NEVER Factory order a Mustang

[Jetnoise]

It's on a car hauler...... not yours yet

Sponsored

 

[Jetnoise]

Let me guess you pitched a tent for the moment in the parking lot

 

[Spike-S550]

You should think yourself lucky for those of us overseas and wanting Right Hand drive vehicles the wait is considerable , my 2016 Mustang took in excess of 14 x Months to arrive in Australia ! However it was well worth the wait.

 

[Silver Bullitt]

Let me guess you pitched a tent for the moment in the parking lot

Nope. It actually showed up a week before the EDD showing in COTUS. Trust me, I was as surprised as anyone when I got that pic texted to me from my salesman.

 

[Spork3245]

↑
Why I'll never understand why anyone has to factory order a Mustang. There's a zillion on the lot around me and you save a ton buying off the lot.
The only car you factory order is something like a BMW, Audi, or Porsche to avoid paying for several thousands in options (as in $10K+) that only ordering can avoid in most dealerships.
Incorrect. You can get the same discounts on ordered cars. The notion that you’d pay sticker just because it’s a custom order is silly, at best. I paid $48k for my $53k+ custom order before sales tax but including tags, title, doc, destination, etc, which means over $6k off sticker. Approximately $5-6k in savings from sticker after incentives is average. Places like Koon’s with $7k below sticker advertisements is after incentives and before tags, title, their ridiculous $600+ doc fee and even before the $900 destination fee - after you add all that in you’re looking at the typical $5-6k discount virtually every dealership will do.
And no, I could not and still cannot find a single Mustang spec’d the way I have mine on any lot in the country - multiple dealerships checked for me prior to me placing an order.


Post your buyers order with those discounts please!!!!
If you are just trolling the internet sites of dealerships you are being mislead by the add. Unless of course your all of these .......new grad, first responder, teacher, x plan' military service, member of some credit union or a customer already of some auto insurance company.......
Devil is in the details.

The discount was just a bit below invoice/Xplan plus the current $1500 incentive. It’s not even a crazy deal, go check the order forum, not sure why you want pics.
I didn’t negotiate when ordering beyond a handshake and that they’ll get me below Invoice (didn’t even do a down payment) - did it all the day I went to pick it up. Was pretty painless, plus they purchased my leased 2016 GT Premium for about $1200 above its residual, which took care of my last two payments and gave me about another $400 towards the car.

 

[Ace]

In europe the situation is pretty much the same. People usally order new vehicles from the factory here but the Mustang is a horrible car to order for the customer. Some cars get here 2 months after production, other cars from the same build week take several months more because they are parked somewhere on the transport route for no explainable reason.
My 15 Mustang was build in April but arrived at the dealer in September. Many customers who ordered later already got their car. It was just frustrating.

 

[K-Roll302]

Factory ordering a Mustang was one of the easiest and coolest experiences I've ever had as a car enthusiast! The thought of having a Mustang built specifically for me was too good a dream to pass up and at the time I did it (around the time '17s were hitting lots), there was absolutely no way I was gonna find the Mustang I wanted anywhere. Why? Because no dealer in their right mind would order a manual EB with Recaros and the Performance Package for a regular sale; especially in Grabber Blue when they were just coming out! Luckily, I'm insane enough to order just that!

The whole waiting process was a little over a month and the only trouble I had was getting the confirmation of order right away and that was sorted out quickly. The problem with these all encompassing threads about "never do this or that" is that every experience, dealership, service department, salesperson, and even location, what have you, they're all different. And because of that, everyone will have experiences ranging from good to bad; clearly yours was the latter and that's most unfortunate. However, sharing your experience as if everyone else will have the same, is honestly unfair.

Again, my sympathies to your series of unfortunate events (special sympathies to Europeans ordering, I don't even wanna know what that's like...), but as some people say these days, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)...

 

[Zelek]

I had a similar situation as you. I ordered 2016 GT convertible on May 3, 2015. Received the car on Sept. 24, 2015. COTUS was useless.
Dealer pretty much was up front about how long it would take considering that the production line would go down during the month of July for a week. This is due to the year changeover. Also, being a convertible make the process longer. The wait was well worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed that car.

BTW, the dealer was Covert Ford in Austin,Tx. I have always been very pleased with this dealership.

If I order a Mustang in the future, it will be from them again. Looks like they are very familiar with the process and take a lot of orders so that helps.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Why I'll never understand why anyone has to factory order a Mustang. There's a zillion on the lot around me and you save a ton buying off the lot.

Sure . . . if all of the following apply ↓↓↓

• you don't have any "deal-breaker" as-equipped situations (these can be either "must-haves" or "must-not-haves").
• you don't mind paying for things you wouldn't have ordered that aren't quite deal-breaker level.
• you don't mind badly enough not getting things that you would have ordered.
• you can live with a car that's equipped mechanically and feature-wise the way you'd have ordered it except that it's in a different color.

For some customers, the chances of finding a car on a lot equipped exactly the way they'd have put together their own order range between [very] slim and none, and slim is headed for the door. For other customers, or for when shopping for a different category of car, there can be a lot more tolerance for discrepancies between want and availability.


Norm

 

[Colleton]

You know this forum has an order/price/tracking sub-forum with a nice thread called "Mustang Buying Basics and COTUS Guide" that explains the order process and shows you how to track your order, right?

I ordered my 60K GT350 in July and it was delivered in October. I used cotus to watch the build progress and even tracked the train it was on as it made it's way from Flat Rock to Atlanta.

 

[Zelek]

Sure . . . if all of the following apply ↓↓↓

• you don't have any "deal-breaker" as-equipped situations (these can be either "must-haves" or "must-not-haves").
• you don't mind paying for things you wouldn't have ordered that aren't quite deal-breaker level.
• you don't mind badly enough not getting things that you would have ordered.
• you can live with a car that's equipped mechanically and feature-wise the way you'd have ordered it except that it's in a different color.

For some customers, the chances of finding a car on a lot equipped exactly the way they'd have put together their own order range between [very] slim and none, and slim is headed for the door. For other customers, or for when shopping for a different category of car, there can be a lot more tolerance for discrepancies between want and availability.


Norm

^ This.

I really wanted the Premier Trim, 401A, enhanced security, and navigation so I don't have to use my phone data. There were TONS of models in black with this setup, but some of them threw on options like adaptive cruise too. Getting everything to line up right on a dealer lot would require you to travel across states in many cases. That or leaving it in your saleman's hands to find that car and have it shipped/delivered from another dealer which may or may not be 100% the way you like it.

Plus, I got Grabber Blue which I felt made it a little exclusive and different from the rest. Not quite as many out there.

 

[wanted33]

Doing ones homework before ordering is important as dealers, and sale people could care less if the car come in in 4 weeks, or 40 weeks. I learned that during my first order of a new car in 1986. I now make sure that I know the start, and end production dates, if the dealer actually has an allocation for the car I'm ordering, and make damn sure none of the options I order is on restraint. It takes a little time, but it helps me when I get ready to make an order. Even with all the stars aligned, it took 10 weeks to get our '18. And yes, we were told the old standard 4 - 6 weeks.

Sorry to hear you had such a hard time my friend.

 

[LGNDLVS]

NEVER FACTORY ORDER A FORD...the process is a nightmare and the customer service is useless/non-existent. Ford don't give a rat's *** about you once they've booked the sale...they gamble on the fact that you won't cancel the order once they give you a delivery date as you will have already wasted up to 2 months waiting for this information.

Either buy off the lot or choose another manufacturer.

I custom ordered a fully loaded 2019 Mustang GT Premium Convertible from my local dealer on May 11th; remember, this is a $55,000 purchase. At that time I was told, in writing on my purchase order, that my car would be delivered within 6 - 8 weeks. OK, that was a mistake on the dealer's part and, when I still didn't have my VIN after 5 weeks, they admitted their mistake and revised that to a 10 - 12 weeks estimated delivery. I stated clearly at the time that I was ultra-sensitive to delivery as I had a very bad experience with a previous custom factory order.

I eventually got my VIN after about 6 - 7 weeks and COTUS showed my delivery date to be 17 - 18 weeks from the date of my order, with the admonishment that this date is not fixed... it could be longer! The factory order process is a big black hole from the customer's point of view. COTUS is useless...it was showing the details of a previously ordered and delivered Explorer until the VIN was created.

NO CUSTOMER SERVICE: My dealer told me that my order "does not exist" as far as Ford is concerned until the VIN is created. For 5 - 6 weeks they could not tell me when the VIN would be created. They stated that this was in the hands of the regional rep and that neither they nor I had any influence over this. I was told that I was not allowed to even talk to the rep. Ford Corporate were even less help...they claimed that hey had no record of my order and would not have any information until the VIN was created! I was/still am being bounced between Ford Corporate and the dealer.

As I said above, a couple of days after I received the VIN from my dealer COTUS was updated with a delivery date of September 5th, this was revised down to August 31st but, given that nobody, my dealer or Ford Corporate, can/will tell me what the scheduled build/shipping date is, I have no idea if this is accurate or not. But I've been warned again that my August 31st delivery date is not confirmed...with 5 weeks to go, it's almost guaranteed that it won't be delivered earlier but could well be delivered later.

I'm a member of several Mustang forums and I learned from another member last week that they are receiving their (very similar) mustang next week (4 weeks earlier than mine) even though they ordered their vehicle 2 weeks after me. So their net delivery time is 6 weeks earlier than mine even though I placed my order earlier.

I again contacted Ford's Customer Relationship Department but again, that was worse than useless. They claim that they have no knowledge of my build date and that I should work with my dealer. My dealer tells me that they have no more information than I do as they depend on COTUS as well.

So let that sink in...I have made a $55,000 purchase and Ford Customer Service claim that they have no information at all about my vehicle's build date...and, although somebody at Ford must have some information, unless the COTUS dates are totally fictitious, nobody knows or nobody will tell me anything about the status of my purchase...What I am being told is that NOBODY at Ford can/will tell me when my car will be built an delivered.

It is evident from my experience that Ford simply do not care about customers who factory order their cars. The process is arcane, not even my dealer can explain the process or the factors affecting scheduling/build/delivery. Ford operate this process entirely to suit their needs and not those of their customers...I've been told, not in so many words, that if your don't like it we don't care.

My guess is that factory orders are a nuisance to Ford and, as this probably doesn't represent a large revenue stream in the scheme of things, that they can afford to alienate buyers like me...this will by my 5th new mustang purchase, but this experience is sorely testing my loyalty to Ford.

This is not the first time that I've had this problem. I factory ordered a Mustang a number of years ago from another dealer who outright lied about the price/delivery...etc. I was given a 6 - 8 week delivery estimate which turned out to be 20 - 26 weeks. I had to sue the dealer to get my deposit refunded...Ford Corporate were no help then either.

Why is this an issue for me, other than impatience to receive my shiny new mustang convertible whilst the sun is still out? My trade-in is the issue. My trade-in value continues to diminish as every week goes by. Worse...I, like most buyers, am funding my new purchase by using the residual value in my existing Mustang. My dealer will not even discuss the value of my trade-in against the purchase of my new Mustang until the delivery has been scheduled, i.e., 1 - 2 weeks before my new car is due to hit the lot. At that time, I will be in a very weak bargaining position...they can, and probably will, low-ball me as they have me over a barrel. If I get an unacceptably low offer for my existing car, I'll either have to eat several thousand Dollars of loss, i.e., borrow more or, run round like a rat on crack trying to sell the car privately before I have to seal the deal on financing. I obviously can't sell my existing car early as I will then have no transport.

In summary, Ford operate the custom order system for their benefit and their benefit only. It is totally unacceptable to me, as it would be to any reasonable person, that I have committed to a $55,000 purchase and I can get no meaningful information as to when I will receive my product. Adding insult to injury, Ford simply don't care and they could not be less helpful.

Don't even get me started about how Ford prioritized the Bullitt build, frequently with no live customer orders, above the build and delivery of vehicles with real live customers who placed orders in good faith. Another example of Ford stiffing their customers and prioritizing their own interests above those of the customer.

 

[ElAviator72]

But did you actually SPEND that money? No. The whole deposit thing is to help one get locked in to the buy process, mainly because the custom configuration may be a hard sell otherwise. Not everyone might want those options; meaning that sits on the lot taking up space. My dealer wanted a $500 check as that hold fee. It also (ideally) keeps them from selling your VIN. Granted, they didn't cash that check so there's realistically nothing binding other than verbal agreements and what I did get in writing.

That's going to depend on the dealer. Sounds like your dealer treats it like "earnest money" in a real estate deal. My dealer required a $500, non-refundable deposit before placing the order (which is also $500 off the purchase price when the car gets in). I've heard some dealers in my area will do a no deposit order (as long as you're not ordering a true odd duck...).

 

[lowatts]

Sure . . . if all of the following apply ↓↓↓

• you don't have any "deal-breaker" as-equipped situations (these can be either "must-haves" or "must-not-haves").
• you don't mind paying for things you wouldn't have ordered that aren't quite deal-breaker level.
• you don't mind badly enough not getting things that you would have ordered.
• you can live with a car that's equipped mechanically and feature-wise the way you'd have ordered it except that it's in a different color.

For some customers, the chances of finding a car on a lot equipped exactly the way they'd have put together their own order range between [very] slim and none, and slim is headed for the door. For other customers, or for when shopping for a different category of car, there can be a lot more tolerance for discrepancies between want and availability.


Norm

One other thing I would add to the list is: you don't mind buying a car that probably has been test driven, since nowadays most dealers treat any can on the lot as a "demo."

For the younger folks out there, demos were what we called cars used by the dealers specifically for test drives, and sold at a discount after they are no longer needed.

Sponsored