Jump to content

Useful resources for those joining the Ford Family


inkblot

Recommended Posts

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 8 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Although this thread is a little "long in the tooth" I would also like to say thankyou. I'm confident I have a good VIN

now, but info from my dealer and the Lincoln concierge are inconsistent. Dealer says, AUG 13 delivery--concierge says,

"in pre production planning". VIN has been available for over three weeks. Put my deposit down on March 27, frustration

level climbing. Hoping things change next week when production starts up again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...
On 2/14/2013 at 8:25 AM, inkblot said:
Howdy!
 
I'm fairly new to these forums myself, and as I look around the Welcome forums I see a lot of folks like me.
 
Someone who lurked here, doing research before purchasing their (next/first) Ford vehicle. Someone who has (or is about to) take the plunge, maybe even special ordering their new car or truck. Someone who can't wait to learn all about their new vehicle and don't want to pester their salesman until they get thrown out of the dealership.
 
So, I thought it might be nice to collect some of the useful tips I've learned the past few weeks. These are some basic information gathering tasks you can do if you've ordered a new vehicle and can't wait until it arrives. Undoubtedly, you've noticed the "Vehicle Locator By Ford Employees" forum. While it's a wonderful and generous service provided by "someone on the inside," we must always remember it's entirely voluntary and never abuse the privilege. With that in mind, here's ways to keep yourself occupied without needing to pester cyberdman. :)
 
New Orders
When you make a new order for sale or lease, the Dealer (or possibly a Build Manager at their dealership) enters the order into the Ford system. This will generate three things: an order number, the vehicle's VIN, and a projected build date. When tracking your vehicle through the build process, a Ford employee can look things up by either the Dealer Code + the Order Number, or by the vehicle's VIN. For most of the sleuthing we can do, we need the VIN. So when you place a special order, try to get the VIN and projected build date whenever you can.
 
When looking into the status of your vehicle, you might bump up against some of Ford's tracking terms. Some common ones are:
 
Window Stickers
One of the first ways to 'track' your order is by grabbing the Window Sticker from Ford. There are two ways to accomplish this: first, by crafting your own URL.
 
Put this into your web browser's address bar:
Then put your VIN at the end of it, and hit enter.
 
You can also click through this link:
And simply type or paste your VIN into their form. I believe they rely on the same system, but if you're paranoid use the first link; fordvehicles.com is Ford.
 
Now, just because you've placed a special order and gotten a VIN, doesn't mean the Window Sticker will work right away. Window Stickers don't tend to appear until 4-7 days prior to your build date. So this is the first way you can tell when your vehicle is ready to be built.
 
FordEtis
Aimed at auto techs, the FordEtis website is an online database for those who service and repair Ford vehicles. It also provides information about specific vehicles by VIN. And not just 'decoding' the VIN (where some basic options can be determined by the letters and numbers), but by actually pulling info from Ford's databases.

 

Go to http://www.etis.ford.com and click on the "Vehicle" tab. Enter your VIN and click "Search."

First of all, don't panic if the vehicle it finds doesn't match what you ordered. Especially would-be Fusion owners. :doh:

Like the Window Sticker generator, your vehicle's info might not show up in the system right away.

  • Early on, you might get errors that the VIN cannot be found.
  • Later, a simple entry might come up with just a few lines of data. The vehicle type might be incorrect, and the build date will show: "30.11.0002". Dates are displayed day/month/year, and 30.11.0002 seems to be a place holder until the actual build date is in the system.
  • Even more later, often on or just around your build date, the entry should fill out with more info, including your actual build date (note: it might not match the project date your Dealer gave you), as well as an expanding section called "Minor Features" which lists all the build options your order did or did not take.
 
Rail Tracking
And finally, if you've been on the forums awhile and use the Vehicle Locator by Ford Employees forum, eventually you'll learn when your vehicle is complete and placed on a railcar for shiping to you. Like me, you're probably bouncing off the walls at this stage wanting to get your hands on your hot, new, little car or truck. How to do it?
 
If you post to the tracking forum for an update, and you get a message like this:

 

 

Your vehicle is on the move.
 
  1. To track the railcar, call CSX at 1-800-235-2352
  2. When prompted for location or weight, press 1 or say "location".
  3. When prompted for the car initials, say "ETTX" or press 32-81-81-92.
  4. When prompted for the car number, say or press your 6 digit ETTX car number.
  5. When prompted for the next car, press ## or say "Done".
 
A recorded voice will tell you the last known arrival or depature location of your railcar. Most times, it won't provide an ETA (and anyways, it's likely not an ETA related to your vehicle specifically).
 
Facebook
Some friendly Customer Service reps have Facebook accounts where you can ask questions. Keep in mind, this is publicly visible, so I wouldn't go posting anything you don't want the whole world to see.

 

 
----
I'd like to thank all the kind and knowledgable folk on these boards, from whom I was able to compile these tips and tricks. If anyone else has any tips or info, please post below. Mods, if you feel this would be useful, could you make this topic a sticky? Thank you!

Great post and info but 15 post rule i believe is bit too much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Jstdo1t said:

Great post and info but 15 post rule i believe is bit too much.

It’s not too much at all.  It’s probably not enough.  Tracking is done by a Ford employee in his spare time as a favor.  It’s for members, not for someone who wants to just come here and get tracking and disappear.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 4 months later...
5 hours ago, FordRaptor10 said:

Yeah the window stickers don't seem to work, only those fortunate enough to still have access through ETIS. 

My window sticker quit working after my status updated to released/awaiting shipment... is that normal or did it stop working for everyone around December 28?

Edited by CoolScoop
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 11/16/2018 at 7:35 PM, akirby said:

It’s not too much at all.  It’s probably not enough.  Tracking is done by a Ford employee in his spare time as a favor.  It’s for members, not for someone who wants to just come here and get tracking and disappear.

Precisely what happened. I think 15 is generous as well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Wow, what a goldmine of information!  Thank you @inkblot for putting all that together.

 

I ordered by 2020 F150 Limited last week and can't wait to start getting the first tidbits of information.  Although I have the order & dealer numbers, apparently I'll need the VIN before I can start doing any tracking.  From what I've been reading, it isn't until at least the 3rd week after ordering that the VIN would be generated.  I've always bought new cars, but this is my first custom order.  For my previous Fords, I would go online and do the build, then search for any dealers that had one on their lot.  Always found one just the way I wanted it within a reasonable distance.  For the Limited, the closest one was somewhere in Michigan and didn't have two of the options I wanted.

 

Needless to say, its difficult to not count the days until I can start tracking it.  Its going to replace my fully-loaded 2010 F150 Lariat, which has served me well.  No major issues with it and once the warranty elapsed, I did the majority of fixes of small issues myself.  The Limited will take its place in my garage next to my 2009 GT500KR.

 

Thanks again for all the great info in this thread.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...