fdugger Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 One quantum leap into the 21st century that Ford could make would be to allow Ford clients, whom place orders for new custom vehicles, to receive a "common" login and password to track the build and shipment of their vehicle. This would provide innumerable values added to clients, dealerships and customer service centers. It would reduce the number of contacts between the clients and dealerships which would allow them to spend time selling products and not looking for vehicles. It would be simple to create a "common" login credential for each dealership, which they could provide their vehicle ordering clients that would provide them access to track their vehicle through out the entire build and shipping process. This would allow clients to arrange financing, gather cash reserves or prepare, in real time, for the delivery of their vehicle. Just In Time production, Lean Manufacturing and/or Theory of Constraints should apply to the ordering, tracking and monitoring of vehicle production for the clients which order vehicles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnexplr Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I second this as dealing with your dealership or salesman doesn't always work out. I've been told 3 differnt dealer codes from my dealership that I ordered the vehicle from and 4 weeks later am still waiting for any info and I don't want to constantly call my dealership for updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16GTCS Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Much agreed. Ford customer service only provides vague information. The person I spoke with couldn't even verify information that I was asking about on the window sticker. Specifically the few date codes that are on there. She was unable to give me any information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 You mean like the Ford Custom Order Tracking website? http://www.cotus.ford.com It was in beta last year - I don't know if it works or how well it works but at least they're trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16GTCS Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 The cotus site doesn't work. Ford customer service told me that once I had a VIN it would, I've had a VIN for three weeks and my car is completely built and still not showing on the site at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copperhorse Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Yeah that site doesn't work. I tried with my order number and stuff and now with my VIN. Unable to locate my vehicle both ways. Really need to get this working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnexplr Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Same here, every time I put in my VIN it says it can't find it. It could be a great system...... If it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnexplr Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 ok guys try this link, it worked for me, the site is a little messed up but you can still see everything. http://wwwqa.cotus.ford.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 That's the test site. QA stands for quality assurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnexplr Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Well it seems to be the only one that works, the regular site tells me it can't find my order, this one shows me everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Yeah, that doesn't explain why the so-called production site isn't working. I think the production site is even linked from another Ford site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asull85 Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Neither site is working for me. It is very frustrating to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transitman Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Neither site is working for me. It is very frustrating to say the least. Do you mean it does not give you any response, or does it display: No matching vehicle found. Please verify your input and try again. This is just a guess, but my theory is, until your car has been scheduled, cotus doesn't track it. I've requested tracking here a couple of times and both came back: In Order Processing - Unscheduled - Clean I assume this means the order has been submitted by my dealership, it's in the system and waiting to be scheduled. When I use the cotus.ford link, I currently get the message above. If order numbers are in numeric order, I'm 9006 in line. I figure mine will be scheduled in the last two weeks of April or the first two weeks of May. Have patience, the process takes time. Read the rules required to post a tracking request and request tracking through the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transitman Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I was searching a local Ford dealer web site and they had 4 '17 Fusions listed. One had a build date of 07.04.16. and it does not show up on the cotus.ford search. I guess this is not a very accurate method to check your order status. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddot Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 The qa just worked for me! However it gives an ETA that is a week later then what dealer stated, it also says that in is in order processing and dealer stated it was in production. Not sure who to believe now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrblanche Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Mine is saying in order processing and doesn't give a scheduled production date, but it does give an estimated delivery time. Like you, it's a good deal later than the dealer told me...but I never believed his estimate, anyway. It may be right. But it says you wont' have a VIN until you have a scheduled build date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdnexplr Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Well now the qa site is asking for a username and password, and the regular site is saying there's no matching vehicle. The last eta I had was April 28th so hopefully that is still the case. The last update I got from cyberdman was that last monday it was sitting here in the rail yard waiting to be offloaded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snacktime Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Well now the qa site is asking for a username and password, and the regular site is saying there's no matching vehicle. The last eta I had was April 28th so hopefully that is still the case. The last update I got from cyberdman was that last monday it was sitting here in the rail yard waiting to be offloaded. If it makes you feel any better, I have been waiting for COTUS to show me anything since I placed my order for a Ford Focus SE on January 31. The only sign of life from their "tracking" system was that the response changed from "No matching vehicle found. Please verify your input and try again." to "A matching vehicle could not be determined. Please contact your dealer to get status updated about your order." On that same day (April 1, no less), my salesman called to tell me that the order finally got a VIN. I suspect the message change is one indirect way of determining that your car has been at least scheduled. However, the salesman wouldn't give me the full VIN, so I had to ask for it from Ford Service's customer hotline. Still waiting for any sign of life, and it hasn't been fun. Still holding out hope though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdugger Posted April 27, 2016 Author Share Posted April 27, 2016 The search site (cotus) has stopped working and has been asking for passwords for a few days now. I guess that they figured out that the peasants were getting too much information and needed to control it. Reminds me of the protestant reformation..... maybe one day they will consolidate their data into a single accessible page wherein custom ordering clients can have visibility of their product. Since LEAN/Six Sigma, TOC and similar manufacturing methodologies seem to be important to them, it would only make sense to do this as it would reduce wastes (time, travel, etc...) for their paid work force and allow us to do our own research. The data already exists and is available so the cost would be minimal to create a special login and password wherein clients could plug in their order number or VIN and do their own tracking. We can hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdugger Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 I have an update... The COTUS site had been working like a charm and was sort of hit or miss in regards to asking for passwords. However, comma, pause for effect.....COTUS showed my vehicle being delivered on May 12th for more than 40 days (I live in Hawaii...hence the long lead time). When checking in with my dealer yesterday, they said that they have no visibility of my truck ever making to CA or onto a ship for delivery. They have the VIN and said that although the COTUS site showed solid tracking and delivery info, they could not verify any of it. When pressing them for any information, they said that they will "look into it" but not to expect the truck to be delivered next week. One question for anyone that might know the answer: Is there any system, tracking or otherwise, which Ford has which can show the "last known" location of my vehicle when/where the VIN was scanned during the shipping/transport process? There must be a way that they know which of their vehicles is where. VIN #: 1FTEW1EG6GFB27133. Any help would be sincerely appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 Dealers have access to the "Vehicle Visibility" tracking system which is updated every time there's a status change and also shows the entire order history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butchy Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 I've not been successful in track my order. Tried COTUS...not working for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen White Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Doesn't work, full stop. My car is actually being built and my ETA is June 1-7, and STILL nothing shows on any of the tracking sites. I can only (per forum rules) ask for an update once a week and my salesperson is tired of me bugging him. I get this message every time: "A matching vehicle could not be determined. Please contact your dealer to get status updated about your order." Oh well, guess I'm spoiled after getting constant updates on orders from online sites, my tax refund, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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