How to reduce your Bronco wait time (my experience ordering from Ford previously)

[buckinbroncoTAK]

Hi All,

Reserved by 2 door Wildtrak yesterday and thought I’d give my prior experience preordering new vehicles through Ford. In the summer of 2014 I preorder the new redesigned Mustang and the experience was anything but smooth. I am sure there will be overlapping similarities since both the Bronco and Mustang are/were making their first production run. Hopefully you can cut the wait time on your Bronco down after hearing my experience.


In June of 2014 I spec’ed and ordered a 2015 Mustang GT, the dealership put the order in as a customer order and told me 3-4 month wait time. I thought great I’d have my Mustang by September at the latest. In reality I didn't end up taking delivery until end of January 2015. This was actually one of the longer wait times for cars ordered around my timeframe. The main reason why? Retail vs customer ordered cars. Yes, there were production issues with a new model but the main delay was retail vs customer orders. Get your dealer to order you a retail vehicle. I really don’t know the reasoning behind it, but Ford prioritized the production and distribution of retail cars over customer cars for the Mustang. People that had preordered their Mustang’s months in advance were still waiting for their cars when you could walk into a Ford store and buy a Mustang off the lot. On average retail orders were delivered 2-3 months ahead of customer orders. People on the mustang6g form were not happy to say the least. Some people got their dealers to convert their order to retail, but that was a risk depending on your build status and Ford store management. At the time, I thought there was no need to switch, my build status would change to in production any day, but it never did. Come late November when the dealership I ordered from had 3 new mustangs on the lot my production hadn’t even started. Long story short I ended up getting my car late January and it was everything I had hoped and dreamed over the prior 8 months, but I felt it was an unnecessarily long wait. This was over 5 years ago so I am not sure if anything has changed on how Ford allocates and produces its models. This $100 reserve feature is new so maybe they have improved their production logistics. However, when the time comes to actually order the Bronco later this year I will tell the dealership to put it as a retail order. If possible, I will have them order 2 of the same cars, one retail and one customer they can easily sell whichever comes later. If you have the patience of a zen monk then no need to worry about any of this but if you are the type of person that is going to refresh your order status page everyday (like me ?) you may want to ask your dealership about retail orders. Either way the new Bronco looks great can’t wait to be riding around with no roof! Hope this helped, best of luck to all the preorders.



-BuckinBronco

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[rtaylor]

My 2 cents is that you should ask a dealer if he has an allocation before ordering. If not, does he have an outstanding allocated order that he can convert to your spec? If no allocation, walk away because you may wait a long time for Ford to grant the extra build. Unfortunately, unscrupulous dealers like these over-allocated orders because it allows them to scam an extra car from Ford.

I haven't heard yet if these reserved Broncos are subject to the usual dealer allocation limitations, but intend to ask before placing order.

 

[dirtyscab]

My 2 cents is that you should ask a dealer if he has an allocation before ordering. If not, does he have an outstanding allocated order that he can convert to your spec? If no allocation, walk away because you may wait a long time for Ford to grant the extra build. Unfortunately, unscrupulous dealers like these over-allocated orders because it allows them to scam an extra car from Ford.

I haven't heard yet if these reserved Broncos are subject to the usual dealer allocation limitations, but intend to ask before placing order.

The information on the Bronco reservation page says that they're building ALL Bronco reservations before production of the regular stock units that they'll send to dealers, so it doesn't sound like there are dealer allocations or anything, or if there are then that's tied to what dealers you were allowed to reserve through. Some people said none of their nearby dealers were available to reserve at, so either their allocations are up or the website borked.

I reserved a few hours after they opened and my closest dealer was an option so I just went with that real quick to get the reservation in.

 

[Bronc-O]

Hi All,

Reserved by 2 door Wildtrak yesterday and thought I’d give my prior experience preordering new vehicles through Ford. In the summer of 2014 I preorder the new redesigned Mustang and the experience was anything but smooth. I am sure there will be overlapping similarities since both the Bronco and Mustang are/were making their first production run. Hopefully you can cut the wait time on your Bronco down after hearing my experience.


In June of 2014 I spec’ed and ordered a 2015 Mustang GT, the dealership put the order in as a customer order and told me 3-4 month wait time. I thought great I’d have my Mustang by September at the latest. In reality I didn't end up taking delivery until end of January 2015. This was actually one of the longer wait times for cars ordered around my timeframe. The main reason why? Retail vs customer ordered cars. Yes, there were production issues with a new model but the main delay was retail vs customer orders. Get your dealer to order you a retail vehicle. I really don’t know the reasoning behind it, but Ford prioritized the production and distribution of retail cars over customer cars for the Mustang. People that had preordered their Mustang’s months in advance were still waiting for their cars when you could walk into a Ford store and buy a Mustang off the lot. On average retail orders were delivered 2-3 months ahead of customer orders. People on the mustang6g form were not happy to say the least. Some people got their dealers to convert their order to retail, but that was a risk depending on your build status and Ford store management. At the time, I thought there was no need to switch, my build status would change to in production any day, but it never did. Come late November when the dealership I ordered from had 3 new mustangs on the lot my production hadn’t even started. Long story short I ended up getting my car late January and it was everything I had hoped and dreamed over the prior 8 months, but I felt it was an unnecessarily long wait. This was over 5 years ago so I am not sure if anything has changed on how Ford allocates and produces its models. This $100 reserve feature is new so maybe they have improved their production logistics. However, when the time comes to actually order the Bronco later this year I will tell the dealership to put it as a retail order. If possible, I will have them order 2 of the same cars, one retail and one customer they can easily sell whichever comes later. If you have the patience of a zen monk then no need to worry about any of this but if you are the type of person that is going to refresh your order status page everyday (like me ?) you may want to ask your dealership about retail orders. Either way the new Bronco looks great can’t wait to be riding around with no roof! Hope this helped, best of luck to all the preorders.



-BuckinBronco

The priority code the salesman puts on the order makes a difference also. If they put something like 99, you'll could have quite a wait. You want to see priority code 10 to move it faster.

 

[Bronc-O]

The information on the Bronco reservation page says that they're building ALL Bronco reservations before production of the regular stock units that they'll send to dealers, so it doesn't sound like there are dealer allocations or anything, or if there are then that's tied to what dealers you were allowed to reserve through. Some people said none of their nearby dealers were available to reserve at, so either their allocations are up or the website borked.

I reserved a few hours after they opened and my closest dealer was an option so I just went with that real quick to get the reservation in.

The below is part of the conversation I had with my salesman yesterday.



" We're getting alot of good response on the Bronco and already have over 150 reservations in the system. I would assume that will take alot of our initial allocation so we may not have a lot of retail units til aprox May-June. Also with seven trims and eleven colors that's a lot of different combinations".

 

[ATXGuy]

I've heard opposite from the literature online and 'my guy' that dealers do not have allocations. If you cancel your reservation, the dealer can't take it over and sell it on the lot.

I am unsure there will be a 'retail vehicle' since there are not dealer allocations.

 

[kodiakisland]

The only way anyone is going to make the wait shorter is a medically induced coma.

 

[Granger Ford]

Get your dealer to order you a retail vehicle. I
you may want to ask your dealership about retail orders.

None of that what you said about the old ordering system is applicable to the Reservation system...

The first to use it was the Mach E and now the Bronco...

Per Ford Motor Company:

Reservations will be fulfilled in approximately the same order received, based on final ordering and production of similarly configured Broncos.

All reservations will be completed before production of stock units begins.

" We're getting alot of good response on the Bronco and already have over 150 reservations in the system. I would assume that will take alot of our initial allocation so we may not have a lot of retail units til aprox May-June. Also with seven trims and eleven colors that's a lot of different combinations".

This has nothing to do with allocation, the only factor in this is the customer...

Pick the dealer (deal) - have them order the Bronco...

We will be lucky to see a stock order for 2021 even though we will try...

Salespeople are their own worst enemy when they use car speak (dealer language) to customers...

Not that customers do not understand, the salesperson is just regurgitating what they heard someone say somewhere... and like the game of telephone it usually changes down the line...

Ford is trying to push excitement and get closer to the customer centered (Tesla) model as the company grows...

Their old way of kowtowing to the biggest dealers every whim is over or at least ending soon...

And Big dealer Principal groups do not like it one bit. "Puts too much power in the consumers hands"

Well welcome them to the 21st century and invention of the internet...we have arrived...

An old song comes to mind..

[/QUOTE]

 

[Garemlin]

This isn't just a Ford thing. It is an auto industry thing. There were people who ordered JL Wranglers the day the order banks opened that were waiting for theirs months after they were already on dealer lots. Same with the Gladiator. Pretty sure the same when the new Silverado came out.

 

[XCR440]

First, this probably won't apply to Bronco. However on your Mustang order, there are two types (excluding fleet and other special order types like autoshow). Stock is just that, for the dealers lot, priority code must be over 20. Retail means sold order, must have a name and priority of 10-19 (1-9 can be assigned by Ford, but not dealers). In the old days we used to generate allocation for retail orders automatically, so a trick was to put a retail at 40 and stock at 20, the retail would generate the allocation and the stock would schedule, and could do it again the next week, now the priority code rules keep that from happening. We also get allocation monthly instead of weekly. Scheduling happens weekly on Thursdays.

Now we have a new system called OTD, thats different. Some (F150) are on the old system, but Esxape and Edge are on the new and i was told that's how Bronco will work. On this we take our allocation, and then have to pick model and drive. Then when its week comes up Ford puts the order in. The dealer can change colors and such, but not model. With this system we can only order retails, but they get scheduled usually the same week and without allocation.

I haven't seen how its going to happen, but I was told Ford would use the OTD system for the reservations. I don't think the dealers will have any control over scheduling time.

 

[XCR440]

I've heard opposite from the literature online and 'my guy' that dealers do not have allocations. If you cancel your reservation, the dealer can't take it over and sell it on the lot.

I am unsure there will be a 'retail vehicle' since there are not dealer allocations.

I don't know how the cancellations will play out. Yes, if you cancel your reservation, I'm sure it will just go away, and the dealer won't get it, but now that we're talking June or later, there will be many that convert the reservation to an order, and for whatever reason don't take the unit, not sure what will happen after we get past reservations and into orders. Also people ordering things they've never even seen, may not like it when it arrives and won't take delivery. Dealers will likely end up with these units that are backed out of late in the timeline. I'm just not sure when "too late to cancel" will be.

Allocation isn't based on floorplan or capitol. It's a simple system that Ford determines they can make X number of units, they assign some to retail and some to fleet. Then they determine each dealers share of the retail/stock units. The Normal way is that Sales count as a certain % and availability a % (60% sales 40% availability if I recall, but I could be wrong on the percentages.) Sometimes they'll boost the % to one side or the other. Also when something is new they may use a different system. I think Ranger startup was based on F150 sales for 50% and Tacoma sales in your franchise territory for 50% (or something like this). Now if a dealer doesn't have the floorplan, Ford will stop delivering and then I assume not allow allocations the next cycle. We saw this happen in 2008 at mostly at the larger single store dealers, but I haven't heard of any lately, I think they have chains dealers waiting to add stores that scoop them up before this happens now. Been seeing buyouts starting again this year (for whatever reasons).

Also a dealer isn't required to take their allocation, I turn down Transit Connects every month.

 

[Raptor911]

Unlike the Raptor, the Bronco will not be an allocated Vehicle.

BUT this does not mean any dealer can submit 100 Bronco orders. There will be limits but it will be much easier for dealers to order the Bronco when compared to the Raptor. As you know, dealers can not just order a Raptor, they have to have an allocation. If a dealer does not use their Raptor allocation then it will be taken away and given to another dealership.

I ordered my 2013 and 2019 Raptor and will order my Bronco from the same dealership.

My dealership told me "we are trying to decide on pricing" and then they will let me know. There is a good chance they will be under invoice. If under invoice, I will share their info with the forum.

My 2 cents is that you should ask a dealer if he has an allocation before ordering. If not, does he have an outstanding allocated order that he can convert to your spec? If no allocation, walk away because you may wait a long time for Ford to grant the extra build. Unfortunately, unscrupulous dealers like these over-allocated orders because it allows them to scam an extra car from Ford.

I haven't heard yet if these reserved Broncos are subject to the usual dealer allocation limitations, but intend to ask before placing order.

 

[Granger Ford]

Also a dealer isn't required to take their allocation, I turn down Transit Connects every month.

We as well...

When we were in flux (the New Principal and his father) changing of the guard...

Ford slipped some of them in on us...begged like crazy to stop them but were not able to...

Luckily the GM had bought some ad words on Google nationwide (very expensive) and a guy from Houston that puts meat lockers in the back of them purchased them...

Won't happen again...

 

[Bronc-O]

I don't know how the cancellations will play out. Yes, if you cancel your reservation, I'm sure it will just go away, and the dealer won't get it, but now that we're talking June or later, there will be many that convert the reservation to an order, and for whatever reason don't take the unit, not sure what will happen after we get past reservations and into orders. Also people ordering things they've never even seen, may not like it when it arrives and won't take delivery. Dealers will likely end up with these units that are backed out of late in the timeline. I'm just not sure when "too late to cancel" will be.

This suggests that once you order, the vehicle belongs to the dealer and they can decide what happens if you choose to cancel. I'm thinking most will gladly allow you to cancel and have a vehicle they can sell.


Can I cancel my reservation?

Yes. You can cancel your reservation at any time and receive a full refund. * You can do this in your account at ford.com. If for some reason you can’t process the cancellation online, you can contact a Ford Customer Experience Representative at 800-392-3673 (Ford U.S.). After canceling, allow seven to 10 business days for the reservation deposit to be credited to your original form of payment. Once you progress from a reservation to an order with a dealer, however, cancellation requests would be at that dealer’s discretion.

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