Unfortunately Ford has the leverage now.
Going to dealers pretty much is literally about 10K more expensive than what I have ordered, just by looking Cars.com .
Unfortunately for our orders they are not giving basic responses, which is a huge issue and will be certainly remembered when we come back to shop for a car.
Having the leverage today does not mean they will have leverage forever, and they are risking to lose the loyal customer base who buys the most expensive and profitable product in their line up.
In my situation the best in the moment is keep the orders as they are and put a pressure in the dealers to try to compensate some of the mess in the value of the trade in.
Model: Expedition Platinum in Infinite Blue with Sandstone, rear bench, tow package
Ordered : 10/15
Production Schedule: changed 7 times from February 14th to May30th
Update:
Dealer informed based on Ford sales/dealer rep. the hold up of my Expedition was exclusively the Multicontour, reason why being moved.
Likely will not going to come with rear seat climate control although will be later installed by the dealer.
For now is scheduled on May 30th but still can change.
- When asked about the depreciation of my vehicle, which will be out of warranty
tomorrow and the interest rates in the financing dealer mentioned nothing could be
done.
- My wife will be in Florida for 2 months starting on June 12th and therefore if they
delivered after I requested if they could ship the car to Florida they mentioned nothing
can be done.
- They could hold the car maximum until early August when she is back, although
depreciation on my car and we will be out of warranty would count even considering
it is exclusively Ford fault.
- When I asked to them why other Platinums with exact same configuration are being
delivered before mine which was ordered in the first day he could not explain exactly
what happened, although may though it is something to do with X plan.
- Dealer is apologetic and blaming Ford and chip situation for the mess. I used to work
supplying parts directly to Ford and they control very well the supply base ; in case
you are late they apply severe penalties and micro manage the situation, which is
hard to understand how they could not at least give information to customers.
- I mentioned to the dealer I have been very loyal to Ford and always purchasing the
top of the line models and heard they do not care which vehicle you buy and every
customer is the same.
Do not want to do any drama here but again all of this will be in my mind when shopping my next vehicle - I clearly mentioned this to the dealer.
As of additional rersearch for you who does not have info about your build, I believe we have 3 ways of getting info:
1. Dealer - specially the general manager
2. Ford Sales dealer rep - a person who reports to Ford and do the interface with the
dealer
3. Ford Marketing (800) 334 4375