rpw2021
Well-Known Member
Just not a good time to buy a new vehicle right now.
If you can wait - not expecting twins or some of this nature - just wait one year.
Things will be very different by then, economy is slowing down and supply chain is starting easy up.
Conditions may be very different if you can wait.
Agreed it is a bad time to buy a new car right now.
However, I think most independent analysts think that things will not clear for *at least* 2-3 years. You can already tell with Ford that they are preemptively deleting literally any feature they think they can get away with for the '23 model years — so Ford is obviously planning for this to be worse, not better, through 2023.
The true solution for this is when Ford (and GM, which is in just as bad a mess as Ford) revamps its entire supply chain, operations, and ordering process. This is not a one-year (or even a five-year) project. The smaller more nimble carmakers will be quicker to adapt. You can order a Subaru or BMW and get it in 3-4 weeks at the local dealer. Unfortunately, the nimble carmakers don't make the big trucks....
I think if you want a new truck, you just have to bite the bullet and place the order and wait and hope they don't delete too many features in the meantime. Assume a one-year timeframe.
I've been waiting for my Limited MAX 302a since November, and it is now stuck at the plant railyard (since early May) with no ETA. It is not just chips that are causing problems -- Ford can't get enough rail cars in and out of the plant, there aren't enough car carriers to deliver cars to dealers, etc etc. Every single piece of the supply chain for Ford (and GM, I hear) is almost completely broken down -- from the ordering, to the parts, to the production, to the delivery. And any one of these things can trigger a huge delay.