King Ranch ordered 8/20/21

[Harrisden54]

I ordered an F350 King Ranch diesel on August 20 with adaptive steering, spray in bed liner, adaptive cruise and 5th wheel prep. Been reading as much as I can find on this forum for a couple of weeks. Lately I've been checking  with the salesman on Fridays every couple of weeks.  I do have a copy of the Preview order: Sales code F53049, Order code 0821, Priority code 19.

I still do not have VIN.  A couple weeks ago after reading several posts on here I asked the salesman if  changing the priority to 10 would move things along a little quicker but he didn't seem to know what I was talking about. I have seen on here where several orders have been scheduled lately and I am wondering if there is something I shoudl be talking to my salesman about.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[ice-capades]

21 minutes ago, Harrisden54 said:

I ordered an F350 King Ranch diesel on August 20 with adaptive steering, spray in bed liner, adaptive cruise and 5th wheel prep. Been reading as much as I can find on this forum for a couple of weeks. Lately I've been checking  with the salesman on Fridays every couple of weeks.  I do have a copy of the Preview order: Sales code F53049, Order code 0821, Priority code 19.

I still do not have VIN.  A couple weeks ago after reading several posts on here I asked the salesman if  changing the priority to 10 would move things along a little quicker but he didn't seem to know what I was talking about. I have seen on here where several orders have been scheduled lately and I am wondering if there is something I shoudl be talking to my salesman about.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

If the sales representative doesn't know about priority codes, he doesn't know anything about the retail ordering or scheduling process. You should talk directly to the sales manager. 

[Harrisden54]

Thanks for the quick reply.  Is it unusual that 22 weeks after I ordered the truck I am still at priority 19 and have not got a VIN?

[CaptainKopper]

Considering you have all the items with commodities restraints, 22 weeks is still early. I doubt many dealerships would move you up in priority without you pressing them for it, especially seems how your salesman has no clue what it is. 

[road turtle]

5 hours ago, ice-capades said:

 

If the sales representative doesn't know about priority codes, he doesn't know anything about the retail ordering or scheduling process. You should talk directly to the sales manager. 

Then what the heck does a salesman do?  Give me a web based order system so I can get it right and not have any mistakes.  Me thinks this dealership model is broke.

[CBears]

I do find it odd that you haven't moved to 02 priority after this much time though.  Most of us spent MONTHS on 02 priority.

[ice-capades]

14 hours ago, Harrisden54 said:

Thanks for the quick reply.  Is it unusual that 22 weeks after I ordered the truck I am still at priority 19 and have not got a VIN?

 

Part of it would depend on how many unscheduled 2022 Super Duty orders are in the dealership's USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) with lower priority codes (10-18) and the age of those orders. You should talk to your Dealer. 

[ice-capades]

12 hours ago, road turtle said:

Then what the heck does a salesman do?  Give me a web based order system so I can get it right and not have any mistakes.  Me thinks this dealership model is broke.

 

The system actually works quite well if the right individuals are managing a dealership's USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) properly. It takes time, effort and attention to detail to make sure the vehicle specifications are correct, confirmed with the customer, proper and appropriate priority codes assigned, adjusting priority codes when appropriate, reviewing the AM Preview Scheduling Reports, reviewing Ford's weekly scheduling notes, being aware of commodity restraint updates, etc. 

 

Unfortunately, there are few dealerships that properly maintain their USOB's. Part of it is staffing shortages, along with the responsibilities placed on dealerships by Ford. In addition, Ford continuously creates new programs and processes that dealerships have to comply with. 

[CBears]

48 minutes ago, ice-capades said:

 

The system actually works quite well if the right individuals are managing a dealership's USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) properly. It takes time, effort and attention to detail to make sure the vehicle specifications are correct, confirmed with the customer, proper and appropriate priority codes assigned, adjusting priority codes when appropriate, reviewing the AM Preview Scheduling Reports, reviewing Ford's weekly scheduling notes, being aware of commodity restraint updates, etc. 

 

Unfortunately, there are few dealerships that properly maintain their USOB's. Part of it is staffing shortages, along with the responsibilities placed on dealerships by Ford. In addition, Ford continuously creates new programs and processes that dealerships have to comply with. 

This is what I found at my dealership. Best group of guys anyplace. Always returned my calls, would talk to me as long as I like. I even text back and forth with my salesman. My family has been using the same guy for 20 years. Problem is just that. Nobody there knows how to use the system. I’ve used multiple tidbits I learned here, mostly thanks to Ice, to teach them some stuff about their system and process. Btw, they also took that really well and thanked me for the info. 

[akirby]

A lot of these dealerships are 30, 40 or 50+ years old and they’ve never had to worry about most of this ordering stuff.  They just ordered stock and sold whatever showed up and if they did a special order it was just put in the order and call the customer when it came in.  This new world is going to force them to adapt and change and get better or get left behind.

[CBears]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

A lot of these dealerships are 30, 40 or 50+ years old and they’ve never had to worry about most of this ordering stuff.  They just ordered stock and sold whatever showed up and if they did a special order it was just put in the order and call the customer when it came in.  This new world is going to force them to adapt and change and get better or get left behind.

Honestly I kind of miss the old way a bit. Good service. Person to person communication. Kind of impersonal now. 

[Rak320]

Hopefully this new age of ordering will get better as we go. It’s unsustainable as is. Maybe a pipe dream, but I like getting exactly what I want in a truck. The wait is awful though 

[akirby]

1 hour ago, CBears said:

Honestly I kind of miss the old way a bit. Good service. Person to person communication. Kind of impersonal now. 

Why is it impersonal?  You’re still ordering from and interacting with the dealer.  The only difference is you now get additional emails on order status.

[787Toolman]

On 2/3/2022 at 12:44 PM, Harrisden54 said:

I ordered an F350 King Ranch diesel on August 20 with adaptive steering, spray in bed liner, adaptive cruise and 5th wheel prep. Been reading as much as I can find on this forum for a couple of weeks. Lately I've been checking  with the salesman on Fridays every couple of weeks.  I do have a copy of the Preview order: Sales code F53049, Order code 0821, Priority code 19.

I still do not have VIN.  A couple weeks ago after reading several posts on here I asked the salesman if  changing the priority to 10 would move things along a little quicker but he didn't seem to know what I was talking about. I have seen on here where several orders have been scheduled lately and I am wondering if there is something I shoudl be talking to my salesman about.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I suspect if you're willing to drop AS, spray in bed liner and 5th wheel prep, your order would be scheduled in about a week and you'd be assigned a VIN.  That's what I did on my F350 King Ranch after they said I'd have to wait 29 weeks.