As a jealous person who is not purchasing a Boss, I have strongly considered making a hoax thread saying "Took Delivery of My Boss 302 Today (w/ pics)" but I figured I would get beaten heavily with the ban-stick and/or stalked and have my house/car egged with how high the tension is around here now, lol.

 

NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE NOTTRUE

Assumptions become fact. Shipping isn't done by Ford, it's done by an outside contractor and cars that are ready to ship will continue to do so.

___________________

The reason that UPS can track toilet paper to your house is because UPS doesn't MAKE toilet paper, IT DOESN'T MAKE ANYTHING. It takes a FINISHED product and delivers it.

When your car actually leaves by rail, VV will report every roadhouse, whorehouse and $h!thouse on the way to where you are. Just like UPS

The PROBLEM is you or your dealer don't UNDERSTAND what VV is saying. Received Rail(Auto Warehousing) Ignore the RAIL and focus on the WAREHOUSING. Your car isn't finished yet. It's being stored until it's ready to be shipped. That may because they need stripes put on, have a quality concern, what have you.

 

I just ran it again. It's still awaiting shipment.

-----------------------------------

I just ran it again. It's still awaiting shipment.

-----------------------------------

I just ran it again. It's still awaiting shipment.

-----------------------------------

I just ran it again. It's still awaiting shipment. C'mon move dammit!

 

I hope you're right, but when the plant is closed doesn't that mean there are no UAW employees on site? Wouldn't the UAW emplyees be needed to move finished cars to the area where the transporters are located? If so, then the only vehicles that will be shipped to dealers are those that made it to the transporters yard by Friday afternoon.

 

Matt
I completely understand that, and as always thanks for you insider insight. Just to clarify my position I used the example of FedEx, that others mentioned, just to say what can be done. I spoke more of an ETA, not just a computer generated false date like I have. If I can be given a false date how much more would it cost to get a correct one? It is just my opinion but simply letting customers know if there is a hold on the cars or they are shipping would only help the company. Having to rely on forums for word of plant shutdowns and forum members taking pictures for any info is (??? fill in the blank)

An informed customer would also be a happy customer.

 

So, Sparkmeister, what does the "waiting shipment" really mean?

 

The wait is maddening for sure - just ship it already! I did get a message from Ford Customer Service today saying mine MIGHT ship on Friday to check back then - we'll have to see if that "rumor" comes true - not holding my breath that's for sure

 

You're welcome. I've been doing this for longer than a lot of people realize, I'm very close friends with someone that used to do tracking whosee username stats with a V and rhymes with "Iperpilot".

At any rate, I'm in the waiting game too; and this isn't my first rodeo. I can relate to everyone's anxiety. I'm on your side; but sometimes we all have to step back and chill a bit. I would rather wait an extra week or two to get our cars than to have them rush it out and be on a first-name basis with the dealership service manager!

 

In Vehicle Visibility, there is a "Primary" and "Secondary" status.

"Awaiting shipment" means just that -- it's awaiting shipment. But .... to WHERE....? Is it from the plant to a holding yard...? Is it from the holding yard back to the plant...? From the plant to VPC or back...? Maybe ... it's getting shipped on its way to the dealer only to be held up at a railhead ... you guessed it. Awaiting shipment.

I'll repost this image taken from a car from last year --- look at the dates and status by the arrows. The car was produced then held for its turn at VPC, got sent there, got shipped back, then got shipped out. At each step, the car was "awaiting shipment". But ... after it left the plant, look at that ... just like UPS!

 

The MINI Cooper information that I received nearly nine years ago, was just short of amazing. I knew when the car was being produced, awaiting trans-oceanic shipping, the name of the vessel that it came to America on, when it arrived at the East Coast distribution center, when it dispatched for my local dealership, in short everything that Ford has kept me in the dark about with my Boss. This is even more frustrating for me, as I could get in my MINI, drive a few hours north and be in Flat Rock, Michigan before the sun comes up.

Why won't Ford ship these babies?

 

Sorry 4pipes but we're in the same boat I think with identical build dates and status and anxiety so no offense but sparky's post just busts me up

 

With the caveat that I don't work at AAI specifically to have a copy of their local agreement, I would venture to say that it's the Ford standard operating procedure like at OAC where cars that are released to shipping go through the "shipping hut" ie have their barcodes scanned and at that point it's "released to shipping". From that point on it's the shipper's ball.

I will also say that just like every other Ford facility I've worked at, just because PRODUCTION is canceled does not mean that repairmen or yard workers etc. are laid off. This is where theory and lack of understanding comes to play. Many people see the UAW (or CAW) as some rigid, restrictive entity where it's an all or nothing mentaility. This just isn't true.

Brief explanation of how a union shop works -- there are job classifications. You can be an assembler, a repairman, a driver, an electrician, etc any number of a hundred classifications, you bid into these positions by seniority (or are hired in as is the case of skilled trades). Each "classification" has a sort of "sub-seniority" list, as in a pecking order within their classification.

Just because the assembly line is shut down it does not mean the plant is a ghost town -- it just means the assemblers are laid off (or more accurately, their department may get laid off). Even when the assembly line is shut down and workers are laid off, as per the collective agreement part of their wages is still supplemented by Ford (Supplementary Unemployment Benefits). So it makes more sense that it will still have repairmen, etc in finishing cars and readying them for shipping and paying them full wages then sending them home for the week to pay them part wages for nothing....

This of course is under the assumption that whatever is holding up the cars is addressable and they're not waiting on some sort of part revision, engineering review, etc. At this point I don't know.

 

Your Ford dealer has access to the exact same info on your car.

Did you pre-order your Mini before production was underway?

 

Thanks - I think we're saying the same thing - any vehicle that is not currently in the hands of the transportation company isn't going anywhere for a week.

I also thought that the various tradespersons (electricians, etc) that are at the plant during downtime are members of various tradesunions and not necessarily the UAW. Like yourself, I don't know the local agreements.

I hope I'm wrong, and any vehicle that is completed will be on their way to the dealer shortly.

 

I'm still smiling.

 

No, IF they have repairmen in (these are UAW members) which they CAN under the collective agreement any "produced" car can be worked on and shipped. In addition to this, the assembly plant could be down while VPC is still up and running. It would depend on local agreements and part supply.

When OAC is down for parts shortages we still finish off and ship cars during the whole week. Even when the assembly line is shut down.

No, they're UAW (Just like I'm CAW) and even during a shutdown we are in whenever we have outside contractors in.

Like I said, it would depend what they're being held for. It could be for something as simple as waiting for the vinyl stripes to come in from the vendor, etc.

 

Actually I did. Had to wait six months for the car after having paid my deposit, kind of like the Boss (although in truth, the Boss wait has been shorter).

 

And I'll wager that apart from getting a build date etc the time between when you ordered and when official production started there wasn't much to report.

The funny thing is, that as others have indicated, this isn't a new phenomenon. It happened in '05 when the new Mustang came out, when the Bullits came out, when the Shelbys came out, when the '10s came out, when the 5.0s came out .... and every time everyone acts like it's the first time.

And even though you can "forgive" the customers (for lack of a better phrase), the dealers should know better and try to prepare the customer for the wait by being a little more upfront about it.

 

Magna has restarted production at the damaged plant. Mazda expects to restart on the 14th. Good news for AAI.

 

Many thanks to OAC Sparky and others for their comments. 2012 Yellow Boss really got to the heart of our issue.

I am fine with delays, and understand that things happen with our cars that prevent it shipping in a timely manner. What I am NOT fine with is being kept in the dark about its status. Let me say this again: delays for good reason are perfectly acceptable. Being not kept informed is NOT acceptable. As was mentioned, this has been going on for years at Ford, and yet other auto makers were able to figure this out at least 9 years ago. I have owned 11 different Mustangs and love Ford cars, but I want Ford to do better. They can fix this and should.