Sorry, still doesn't make sense to me. My special order car comes in, I pick it up and drive it home, how does that affect whether another customer buys a Mustang or not, regardless of year? Having a bunch of 2011's on the lot will make the 2010's somewhat less desirable, but a special order is going to be there and gone in a day and probably won't be parked out next to the cars for sale, anyway.

 

As of today mine was shipped with an ETA of the 21st.

 

Well my salesman just called me...wierd that I just posted about his email yesterday lol. He said that they just got their first delivery of 2011's, all stock v-6's. He also told me that he expects mine to be in the next delivery they receive which should be within a week if not by the end of the week.

 

Not true. I called with the order number and dealer code to ask about my car and they GAVE me my vin. Dealer didn't even have it yet.

 

Update #2 or 3 or 4. . .

800 number (last week): Your car is in transit.
Salesman: "It's been released from the factory, but no transport has been assigned or scheduled yet. "

WTF, over?

The longer this goes on the more likely I am to find an "acceptable" replacement at a local dealer. I "pre-ordered" to get mine ASAP. But if the dealers are getting them and filling their lots, what's the point in waiting? (Rhetorical.)

 

I debated this very notion and considered waiting and just buying one stock. I realized in the end I wouldn't get as good of a deal, nor would I very quickly be able to find exactly what I wanted. Judging by what's mostly been hitting the lots around here (Automatic GT Convertibles), I was right.

 

I couldn't agree more. My deposit would be doing more good earning interest, albeit very little, in my bank account.

 

So now I ask two very specific questions to my salesman and get ZERO response to those questions. This is the history of buying a car from this guy.

He tells me that the transport company has my car "awaiting scheduling". And that a weekly report is generated listing the cars to expect in the next 10 days. (Working on the math now.)

I asked: When is the report generated? And in your experience how long does it take once a car is listed as "in transit" to delivered at the dealership?

In response, I got, "if it's not here Tuesday we'll make a call."

WTF, over?

And then he adds, "Depending on when it comes in, it might be the next day because we have to do a thorough inspection to make sure everything is just right."

Um, yeah... All that factory QC was a huge waste of time and the lot porter is going to do a way better job. I get that it has to be prepped and VA requires some inspections but "front of the line" status should exist for retail orders (if you ever want them to come back for non-warranty service.)

 

You're telling me the state of Virginia inspects each new car? I've never heard of that before. Good grief. How do you get a job as a new car inspector? It must be hard work.

 

They do the same thing here is Texas.

 

wow, mine arrived at the dealer around 11:45 AM, was driving it off the lot at 5:30 PM that evening. Most of that time was waiting on final paper work and a slow dealership. I thought the only thing a dealer HAD to do was check fluid levels.

 

It's mostly dealer detailing, though they check all the fluids and (HOPEFULLY) put gas in the tank (even though with that factory fuel charge it should be a full tank), and they also wash the car, since it very likely got dirty in transit. They also take the plastic off for you (Oh boy). I'm sure there's... other things they do, besides try to take on a charge for that.

 

Yep, every new car gets a safety and emissions inspection here in the Commonwealth. On the plus side, that little inspection sticker is a great way to see how long a dealer has been "holding" a car.

To break it down:

Remove plastic: 5 minutes
Wash car: 10 minutes (they have a drive through car wash)
Check fluids: 2 minutes
Finance office (using Ford Credit): 45 minutes
Waiting around: 30-60 minutes

Yeah, not seeing how it can take a day or more. BUT, this is the same dealership who has told me on multiple occasions that the "Quick Lane" will take 6+ hours on a Saturday when I arrived when they opened.

 

Does this strike anyone else as an absolute waste of taxpayer money? I guess I could see an inspection every few years once a car reaches an age where many are decrepit. But this is just wasteful.

 

The former governor closed our rest areas to cover the cost.

The current governor reopened them.

I'm not kidding. (Well, the part about the cost I might be. They said it cost $500k a year to keep a rest area open. Um, yeah.)

And yes, Randy, it's both a revenue stream and a jobs program. Tech inspects car and finds things that "fail". Said tech can then fix it on the spot (for a fee, of course.). Then you pass. Or you can leave with a fail sticker and come back in 2 weeks and get inspected again for free (or a small fee... don't recall because I never fail.) Most service stations have a single tech who does nothing but inspections all day long. They could probably make more money doing brakes or oil changes but this is a guaranteed stream of money especially near the end of the month.

 

Definitely some goofy laws & rules in Virginia.

But I think New Jersey takes the cake as this state does not trust you to pump your own gas ... could not believe this when we were out there a few years ago.

Doug

 

I'm actually glad that I don't have to get out of my car to pump gas. I took a road trip to Michigan this past winter and had to fill up in Ohio. By the time I got back in the car, I couldn't feel my fingers! But I've grown up in NJ so maybe I have a different take on it than most you guys.

 

Car should be able to be ready same day if car arrives early in the day but there is more to it than you think. Car comes off of truck, someone inspects it, signs off on paperwork with trucker. Usually 6-9 cars per truck so unloading and checking in a truckload can take about 30-45 minutes, Paperwork then goes into title clerks office and needs to be stocked into inventory both electronically in computer and physically by creating deal jacket, tagging keys, creating stock tags, etc.. Again another 10-15 minutes per car so an hour to hour and a half for a truck load. Also keep in mind that the title clerk isn't just sitting doing nothing waiting for that truck to pull up so there is some lag time there before she will even get a chance to work on the paperwork. Once the vehicle is stocked in the salesman will be notified it has arrived. At that point he will contact you to schedule time to come pick it up. Service then needs to do the Ford mandated pre-delivery inspection as well as any state inspection needed. Again, technicians aren't just standing around waiting for your car to arrive so there is going to be some lag time there. Once the car is prepped it then needs to be gassed and cleaned. As with every other step of the process the guys that do these jobs are also doing other sold units for other customers who were already scheduled to pick up. In the meantime the salesperson needs prepare the paperwork for the motor vehicles, call the insurance company, make the finance arrangements and turn everything in to the title clerk to be printed for you to sign. As with everyone else your salesperson isn't just sitting staring out the window waiting for your car to arrive so chances are they have other appointments and deliveries already scheduled. Trust me, we know you have waited months for your car to arrive and we don't get paid until you have actually taken it home so we are as anxious as you. You have waited months, a few extra hours shouldn't kill you at this point.

 

Do you guys usually hand or machine wash? Or does that vary by dealer? Do you claybar or wax?

 

Paul -- all valid points but I don't think you've been to MY dealer where, with the exception of the service department, I see everyone just sitting around if I can even find anyone. Usually they're just talking to each other and BS-ing. I'm certainly not saying if the thing comes in at 5:00 I want to pick it up that day but the gas station is literrally across the parking lot. The car wash is at the dealership. They don't move that many cars there any more. Parking lot used to be jam packed now they take up 4 spaces with every car. Sales staff is down to a couple of "regular" guys and I think the rest are part time. Big building, little operation at this point. Every time I go in there I just think "how long until they fold?" I just walk around waiting to hear crickets.