mjpell

Well Dave, I join the others whom want to really thank you for everything you did to try to pull this off. I too was looking forward to seeing my 05 being built, and driving it part of the way on the PonyDrive. However......now considering what happened to you (and us) I don't see myself running to my local Ford dealer anytime soon.....

I do hope someone from Ford contacts me so I can express my displeasure with how this was handled. It stinks that you were lead along for so many months, only to be told no go. It makes me wonder if they took us seriously.....

Anyway I think Ford's got a great thing going with the 05 Mustang. However it's too bad they couldn't figure out some way of hanging onto the $2.5 million in sales the Pony Drive group was willing to spend.

backafter20

I agree Ponylover. I love the Mustang also, and I will still buy one, whether I got to see it built or not. I am disappointed that the Pony Drive will not take place. I would have been so cool. But I am downright TICKED at Ford for pulling this stunt! I am TICKED because I have waited, even passed opportunities to buy a car! Ford should at least give us the X-plan anyway, 'cause while I still love the Mustang, Ford and I are not speaking right now. And don't be too hard on Dave. Can you imagine the time he put into this? He may have needed the discount to afford the car in the first place, or have other reasons why the new model doesn't suit him right now. We'll all deal with this in our own way.

PonyLover

Thanks Backafter20.

I do understand that Dave put alot of heart and soul into this. It just upset/hurt me that someone that loves the Mustang so much to have been putting this drive together for the past years now says he will not buy one. Hopefully he is just upset right now, maybe when things cool down a bit he will change his mind I hope.

My understanding from reading the post is that the Pony Drive will still happen.

jarrod sinn

I would like to thank Mr. Turnbull for trying to organize the Discount with Ford. I cannot believe Ford can not see the value in supporting the Pony Drive.

It would have been a great story for me and my son to share with our family and each other....remember when....

I too will probably not get a Mustang this year. It looks like I might have to do the Pony Drive in my Convertible Z-28. Maybe me and the guy with the S-10 can hang out. Hmmmmmm, I won't feel like a total dumb hiney.

It is not that I am hating the Mustang, I am hating the attitude of the company that makes the Mustang. Just in case Ford is reading this, besides the Mustang, my wife and I had a fully loaded Eddie Bauer Expedition picked out. However, if their attitude is such that my family and our experiences don't matter...then it will not matter to me if I go to the Chevrolet dealer and pick up a new Tahoe.

Customer service does still matter to me.

05mach1

I know Dave , he help us on 100th Anniv Ford back in 03, this is not right , I know lot MCA members and myshelf was going go on Pony drive to KC now is not going happen

Could be Bill Ford or someone at Ford don't understand about Ford Mustang history of it

Maverick128

I also would like to thank Dave for his effort.

I would love to get a new Mustang as well but without the X-Plan, that extra amount would be too much for me monthly. I already have to get a 6 year loan with the lowest possible interest rate I can. I've payed off $3000 in debt in four months and received a gift of $2000 for my downpayment from my Aunt. I'm e-mailing all the local dealers to see if any of them would order one for me using x-plan since I may be able to get one through my superviser's father-in-law who works for the local Ford plant.
I understand all the issues they are having with orders but that's no reason to forgive them for doing this. They should have know before hand that they would need to expect this kind of turnout for the new Mustang and act accordingly.

Tomley

I just don't understand the problem Ford is having with the idea. It's only 100 cars, not 1000. How many do they build a day there??? What if it was Pepsi and they wanted 100 cars to give away, would Ford accommodate them?

This was a once in a lifetime chance to see MY car being built. Who knows if something like this will ever happen again. Once again Ford really dropped the ball on this. I am upset, but I will still get a Mustang.

If for some reason someone from Ford sees this, please post and explain why.

Thanks
Tom Carpenter

Organizer1

I would like to thank everyone for their support. Reading all these posts was very informative.
The web post was to alert everyone to what was happening at Ford. On Jan. 20, I got a letter telling methat Ford was arranging someone to coordinate the cars and that thw 100 could not be built in 1 day, but over a few days. On Feb. 14, I received a call telling me that X was out of the question but we would now be classified as "promotion" cars. Actually, this was even better but I was asked to wait until final approval to announce it. Friday, I got the call telling me that Ford decided NOT to build the cars. Are we confused yet??
I picked 5 PM as I sent a letter VERY high up at Ford requesting a final decision and I explained that every item they used to deny us was full of holes. The biggest reason was that we would jump in front of those waiting for 6 months. I have people that were on the list from last JUNE and most averaged 7-8 months. Didn't do any good! The call at 4:30 lasted 45 minutes!
We will have a Pony Drive and we don't need Ford to do it. At this point, I don't care what you drive, we are more interested in the people. There will be plenty of Mustangs anyway. And I am serious about refunds. If you want your money back, we will send it to you. The goal of Pony Drive '05 is to get new members, not to sell a car or just take your money.
I do apologize for any problems this has caused you. Most would have ordered by now, but wanted to be a part of the car being built as well as the rest of the Pony Drive. I was serious about not getting one for myself. I already have Z Plan and it would have been a big discount for me, but the feeling I had about the car is gone. As with most of you, continuing to buy one now would just not feel right. I'll just put the money in the 64 and keep driving it!
If you are planning on attending at any point, please watch for the post so we can get a count and I can plan for hotels. We should still have enough for a decent rate at the hotels.
Ford will be calling everyone on the Pony Drive list so you can personally talk to someone at Ford. Remember the request for your SSN and DOB? This came directly from Ford in perparation of granting the X Plan. After all of you sent me the info, they changed again. For safety, we 're using Ronda's new shreader for those forms. She's having fun with them!!
Please contact me if you have any questions and thank all of you for your support. I hope most of you will make it along the route.

Tomley

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

Stinky Old Fart

I ordered a 2005 from a dealer months before joing the Pony Drive, and was prepared to cancell my dealer order should the Pony Drive come through. Ironically, my dealer order has become the fallback plan.

I had a feeling somthing was amiss as the first days of the Pony Drive schedule never made sense and kept changeing. Last week I requested a refund before Ford pulled-out.

If Ford wanted to make this right, they should offer the X-Plan, or even better, A-Plan, to all the Pony Drive participants that were planning on buying a car.

David expended many hours making plans that are now partilally flushed. Ford needs to make it right by him too.

funhog2

The Pony Drive site now has links to two letters from FORD.

David Fee, the Ford Marketing Manager for Mustang and Thunderbird (phone 313-845-0307 and fax 313-845-0709), gives every indication that the PONY DRIVE program is a go. No maybe about the support from Ford. The program was moving forward.

Then on Feb 25 he reverses position and says it's a no go. If it was not going to happen why waste all the time and effort only to drop the ball? The guy should be fired for the way he handled this.

Talk about the worst possible way to have handled this.

Thanks to David for all his efforts.

Jeff

Stinky Old Fart

Talk about the worst possible way to have handled this.

This is a public relations screw-up to the heart of the Mustang customer base.

cyoda44

As much as I love my new mustang..... This just drives a stake into my heart to see Ford do this to all the great and loyal supporters of our favorite car. I can honostly say if I had not already had my car when this came up I would have been at the top of the list to jump on board. This whole event really makes me wonder why? I guess Ford is really just a "used car" company out to make $$ at everyones expense.

By the way.... is spent over $$100K on ford products last year.... I WILL not do it again!!! SVT Cobra Vert, Mustang GT, and F150. I'll keep my Mustang and dump the rest.... OH... I use my Dealer to service my cars also, but after the warantee is over.. no longer!!

Me --> <---ford Take 2 of these and don't call me in the morning!!

outdoorstom

I'm really sorry to read how the participants of the Drive were treated. They most certainly should at a minimum honor the x-plan. Good luck to all.

redd6054

For some reason I don't feel it was David Fee's decision. If you read between the lines it almost seems he was told to from higher up, maybe because some big dealers got wind of this. I know managers do about faces but this time somthing smells of dealer revolt. Just starting rumors but that is my opinion

On another note I would like to thank Dave for all his hard work, especially after a hospital stay. I can't imagine the disapiontment after months of work going down the tubes. I for one now look at Ford wishing us success with the pony drive as BS from them, certainly there is no sincerety in the statement.


I hope that we still start in Flatrock, one of my goals in life is to see a car being built.
cheers Wolfgang

Mr.Zip

Like so many of us that had signed on for the Drive, I am disappointed and totally upset woth Ford. My original plan was to order my vert the beginning of the year. However, when I found out about the Pony Drive, I thought it would be a great time and I could handle the extra wait for my car. Now, I am scrambling to find a dealer here in Akron that will order a car at my price, not some astronomical figure over sticker. If anyone knows of a dealership in NE Ohio that they trust, let me know.

Dave: I want to thank you for all of the hard work you put into this project. I can only imagine how your felt when you rceived that letter on Friday. Your efforts will not and are not being overlooked by the true Mustang enthusiasts. Thanks for every thing.

Mr. Zip

2&2

PonyLover I enjoyed reading your post. Maybe I can help you understand a little about where Dave is coming from. When I seen what Dave had set up with Ford, I thought that I was back in the late 60's again. That is the same type of things that Ford was doing then. Giving cars to Shelby to fix up, Making California, High Country, Twister specials,ect. I though wow, a Pony Drive car with CDC aftermarket part and badge. This is the type of car that makes a Legend. Without stories like that the 05' plain jane Mustang will just go down in value like any other car. It takes some limited editions or something like that to increase the value of all the Mustang down the road. Now allot of the people that where going to buy the new Pony Drive 05' know that this is the best Mustang built so far. Not the BEST but the "best built". They have been waiting for a car that matches up with the early cars and this is the one. Now this. They were going to be driving billboards across America for Ford. Now they(I) are going to put there money into the first generation cars, maybe even get that Shelby. Then wait for the 2014.

backafter20

I was so ticked off, I went to my local Ford dealership that I have been frequenting lately, just so I could bad-mouth Ford about their latest PR blunder. My salesman was aware of the Pony Drive I was signed up for, and was nearly as excited as I was. (I had intended to order the car there and courtesy deliver it to Flat Rock.) He just couldn't believe that Ford would drop the ball like this. After hearing my sob story, he grinned and offered me X-plan on a GT order! I nearly hit the floor. I ordered right then and there. What's more, he claims that I have only one GT ordered ahead of me, and it should be built by now, so my car would conceivably be delivered sometime in May! We'll see about that, but to think that I could possibly even catch up with the Pony Drive... Today is much better than yesterday. I wish all 101 of us could land a deal as well. Maybe Ford will come through?

Maverick128

I wish I could find a dealer in St. Louis that would even accept an X-plan pin let alone just give me the discount. I tried the same thing you did backafter20 and the salesman seemed angry about it and even asked the sales manager about accepting an x-plan but they said no. I NEED to find someone who will take x-plan for an order. HEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!! Thank you.

Mtang78

I just wanted to offer my understanding and sympathy to what all of you registered for the Pony Drive are going through. This is a huge marketing blunder for Ford. I can see both sides -- Ford is behind on building and many of us have been waiting for months and delay after delay. They just didn't realize how big a grand slam home-run the Mustang was going to be. However, they should have been better organized -- in the building and the marketing. Ford had no business even insinuating that the Pony Drive special was a remote possibility considering the problems they have had building this car in a timely manner. For that, I blame Ford. They have hurt themselves as a company and they didn't need that.

For those of you who still want to order a new '05 Mustang, I have a dealer I would like to recommend. Our '05 is the first new car we have ever purchased, but we have purchased used cars from this dealer. Their customer service is second to none and they'll give you a really good deal. And, they don't make promises that they can't keep. The dealership is Mooney Motors of Charleston, Illinois. Ask for either Jeremy (the Manager's son), or ask for Trevas (the Business Manager). Both are dedicated to customer service and I'm sure you would be very pleased. Mooney's has been around for many, many years and are family owned and operated. If memory serves me correct, they have 4 other dealerships in addition to the one in Charleston. Give them a call. You'll be glad you did. I ordered my '05 in June, picked it up in October -- drove 3 hours to pick it up and it was well worth the drive.