dealer, the regional sales manager or the factory. I just don't have enough information to know where the breakdown is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OAC_Sparky Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Have you seen a copy of your DORA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimateX Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 Have you seen a copy of your DORA? Yes, I have the DORA or at least I think so. It says "Vehicle Order Confirmation" on the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loft306 Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 (edited) Yes, I have the DORA or at least I think so. It says "Vehicle Order Confirmation" on the top. that inst a DORA that is the sheet you get when the order is placed Goto the Dealer and get a copy of the DORA or atleast get them to look at the printout that they get from ford every week that lists the status of all the veichles on order, My dealer freely lets me see this if i wish. DORA = Dealer Order Receipt Acknolagement and it is a good thing to have to make shure that your order went in correctly. Edited November 25, 2007 by loft306 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltimateX Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 I have the VIN and ViperPilot was nice enough to track my vehicle last night. Something is not right because I placed the order 5/21/07 and I have an "Vehicle Order Confirmation" to prove it. On 10/16 I went to the dealer and they called the regional sales rep. Looks like the vehicle was stuck in a database somewhere, because the Receipt Date is the next day. I know that the order was in the database because during the prior months they showed me their weekly reports and my vehicle was on material hold. It almost looks like they wiped it out and created a new order for it. Now instead of having one of the first orders, I was placed at the back of the queue like I ordered in October. I may not get this vehicle before Christmas at this point and possibly after the $1000 rebate expires at the end of the year. Based on information from the dealer, the production date is now the week of 12/10. Annoyed and Disappointed. Ultimate X VIN: 1FMDK06W48GA29054 Receipt Date: 10/17/2007 Serialize Date: 11/15/2007 Segment Date: 11/15/2007 Sequence Date: 11/26/2007 Blend Date: Produced Date: Gate Release Date: Ship Date: Arrival Date: Sold Date: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryQW Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 My San Jose, CA dealer just told me that my Taurus X ordered in August with Sync (job 2) will not be delivered until February as "retail Taurus X production is on hold through the first of the year." Does this make sense to anyone? I can't believe Ford has been advertising this car for most of a year, and promoting the Sync, yet won't actually make the car for anyone while their factories are producing way below projection!!!! My dealer also said something about very limited shipments of the new TX to NorCal due to a zoning limitation. I indeed checked all the dealers in the SF Bay area and not one has a TX with Sync, but plenty of older TX on the lots (with yet other options I don't want). It could be Ford wants a chance to sell off the old stock before issuing the new Sync-laden TX models. I may cancel my order for the TX, and wait to see what's available next year. I've not been happy with it's mileage or interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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