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Moving foward...


kevvyd

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Hello all,

Thanks for the wonderful resource and adding me to your community.

 

About 2 years ago I purchased an original owner 1995 E-150 Club Wagon Chateau. This is my first van, but by no means my first Ford.  I have owned Mustang, F-150, Bronco II, and Focus.

The Club Wagon had about 148k on it and was a true time capsule vehicle. The Chateau had a lot going for it, and of course some flaws. I was in love with the ’95 and bought it.  The van was a recreational hauler for me, I’m a off-road motorcyclist and take many trips with my motorcycle in the van, and also camp out of it routinely.
And away we went….The Chateau served faithfully, and was the launch point for many great adventures. In the time I owned and drove the old van I discovered that I was really the kind of person that loves a van.  During the time I owned the van I also owned a sporty Volvo wagon daily driver, but always kind of wished I was driving the van….. The van was just easy living to me.

 

Fast forward to now. My children are getting to the age now where I would like to bring them on trips and adventures with me, and bring all of our toys!  The '95 just did not feel like the safest or most reliable vehicle for me as a family car, and I sold it about a month ago.  Also as a 25 year old Ford...old van was beginning to "age out" and I grew weary of steady maintenance and repairs.   Proceeds from the sale of the Club Wagon will be used for the purchase of a '21 Transit Passenger, XLT. (currently on order)

 

So I arrive here, as a new Ford buyer.  A special order vehicle Ford buyer.  

 

My dealer ordering process has been OK.  I like my salesperson and am buying at a BIG volume dealer.  There was definitely at least one hiccup where my order "reverted" to a prior draft rather than the final spec's I had ultimately decided on.  This caused me to become really uneasy and I started looking for advice and information on Ford vehicle special order expectations.

My dealer sorted out the glitch, and as of today it seems all is on the right track.  My spec's are corrected, and the '21 Transit is currently "scheduled to build week 02/08/2021"  Saw it on the screen with my own 2 eyes.

 

But while at the dealer today I had a kind of weird experience, and I was hoping somebody might make some suggestions to me as to what is going on....

 

I was told by another dealers salesperson that if my new Transit is "scheduled to build week 02/08/2021" then it would have a VIN number created and available to me.  BUT, when I asked the dealer with my order---they said No. "No VIN until just before it goes onto the production line....."   

I had my doubts, after all....things were messed up once!  So me and Frank (my salesperson) went over the order one more time, just to ease my mind.  Again I asked about the VIN, and was told NO, not yet. So Frank and I are looking at his computer screen for his dealer orders, specifically my Transit order.  He is going though stuff on the screen and sure enough I spot it---the VIN for my ordered vehicle.

Great news,right!  Confirms that Ford has my order and is working on it! (right?)

 

I asked Frank for the VIN and he replied with a No.  I then told him I'd like the VIN so that I could begin shopping insurance/finance for the new purchase.  Again "No".  When I pressed him for it I was told "The VIN could change before the vehicle goes to production, I don't want you to get incorrect information based off of that VIN"

Ummmmm....OK Frank.  "I hereby hold you non-liable for for the accuracy of my VIN, but would like to get it anyway."   Again I was told No.

Truth is I just want my VIN so I can plug it into tracking and compulsively click the link like every 4 hours or so....I'm really excited about the new moto/camping/family van!

 

So the $51,402.75 question is:  Is there any valid reason a dealer would not divulge the VIN on a special order vehicle to its buyer?  

Also for what it is worth:  I asked him to copy/paste the VIN from my sales order screen into Vehicle Visibility, and Ford Consumer Tracking website (which he did not know existed) and it returned nothing for that VIN.

I'd be really grateful for some insight into why the VIN secrecy?  Hoping maybe a person experienced with Ford special order vehicles would advise me. @ice-capades, @cyberdman, @akirby

 

In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of my beloved '95 Club Wagon Chateau.... 14 meaningful posts to go, LOL!

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I can't think of any good reason not to give you the VIN.  Once the VIN is assigned the order is locked in and neither the order or the VIN number will change unless the order is cancelled.  Sounds fishy to me, but maybe the salesman isn't very experienced and is making an honest mistake.   Call the sales manager and explain what happened and see what he/she says.

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