Let me start by apologizing- I know this has been beaten into the ground, but my home Internet won't be transferred to the new house for a few more days and iPhones suck for searching.

I ordered my GT yesterday; dealing directly with the commercial sales manager. He called me today to say his Dearborn contact informed him that it should be pulled next week.

What sort of time frame am I looking at for the different steps? I don't plan to micromanage this, but I am curious when I can hope to take delivery. As manager he is a busy person so I don't want to pester him unnecessarily over stupid questions like this.

My birthday is July 4th- is it possible I could take delivery by or around then?

 

How does he know that? I've been pending for almost a month! Grumble grumble...

 

Apparently the process is place an early order to be one of the first to get a 2011.

Wait a few months to get it built

Have it built in two days.

Get and ETA for arrival, only to have it change three times.

Then it goes to no ETA and just continues to sit in a parking lot for three and a half weeks all the while people who have placed orders well after yours get their cars before you do.

 

Yes, it's entirely possible you could take delivery by July 4th.

This is a very good question and I'm working on a Visio diagram to give to my dealer so that he can revise it as necessary so that potential buyers can better understand the process beyond "deposit, wait, wait, wait, deliver, buh bye."

As I understand it . . . and I've learned a lot along the way but would not yet call myself an authority as this knowledge is inferred.

1. You order (Day 1)
2. Dealer places order with Ford using Retail Order Verification System (or not... just a retail order or a stock order.) (Day 1 to day 15 -- they can do this whenever they feel like. Mine took 10 days.)
3. Factory gets the order, validates it or rejects it (Within a few days of validation.)
4. A VIN gets assigned (after validation.)
5. A window sticker becomes available one week before build
6. The car is built (1-2 days) (about 7 days after the window sticker -- build date is on the sticker.)
7. The car is QC'd (1 day)
8. The car is moved for transit (varies ... we call this "area 51" -- or Ramp 51 if more QC is necessary)
9. The car gets shipped (definitely varies... a few days to a few weeks.)
10. Time passes seemingly glacially but not really unless you live out west.
11. The car arrives at the dealer
12. The dealer preps the car and arranges for you to pick it up and close the deal. (1 day)
13. You leave a happy camper oblivious to the delays along the way.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. For now.

 

But Marty's not bitter. . .

 

First you'll get a VIN # then about 2 weeks later you'll get a Window Sticker and then a build date then it'll come about a month later, if all goes well

 

I totally agree. There were plenty of people on here who ordered before me that should rightfully have their cars before I should have mine. That being said, what really butters my biscuits is seeing all of these dealer stock cars being delivered while we wait for ours.

 

Just be careful about Ford's ETAs. They sadly don't mean anything unless everything goes smoothly, which it rarely does early on. Also, there can be some confusion. I called Customer Service twice today. The first person gave me no ETA, no change since last week. Forgot to ask about the order type, called again thirty minutes later. He couldn't answer the question about the order type, but he says it had an ETA of 5/26.

Mine still doesn't even have a sticker that I can find, though if Ford can schedule, build, and ship it in 2.5 business weeks I'd be kinda impressed. Second guy also suggested talking to the dealer. I wonder if this has something to do with him ordering it stock.

As for dealer stock cars, it's probably unavoidable. The first few weeks of production at the plant are all stock orders for QC purposes.

 

Ain't that the truth!
My saleman said retail comes first!
I guess some dealers have better connections.
Thanks alot FoMoCo!