Still waiting on a VIN # for my GT350R

[Buckwampum]

Hi everyone, this is my first time joining a forum and making a post here. I had a question: the dealer placed my order for a 2020 GT350R non-heritage at the beginning of June but today I saw the news that Ford is ending production this fall. I already knew this was the last year for the 350 but I wanted to know if I would still be able to get a VIN or was the order placed too late. I spoke to the dealer today and they told me they should still be able to build it but I have been waiting for about 4 months now and I haven't received a VIN #. I understand that with COVID, it stalled production but I am a little worried that my car won't be built before the deadline. Do I continue waiting for a VIN # or should I start looking elsewhere? If you’re curious, the spec is Kona Blue with white stripes. Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi Viz,
Welcome aboard, sorry it's not under happier circumstances. I read your post and put a filter on the GT350 VIN tracker web sheet maintained on this site by our outstanding member "corrieb".

The latest version was updated on 25 September. Corrieb usually updates it about once a week, but he just took delivery of a new GT350R HEP this week, so I imagine he's a bit distracted right now. Good for him!

To see the Excel file, go to the GT350 VIN topic in the forum:

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/2020-gt350-gt350r-vin-spreadsheet-thread.141540/


I filtered on all GT350R's made in Kona Blue. As of 25 Sept. 2020, they are a pretty rare bird, with 14 total being shown. I included all stripe possibilities in the filter (including lack of stripes) as you can add/change stripes after the fact, in a pinch.

The bad news is I see no Kona GT350R in the hopper for Frontier Ford, at least as of 25 Sept. I think the order bank is closed, so you better light up your dealer ASAP.

So for a Plan Bravo, it's time to fly-and-drive or buy-and-ship. I looked at the other Kona R's that are in the pipeline. None of the dealers that show as "Delivered" in the Excel sheet show the vehicles on their web sites, so that leads me to believe they are all sold and gone.

There is a KONA R en route to "Ford of Clermont" in Miami, FL. I used trackmymustang.com to get a look at the window sticker:

http://www.windowsticker.forddirect.com/windowsticker.pdf?vin=1FA6P8JZXL5551955

At the bottom of the sticker in the center box, you'll see this info:
"LH281 N RA 2X 045 000537 08 28 20". What you don't see is the words "SPECIAL ORDER" above that.

Usually (and I say that as an assumption) the lack of 'SPECIAL ORDER' means the car has been ordered for dealer stock. Others can chime in, but I know the window sticker for my car says "SPECIAL ORDER" and I ordered mine. See the difference here, at the bottom center of the sticker for my car:

http://www.windowsticker.forddirect.com/windowsticker.pdf?vin=1FA6P8JZ0L5552175:

So, use the VINs of the cars that are not yet listed as "Delivered" and see which may be available. You can use the method I described above, or just Google the dealers and call them, with the VIN from the spreadsheet handy.

Knowing you are in CA, I looked at the car w/ VIN ending in 2345, as it is going to IL and is the closest "non-Delivered" Kona R to you. It too does not say SPECIAL ORDER, so that may be a possibility:

http://www.windowsticker.forddirect.com/windowsticker.pdf?vin=1FA6P8JZXL5552345

I'd say VIN's 2175 and 2345 are your best shot for Plan B, if your dealer has screwed you. Better get on the phone Monday. When the cars are ordered or still in transit, virtually no one (including most folks at the dealership) will even know they are coming. You can strike first.

Good luck and keep us posted. I'm paying forward the help I got from corrieb and the forum members when I was trying to find a GT350 w/ no Tech Package. The spreadsheet was a godsend. And, if you can't fly-and-drive, the spreadsheet lets you see all the various colors available near your home base, so you may be able to find a second-choice color closer to home.

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[V8 Voodoo]

https://www.applefordshakopee.com/new-Shakopee-2020-Ford-Mustang-Shelby+GT350-1FA6P8JZ2L5552243

Kona gt350R with black stripes

 

[anacar312]

Thank you for initiating this thread as I am in similar situation....

Ordered mine August 18th and as 9/28 ford performance advised I was on unscheduled material hold.
I requested DORA From dealer (didn’t know what that was before this forum)... Wednesday I received a text from my salesman: “I brought your order out info to the attention of the corporate manager. I asked for them to escalate it and I will keep you posted how it goes.”

At this point I’m trying to be zen about it... if it’s meant to be it will be and all that.... but.....
I never received a firm answer about the DORA. Do I need to be nervous? One would think if Ford Performance (via chat and email) has the order and is providing updates it’s locked in, no? Could it really be possible the order goes from unscheduled material hold to.... sorry you don’t get one?

Thank you in advance to the buyers suppprt group.

 

[nordique14]

Frontier Ford sales is sketchy as hell. My wife bought her Escape from them. After that mess I vowed I would never set foot in their dealership again even tough they are right down the road from me. It would not surprise me if they were to screw you.

 

[lightrules]

Frontier Ford sales is sketchy as hell. My wife bought her Escape from them. After that mess I vowed I would never set foot in their dealership again even tough they are right down the road from me. It would not surprise me if they were to screw you.

why would you accuse them of being sketchy? why wouldnt you ever give them your biz again? i mean it's not like they have crazy ADMs or anything...

https://www.frontierford.com/new/Fo...30a0e0a176a8d7b3806d5547a.htm?searchDepth=1:3

 

[Buckwampum]

Thank you for initiating this thread as I am in similar situation....

Ordered mine August 18th and as 9/28 ford performance advised I was on unscheduled material hold.
I requested DORA From dealer (didn’t know what that was before this forum)... Wednesday I received a text from my salesman: “I brought your order out info to the attention of the corporate manager. I asked for them to escalate it and I will keep you posted how it goes.”

At this point I’m trying to be zen about it... if it’s meant to be it will be and all that.... but.....
I never received a firm answer about the DORA. Do I need to be nervous? One would think if Ford Performance (via chat and email) has the order and is providing updates it’s locked in, no? Could it really be possible the order goes from unscheduled material hold to.... sorry you don’t get one?

Thank you in advance to the buyers suppprt group.

Hi anacar-Can you find your car on the VIN tracking spreadsheet? Since you know the dealer and what car you ordered (R or non-R) and your choices for options, you should be able to find it on the tracking spreadsheet.

I found out my vehicle's VIN because I put a filter on the spreadsheet and found my dealer's name on the spreadsheet. I knew it was my car because of how I had configured it and I thus had my VIN a week ahead of my dealer telling me what it was.

If it's not on the spreadsheet, it's not likely to be built, now that we are near the end of the run.

 

[DrumReaper]

There’s a MAJOR factor in the equation no one is considering... available material.

Covid affected everything... that being said, R CF parts may not be as available as they were years prior and the window for production is closing quickly. More and more people want to score an R before times up and the availability of CF parts is going to put a limit on what can be produced, especially when you take into consideration that Ford likely has a set number of 350 HEP R’s they want to produce.

if you like what’s already on the spreadsheet I say negotiate a deal and go with it.

Also, ask @corrieb about some VINs (the last being an R as I recall) being cancelled.

And, lastly... I can’t tell you how many times from 2015 - present that I have heard, “Hey man, I have an R on order,” just to find out that the dealer didn’t even know that they didn’t even have an allocation for an R. I just dealt with that myself a few months ago when I asked a certain dealership to order an R... they said, “Okay, we can.” I told them that I was more familiar with GT350’s than anyone on their staff and the ordering process is not that easy... check with your rep and see if you have an allocation. As it turns out, they didn’t. So, it’s not uncommon to watch Ford dealership ignorance at work.

 

[anacar312]

Hi anacar-Can you find your car on the VIN tracking spreadsheet? Since you know the dealer and what car you ordered (R or non-R) and your choices for options, you should be able to find it on the tracking spreadsheet.

I found out my vehicle's VIN because I put a filter on the spreadsheet and found my dealer's name on the spreadsheet. I knew it was my car because of how I had configured it and I thus had my VIN a week ahead of my dealer telling me what it was.

If it's not on the spreadsheet, it's not likely to be built, now that we are near the end of the run.

Definitely been checking the spreadsheet for the dealer's name and have not seen it. Not many R HEP heading to WI so it only take a quick scan... I saw one going Metro Ford in Madison... but nothing for my WI dealer. Looks like I'll have to push a little harder next week to see if they actually got the order in or not. Thank you @Buckwampum

 

[anacar312]

There’s a MAJOR factor in the equation no one is considering... available material.

Covid affected everything... that being said, R CF parts may not be as available as they were years prior and the window for production is closing quickly. More and more people want to score an R before times up and the availability of CF parts is going to put a limit on what can be produced, especially when you take into consideration that Ford likely has a set number of 350 HEP R’s they want to produce.

if you like what’s already on the spreadsheet I say negotiate a deal and go with it.

Also, ask @corrieb about some VINs (the last being an R as I recall) being cancelled.

And, lastly... I can’t tell you how many times from 2015 - present that I have heard, “Hey man, I have an R on order,” just to find out that the dealer didn’t even know that they didn’t even have an allocation for an R. I just dealt with that myself a few months ago when I asked a certain dealership to order an R... they said, “Okay, we can.” I told them that I was more familiar with GT350’s than anyone on their staff and the ordering process is not that easy... check with your rep and see if you have an allocation. As it turns out, they didn’t. So, it’s not uncommon to watch Ford dealership ignorance at work.

Thank you @DrumReaper for the advice. I'm going to push a little harder for some answers from the dealer. I really don't think they would sell me a car they could not get one (there is a strong connection with the dealer).... but maybe that's just naiveté.
Otherwise, it may be time to get my deposit back and searching the spreadsheet... although my unwillingness to pay over MSRP may be the death hnell. Oh well, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. In the end it's only a car. There will be others.... but this one sure would be nice.

 

[Viz]

Did you put a deposit down at all on the car? Normally when using a credit card, they won't charge it until Ford accepts the order. When I ordered mine, they charged my card a few days later after the dealer placed the order. It took me a little over a month to get a VIN and that was with a priority 1. Use the livechat and give them your order number and see if they have any additional info.

https://performanceparts.ford.com/contact-us/

If they don't have any new info, I would start pressing the dealer to see if the regional manger can change the order to priority 1. If that's not working, then I would start looking at other options because time is running out.

When I went to place the order I kept insisting that I put a deposit down but they told me not to worry. They said they didn't need a deposit because in the event I didn't want the car anymore they could just sell it to someone else. I thought that was a little strange but left it at that. I spoke to the salesman yesterday and he told me the order is still shown as "in order processing" I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not but he wouldn't give me a clear answer on the DORA. I will use the livechat and see if I can get any information. I'll try and speak to the regional manager as well. Thank you

 

[DrumReaper]

Not trying to be the bearer of questionably bad news but the latest batch of VINs only shows 2679 being a Kona and it’s headed to Peacock FL.

 

[Viz]

Hi Viz,
Welcome aboard, sorry it's not under happier circumstances. I read your post and put a filter on the GT350 VIN tracker web sheet maintained on this site by our outstanding member "corrieb".

The latest version was updated on 25 September. Corrieb usually updates it about once a week, but he just took delivery of a new GT350R HEP this week, so I imagine he's a bit distracted right now. Good for him!

To see the Excel file, go to the GT350 VIN topic in the forum:

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/2020-gt350-gt350r-vin-spreadsheet-thread.141540/


I filtered on all GT350R's made in Kona Blue. As of 25 Sept. 2020, they are a pretty rare bird, with 14 total being shown. I included all stripe possibilities in the filter (including lack of stripes) as you can add/change stripes after the fact, in a pinch.

The bad news is I see no Kona GT350R in the hopper for Frontier Ford, at least as of 25 Sept. I think the order bank is closed, so you better light up your dealer ASAP.

So for a Plan Bravo, it's time to fly-and-drive or buy-and-ship. I looked at the other Kona R's that are in the pipeline. None of the dealers that show as "Delivered" in the Excel sheet show the vehicles on their web sites, so that leads me to believe they are all sold and gone.

There is a KONA R en route to "Ford of Clermont" in Miami, FL. I used trackmymustang.com to get a look at the window sticker:

http://www.windowsticker.forddirect.com/windowsticker.pdf?vin=1FA6P8JZXL5551955

At the bottom of the sticker in the center box, you'll see this info:
"LH281 N RA 2X 045 000537 08 28 20". What you don't see is the words "SPECIAL ORDER" above that.

Usually (and I say that as an assumption) the lack of 'SPECIAL ORDER' means the car has been ordered for dealer stock. Others can chime in, but I know the window sticker for my car says "SPECIAL ORDER" and I ordered mine. See the difference here, at the bottom center of the sticker for my car:

http://www.windowsticker.forddirect.com/windowsticker.pdf?vin=1FA6P8JZ0L5552175:

So, use the VINs of the cars that are not yet listed as "Delivered" and see which may be available. You can use the method I described above, or just Google the dealers and call them, with the VIN from the spreadsheet handy.

Knowing you are in CA, I looked at the car w/ VIN ending in 2345, as it is going to IL and is the closest "non-Delivered" Kona R to you. It too does not say SPECIAL ORDER, so that may be a possibility:

http://www.windowsticker.forddirect.com/windowsticker.pdf?vin=1FA6P8JZXL5552345

I'd say VIN's 2175 and 2345 are your best shot for Plan B, if your dealer has screwed you. Better get on the phone Monday. When the cars are ordered or still in transit, virtually no one (including most folks at the dealership) will even know they are coming. You can strike first.

Good luck and keep us posted. I'm paying forward the help I got from corrieb and the forum members when I was trying to find a GT350 w/ no Tech Package. The spreadsheet was a godsend. And, if you can't fly-and-drive, the spreadsheet lets you see all the various colors available near your home base, so you may be able to find a second-choice color closer to home.

Thank you, for this information. I really appreciate it. I am going to call those dealerships next week and see what pricing is like. I'll be sure to let this thread know if it doesn't work out or if I manage to get one.

 

[Viz]

Not trying to be the bearer of questionably bad news but the latest batch of VINs only shows 2679 being a Kona and it’s headed to Peacock FL.

Aw man that sucks...thanks for letting me know. I wish the dealer hadn't dragged me along this roller coaster of emotions for such a long time.

 

[DrumReaper]

Aw man that sucks...thanks for letting me know. I wish the dealer hadn't dragged me along this roller coaster of emotions for such a long time.

If it makes you feel any better, my HEP R sat in order processing from early June to mid August.

 

[Hi-PO Stang]

Does Ford not send an e-mail to the buyer that they have received your order ?

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