Ford moving to Build-to-Order and away from inventory

[guerro]

That would be great. But Ford wouldn’t let the dealers do that, trust me if given the choice I know my dealer, who is a single make small family owned operation. Just like with this bronco mess. Your reservation stamp is less important than the dealer you ordered through. Small dealers with 5-10 orders will be some of the last to get units. My dealer has people that want to buy raptors, gt500 and he’s been told by Ford he isn’t allowed to order them. Ford and most manufacturers are big on blaming everyone else for problems they cause

You think dealers won't figure out how to game the new system??? Haha, just look at how they managed to navigate the "Bronco Rules."

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[Bronco cat]

My last oil change went up $20 from the previous one and is now close to $80. They will find a way.

And you think Ford won’t and isn’t doing the same thing?

 

[mpeugeot]

it would suck if my car was totalled or in an accident and I needed a new replacement right away.

Just went through this with my GF who had a really nasty wreck after someone crossed the double yellow and nearly hit her head on. She avoided the accident and destroyed her car, the other driver recovered without wrecking and drove off... this was at 160 MPH closing speed, so her car going off road got totally destroyed (but she walked away).

Anyway, she needed an immediate replacement, and you know how the dealerships are looking this summer. Thankfully, we were able to get her something very close to what she wanted and paid MSRP for it (2021 Honda CR-V EX-L), one of 10 cars they had for sale.

 

[ChompSticks]

Just went through this with my GF who had a really nasty wreck after someone crossed the double yellow and nearly hit her head on. She avoided the accident and destroyed her car, the other driver recovered without wrecking and drove off... this was at 160 MPH closing speed, so her car going off road got totally destroyed (but she walked away).

Anyway, she needed an immediate replacement, and you know how the dealerships are looking this summer. Thankfully, we were able to get her something very close to what she wanted and paid MSRP for it (2021 Honda CR-V EX-L), one of 10 cars they had for sale.

Glad she is safe and you've found a suitable replacement!

 

[Razorbak86]

That would be great. But Ford wouldn’t let the dealers do that, trust me if given the choice I know my dealer, who is a single make small family owned operation. Just like with this bronco mess. Your reservation stamp is less important than the dealer you ordered through. Small dealers with 5-10 orders will be some of the last to get units. My dealer has people that want to buy raptors, gt500 and he’s been told by Ford he isn’t allowed to order them. Ford and most manufacturers are big on blaming everyone else for problems they cause

Yeah, it's usually the fault of the party upstream of you. For example:

• Dealer: "It's the OEM's fault!"
• OEM: "It's the Tier 1 supplier's fault!"
• Tier 1 Supplier: "It's the Tier 2 supplier's fault!"

That doesn't necessarily make it true, but it's a convenient excuse, and so that's typically what gets communicated.

 

[rak2]

Yes Yes Yes - I am picky and want the exact combination of features I want. Willing to wait.

- Hate to deal with multiple added expensive dealer options.
- Very afraid of what may have transpired with a 'shipped from another dealer' vehicle.
- Getting tired of driving across multiple states to attempt to locate and purchase a vehicle that is not really in stock once you get there.

Was able to order Ford pickups in 1997 and 2008 with specific configurations and was very happy with them for 30 years.

rak2

 

[Adventure Bronco]

So who is going to fix it when it breaks? Honor warranty work?

You can have service centers without having sales offices. Much of a dealerships cash flow already comes from the service centers. Sales already make up a decreasing portion of a dealership's profits.

All the vehicle info is online now. Anything you want to know is easy to find. And Ford makes it easy for us to build and price our beasts.

I have spoken with a couple of Bronco 'specialists,' dealership sales person about, for example, production delays, issues with the roofs, available options, etc. A customer would hope these 'specialists' would know these things. I got blank stares. Maybe they thought I was making it up.

A couple of weeks ago I told a sales person that I was aware of the delays and high demand. I asked him how long I'd need to wait if I placed an order. Ford had already publicly stated the wait time was more than a year. The sales person told me it would be 4 or 5 months between the non-refundable deposit and the delivery date.

As it stands now, I don't see how sales people offer much value to the Bronco customer. For the dealership, sales people push accessories and options the customer might not need to drive up the costs. They are another profit center. Just like financing.

I've now had two sales persons at two different dealerships refuse to take my cash order. But they are happy to sell me a Bronco if I finance it through them. One of them spewed the excuse that financing is a form of export control. That financing would stop me from putting the Bronco in a container and shipping it to Japan (He said there was a high demand for the Bronco in Japan). This is obviously another area where dealerships can increase their profits on each vehicle, this time from the kickbacks they get by financing the purchase through Ford Credit.

I could never be a sales person. I really dislike BS. (Apologies to good sales people. I'm sure you are not extinct, but you must be on the endangered species list. There are so few of them around now.)

Apologies also for the rant.

 

[LIKEABOSS]

The only way this works is if the dealers still carry some stock of popular configurations and they significantly speed up the customer order process so you can get a vehicles in two months or less. Ford is struggling to get anything out in a timely manor right now.

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