UK Mustang Deposit <-> Build Confirmation Tracking

[9111tiles]

So has anyone heard from Ford that their car is on a boat? I had the email confirming they'd tell us (as per the below)

"Once your vehicle has cleared customs and is loaded onto a ship in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, we will be in touch again to share with you the name of the vessel. This will allow you to track its progress via www.vesselfinder.com. Once your vehicle has reached Zeebrugge, please allow 5-6 weeks for European customs clearance and onward delivery to the UK."

I find it hard to believe that given the build dates of all the cars, and the number of cars that are now "SHIPPED" (mine included, albeit fairly recently so probably not on a boat yet), that none are not sailing across the pond by now....

Would love to hear that someone has tracked their car onto a boat #hopeful

Karen emailed me yesterday, to say there was no updates and she would check again on Thursday !!

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[Stark]

So has anyone heard from Ford that their car is on a boat? I had the email confirming they'd tell us (as per the below)

"Once your vehicle has cleared customs and is loaded onto a ship in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, we will be in touch again to share with you the name of the vessel. This will allow you to track its progress via www.vesselfinder.com. Once your vehicle has reached Zeebrugge, please allow 5-6 weeks for European customs clearance and onward delivery to the UK."

I find it hard to believe that given the build dates of all the cars, and the number of cars that are now "SHIPPED" (mine included, albeit fairly recently so probably not on a boat yet), that none are not sailing across the pond by now....

Would love to hear that someone has tracked their car onto a boat #hopeful

Status Shipped doesn't mean on a boat, this means that it has shipped (been transported by train) from Flat Rock to Baltimore.
Status Compound In means it's arrived at the docks.
Status ???? will be when it's on the boat but we just don't know what ???? should be yet.

Mine should have Exited the port yesterday going by screenshots I have seen but I have no clue if it has but will check at the end of the week.

 

[McDoodle]

My dealer called me on Saturday with an update (and as I've said previously, he's been spot on so far with his information). He forewarned me about the letter we'll be getting confirming build delays and the 'vesselfinder' thing.

He seemed to think that the early run of cars was built more or less on schedule (with expected hiccoughs due to being the first RHD vehicles), but the slightly later cars are the ones that have been more significantly delayed.

As for cars being on a boat, according to his information for 'his' orders (and I believe he has around 80, including CL cars) none - as of last Friday anyway - were actually on a boat. Some were at the port, others still at Flat Rock, others in between on the rail system. Whether that applies to all cars or just the ones he knows about I'm not sure but just a bit of additional rumour/information I thought it was worth throwing into the mix.

 

[deep south]

Re. the point about buying your Porsche: it's little wonder it was a completely different ballgame when you consider their entry level car is/was the same price as Ford's halo product (GT not withstanding), so by treating you well they're softening you up come trade-in time when you may be persuaded into something a little higher spec. Ford can't do that with Mustang buyers since we're buying in at, for all intents and purposes, the top of their range. There's no need for them to keep us sweet as there's no upsell come trade-in time.

Isn't this pretty much the reason they are setting up the "Ford Stores" - to provide an "enhanced and premium" experience. Originally it was just for the Vignale and the Mustang, and the Focus RS was recently added. Every Ford Store is supposed to have a "dedicated" area. My local one (Hendy in Chandlers Ford) will be setting up their store by the end of the year; when I was in there a couple of weerks ago I could the Vignale on display was a "special product" - as it was at the back of the showroom, facing in the opposite direction to all the other cars...

 

[SteveS]

My dealer called me on Saturday with an update (and as I've said previously, he's been spot on so far with his information). He forewarned me about the letter we'll be getting confirming build delays and the 'vesselfinder' thing.

I have had this letter. It came from the dealer rather than Ford.

Thanks for ordering...production started...global success...significant pressure on current production timings...no scheduled build date...doing all we can to ensure by December at the latest...12 weeks FR to dealer...share the name of the vessel.

Oh, and they're conscious its a long wait.

Would love to know what "doing all they can" involves. From this I've assumed that a December build date could be a real possibility, doubtful earlier but could well be later. I'm-a-thinkin that the summer tyres may not be an issue for me for the first year

As they could knock out the entire RHD order list in a matter of days I guess there must be significant production line issues they're not telling us about.

 

[croyde]

My Etis has changed with extra stuff added like coil springs, also it says Premium Interior Trim.

 

[Toploader]

Re. the point about buying your Porsche: it's little wonder it was a completely different ballgame when you consider their entry level car is/was the same price as Ford's halo product (GT not withstanding), so by treating you well they're softening you up come trade-in time when you may be persuaded into something a little higher spec. Ford can't do that with Mustang buyers since we're buying in at, for all intents and purposes, the top of their range. There's no need for them to keep us sweet as there's no upsell come trade-in time.

Applying the same logic - if you bought the most expensive thing from Porsche would you expect them to dismiss customer service due to the fact that there's nothing more expensive that they could sell you in the future ? No, of course not, that's not how things work at all.

Do Ford just want to knock out big volumes of cheap vehicles to fleet buyers ? Anything more and they struggle ? Fair enough but what's the future for Vignale and Mustang in the UK ? Why bother with them and the whole Ford Store concept in the first place ?

How many new UK Mustang sales will there be in a year or two's time once this initial wave of interest dies away ? Not many I'd bet, which will lead to the possibility that they'll end up pulling the plug on them here.

 

[croyde]

Then they will become very rare. Just think.

 

[SteveS]

One of the reasons I got in at the start was that I wasn't convinced of how long i'd have the chance to buy an RHD Mustang. I don't believe they're here to stay.

 

[Centurion07]

Applying the same logic - if you bought the most expensive thing from Porsche would you expect them to dismiss customer service due to the fact that there's nothing more expensive that they could sell you in the future ? No, of course not, that's not how things work at all.

No, not at all. My point was that the market for ANY of Porsche's cars is much smaller than that for Ford's, so it's in their interest to keep you happy whereas Ford knows there will be another customer for one of it's "white goods" just around the corner.

Plus the fact that if you buy one of Porsche's top-of-the-range cars, there's one or two others in the range that may interest you; Ford don't have that, after all, just because you buy a Mustang it doesn't mean you have any interest whatsoever in the RS Focus. Not only is there no upsell, there's no sidesell there either.

 

[Monty]

well
I have been emailing Karen and andy over the last month or so as I thought they would have more accurate info
all the emails I have had last month from them stated that the boat had left with my car on it and still on time for a November delivery.
I tracked on vessellfinder to find boat (the ivory arrow) is still in dock at Maryland (13/10/15)
so if you take 14 days to reach zeebruuge, 4 weeks to go thru customs and underseal
2 weeks to uk dealer
we wont be getting the UCL cars this year
if it comes in December I definitely wont want it registered until jan 2016 (I bet the dealer will push for a 2015 registration though) as it is surprising how much extra a jan 16 car will be worth in a few years time than a dec 15 car
looks like no one still knows whats going on .....boooh hoooo

Mine was built ages ago and is still at Baltimore waiting to be put on the boat apparently. I've been told current estimate is around 15th December. I'm assuming it'll be a bit later so thinking about the Jan 2016 registration myself. I'm not sure if this will this really make much difference to the residuals? Any experiences?

Potential downsides are the short wait until after Christmas and knowing the car would be left with the clowns at the dealership. I can't picture this without my mind taking me to a picture of a car in one of those monkey enclosures at a safari park, but where they've got hold of the keys.

 

[Monty]

My Etis has changed with extra stuff added like coil springs, also it says Premium Interior Trim.

Mine says "Premium Marketing Trim", but "Level A Interior Decor" and "Less Interior Pack". In fact the word "Less" appears quite a lot!

Also says "Less Floor Mats-FIA" now - Surely the haven't decided making RHD mats is too much effort?

 

[croyde]

Any idea what FIA means?

 

[McDoodle]

Any idea what FIA means?

Aside from the obvious ......

..... no idea. 'Ford; Infuriating A:censoredles'

 

[Actual]

My Etis has changed with extra stuff added like coil springs, also it says Premium Interior Trim.

Behave, it really says Premium Marketing Trim

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