For those waiting on a steering wheel

[Jps920]

Every day I log in to check the tracking of my vehicle, and every day it goes up by one day. I am now at 15 days :( Has anyone's EDD started to go down, or is everyone else in the same position?

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[Bear376]

All I get is n/a on delivery estimate. I just wish Ford would set up an information portal to release information to those involved. Knowing how many that are getting done on the 8000 and other info would go a long way. We don’t know if they are receiving any more than 800 units to just handle what is on the assembly line, or enough to fix 2,3,400 a day. Or are they just going to wait until they are down to one shift and run them through after that for three weeks. Nothing we say or do will change their plans, but there are 8000 customers that would appreciate knowing.

 

[Pero]

^
This!
I have ordered my mid September 2018 and I have no information about the status. No build week, no VIN, no EDD, nothing.
Just blindly waiting since dealer has no information whatsoever.
Shortage of information here in Europe is even bigger than in USA.
Which makes waiting very painful.

 

[Zooks527]

Mine switched to "In Production / Produced 2/18" on February 18. At that time, my countdown was 10 days to 2/28. It counted down every day until then, and now it's incrementing up by one every day.

The tracker is clearly designed only for cars that don't hit an exception. For cars on hold, the date calculator simply determines how many days it is from the current date to the estimated date, even if it's in the past.

 

[jholly36]

Mine switched to "In Production / Produced 2/18" on February 18. At that time, my countdown was 10 days to 2/28. It counted down every day until then, and now it's incrementing up by one every day.

The tracker is clearly designed only for cars that don't hit an exception. For cars on hold, the date calculator simply determines how many days it is from the current date to the estimated date, even if it's in the past.

Same boat - I think what we need now is something OTHER than the tracker - someone or some new system specifically capable of letting those of us affected know SOMEthing about possibly when we could get our cars. My order was placed 10/20 and unfortunately for me they acted on production the week of the shortage. Gee, thanks. Would have rather waited a few more weeks than be in this mess, as I have said before, since I am now waiting forever??? They will get to me when they can? That plan is not acceptable to me esp now that spring is almost here. New problem, new info system needed. Ford has dropped the ball (again) on my order.

 

[MMApex]

I am in the same boat. Tracker counting up and I just marked five months since my order date.

Dealer has no additional info beyond the car is built.

Has any car actually been delivered to a dealer with a blend date after 1/20 or so? I have yet to see proof. All the new listings with blend dates after 1/20 on dealer websites either do not have photos or are marked in transit.

As others have said, the question is how fast they are fixing 8,000 cars without steering wheels in the middle of winter in Michigan and what that process looks like, including QC and shipping those cars out.

And, to what extent that supplier can ramp up; which I imagine is not all that much.

 

[Ikzz]

^
This!
I have ordered my mid September 2018 and I have no information about the status. No build week, no VIN, no EDD, nothing.
Just blindly waiting since dealer has no information whatsoever.
Shortage of information here in Europe is even bigger than in USA.
Which makes waiting very painful.

I made an order in December and I actually have a VIN so I think that your situation is not normal. I'm from Spain.

In this forum I saw that a lot of times cases like yours actually are related to allocations problems where dealers accept orders without informing the client about the impossibility to actually process them.

I think you should go to your rep and ask about this because there is an high probability that you are being screwed.

 

[Zooks527]

Has any car actually been delivered to a dealer with a blend date after 1/20 or so? I have yet to see proof. All the new listings with blend dates after 1/20 on dealer websites either do not have photos or are marked in transit.

I think I've seen one or two here on the forum, with build dates after 2/25. I'll take a look later and link it if I find it again.

As others have said, the question is how fast they are fixing 8,000 cars without steering wheels in the middle of winter in Michigan and what that process looks like, including QC and shipping those cars out.

And, to what extent that supplier can ramp up; which I imagine is not all that much.

I played some math games in another post. Repeating it here.

For argument's sake, assume the plant running double shifts can produce 800 cars per day (this would give the 8000 cars made without steering wheels over 2 weeks figure given by the DFP). That number is probably pretty close to the maximum that can be run through the QC and shipping cycles. Now assume how many extra cars they can upfit and add to the system. Even if the plant could accomodate a 25% increase in throughput for those areas, that's only 200 cars / day that can be upfit, QC'd, and shipped. It will take 8 weeks to clear the backlog at that rate.

Now, I pulled that "upfit 200/day" number out of the air. If the real number is higher, it will take less than 8 weeks. If the real number is lower, it can go on for quite some time.

The same thing happens when you try to figure out just how many cars they can / do make at the plant. The Detroit Free Press story talked about "8000 Mustangs" being made without the wheel, but how correct is that number? Sales data for the last several years (https://raycee1234.blogspot.com/2017/12/ford-mustang-yearly-production-numbers.html) show a production capacity that suggests upwards of 175,000 cars per year. Even if you assume 3 months of assorted vacations / shutdown / changeovers, that suggests a full peak production rate of around 4400 cars/wk over a 40 week production span at full capacity. With the more recent sales rate (http://fordauthority.com/fmc/ford-m...ord-sales-numbers/ford-mustang-sales-numbers/) supporting a rate of perhaps 60 % of that (2500 cars / week), you need to question the "8000 cars without wheels" number as well as my assumptions above about rework rates and time.​

That's the real burr under the saddle here - the fact that any real data is being held really close to the vest by Ford, without even the dealer network having a means to get a customer some info. Almost makes you want to go start test driving Corvettes as soon as it gets a bit warmer.

 

[Chs51]

My Blend date of 01/23/2019 on Ford’s tracker shows a delivery date 36 days from today (3/10/19), up 2 days from when I last checked on 3/8. It finished production, as I understand it, on 2/5/19 and now sitting for that “steering wheel”. With no honest info coming from the dealer, I wish we had some way of getting accurate shipping dates. So frustrating...

 

[jholly36]

With no honest info coming from the dealer, I wish we had some way of getting accurate shipping dates. So frustrating...

I agree completely! The last my dealer said was that “there’s no real holdup on yours” lol. I think Zooks527 has been my #1 source of info!

I thought I saw one car on here in the 2019 orders placed thread - TLaurent8 I think had a scheduled build date of 2/25 with a priority of like 01 and the car is done and delivered.

 

[1bads550]

I’ll be curious to see what this does for the rest of us who ordered before the shortage but still not built yet. Mine is scheduled for delivery on 4/10... build date is going to be 3/26 (or maby not lol) and order date was 1/28.... and for some reason I got priority code 01 as well... ideas?

 

[Zooks527]

I’ll be curious to see what this does for the rest of us who ordered before the shortage but still not built yet. Mine is scheduled for delivery on 4/10... build date is going to be 3/26 (or maby not lol) and order date was 1/28.... and for some reason I got priority code 01 as well... ideas?

You should be good, especially based on TLaurent's experience.

Cars going on the line since ~2/25 have reportedly been getting the steering wheels and continuing normally. It's cars built between the 1/17 plant shutdown and the 2/25 return of the steering wheel supply that seem to have been set to the side.

 

[1bads550]

You should be good, especially based on TLaurent's experience.

Cars going on the line since ~2/25 have reportedly been getting the steering wheels and continuing normally. It's cars built between the 1/17 plant shutdown and the 2/25 return of the steering wheel supply that seem to have been set to the side.

Kinda bullshit really, I meen ofcorse I would love to get my car first but that’s not fair to everyone else.. especially these guys who ordered in October and November like.. what’s up with that?! And why did I get a 01 priority code do you think?

 

[Bear376]

Each dealer has a priority range, but 10 and below are only at the district level. The big multi-store dealers get that way by having enough sway to jump the line and get vehicles before the smaller dealers.

The problem is that the cars built without steering wheels present a unique problem that Ford has no clue how to resolve. On the line, the steering wheel is 5-10 minutes of labor, but off the line that become over an hour and involving probably two or more people.

 

[Pero]

I made an order in December and I actually have a VIN so I think that your situation is not normal. I'm from Spain.

Where and how did you get your VIN?
My dealer told me he will get the VIN only when car arrives in Zeebrugge, not before.
I have order number and dealer code, but it's worthless since COTUS isn't working any more.

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