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So, I finally received the good news this week that my Bronco has shipped and is on its way to my dealership! As I thought back on this whole process of ordering and tracking, I realized there is a lot that I have learned, and I would have loved to have known a lot of this information sooner than I did. I wanted to create a post that put a bunch of different resources and links together in one place so that those who are just beginning this experience or even those who are currently in the thick of it could perhaps find some useful tips and tricks.
Let me preface the following information by saying this reflects what I found to be true and what I have experienced. Others may have had totally different experiences and opinions on some of these topics. As many of us have seen there really are no “perfect” orders and delays and shortages can occur. I’m just going to do my best to describe what an ideal process would look like.
First, CONGRATULATIONS on converting your reservation or placing an order! Be excited! Celebrate the milestone that is getting to order a Bronco! The process may seem long and at times will likely be stressful but just think of how ecstatic you will be when your vehicle is finally parked safely in your driveway!
Order / Email Notifications
Tracking
Production
All right I think that about covers it. I am sure I have forgotten something so if anyone has anything to add please feel free to do so! Again, I know others may have had a different experience or experienced much longer wait times than what I have described here. I just wanted to try and put down a very broad generalization of the process and some resources!
Let me preface the following information by saying this reflects what I found to be true and what I have experienced. Others may have had totally different experiences and opinions on some of these topics. As many of us have seen there really are no “perfect” orders and delays and shortages can occur. I’m just going to do my best to describe what an ideal process would look like.
First, CONGRATULATIONS on converting your reservation or placing an order! Be excited! Celebrate the milestone that is getting to order a Bronco! The process may seem long and at times will likely be stressful but just think of how ecstatic you will be when your vehicle is finally parked safely in your driveway!
Order / Email Notifications
- Now that you have made an order likely the first email that you will receive from ford will be an “Order Confirmation” email. This lets you know that your order has been entered into the system and is available to be selected for scheduling.
- There are many factors that affect how long it takes for a vehicle to get scheduled for production. Priority codes (the code your dealer gave your order), allocations, constraints, all play a factor. There could be a whole 3 pages written on the scheduling process if you want to know more check out other posts on the forum.
- The next step in the process will be for your order to be scheduled for production. Ford sends out scheduling emails every Thursday, so if you want to pick a day to obsessively refresh your email Thursday is a good day.
- The second email you will likely receive is the email that tells you “Your order has been scheduled for production”. In this email you should also receive your VIN number which you can use to track your order (more on this later). This email will give you a tentative build week. For example, it may say “your vehicle is scheduled to be bult “the week of July 3rd”.
- It is very likely that your production date will change as time goes by. It can be moved up; it can be moved back. That’s just how it is. Ford sends out production date change emails every Tuesday, so, again, that’s another good day for obsessive refreshing.
Tracking
- Now that you have your Order Number (4-digit number from the dealership) and your VIN number you can use Ford’s Order Tracker to follow along with the progress of your vehicle. You can do that here https://shop.ford.com/vehicleordertracking#/
- If you had a reservation that was turned into an order, there is another tracker that is available to you. This tracker only works if you have a reservation ID. It is supposedly a little more reliable than Ford’s generic order tracker, which is sad for those of us who didn’t make a reservation because we can’t use it. To use this tracker, copy and paste this link and in place of the XXXXXs put your reservation number. https://www.ford.com/buy/manage.html?reservationId=XXXXXXXX
- Once you have been scheduled for a production week the best way to track your order is to follow along with the status on your tracker.
- The next big update that you will see will be when your production date changes from a “Week of” date to a specific day date like 07/04/23. This specific date is referred to as your “blend date”. It is when your vehicle body all comes together. You won’t get an email when this date populates, so you just have keep an eye on your tracker. This date can still change but once you get a specific day date the change is generally less dramatic.
- About one week before your blend date, you will be able to view your window sticker. You can do that by clicking in the “view window sticker” link on Ford’s Tracker or copy this link and put your VIN after the = https://www.windowsticker.forddirect.com/windowsticker.pdf?vin=
- Your window sticker is full of a bunch of great information such as your blend date, rotation number, what number in line you are to be built that day, and how your vehicle will be shipped (rail or convoy). To learn more about how to read the info on your window sticker check out this post. (2) Bronco Build Process Guide! - Window Sticker, Blend Date, Production Rotation Number, Built & Shipped Emails, Delivery Date Estimates & More | Bronco6G - 2021+ Ford Bronco & Bronco Raptor Forum, News, Blog & Owners Community
- Once you get a window sticker with a blend date on it you are locked in for production and can no longer have your date changed!
- One quick note about Ford’s Tracker, as your vehicle moves from “scheduled for production” to “in production” or from “in production” to “built” or from “built” to “shipped” you may be unable to access it on the tracker. You’ll get a message that says, “invalid VIN number” or “invalid order number” or “can’t track this order at this time”. If this occurs don’t worry, it is just the vehicle progressing through the system. I found that if I couldn’t track it one day, the next day I generally had an updated status. Sometimes the tracker is just a buggy. So don’t let those messages scare you if you receive them.
Production
- Sometime during your production week, you will likely receive a “Congratulations your vehicle is now in production” email. Production can take (generally) anywhere from 1-4 days. Yes, I know there are production horror stories that have taken much longer, but again, this is me trying to describe a general experience.
- You should receive emails from Ford when your vehicle begins being built and is completed but again following along via the tracker is the most reliable method.
- The best way to see if your vehicle is nearing the end of its production process is to see if its modules (or computer systems) have come online. You can do that by going to this link. https://www.motorcraftservice.com/AsBuilt If a long list of module numbers shows up and you have a 4-digit tear tag number at the top of the page then congratulations your vehicle has been built!
- Next you should receive an email saying your rig has been built and is awaiting scheduling for shipment. Again, this can take anywhere from a few days to a week.
- There are a few ways to track shipping progress, it varies by if you are being shipped by rail or by convoy. Here is a great resource to learn about shipping tracking and has the other links that have been mentioned above. (2) Here are the Bronco Build & Tracking links | Bronco6G - 2021+ Ford Bronco & Bronco Raptor Forum, News, Blog & Owners Community
- Once your vehicle has shipped you should receive an email from Ford telling you it has shipped, and your tracker should give you an estimated delivery date. The shipping notification and tracking are notoriously some of the least reliable parts of the process. Some members have had their cars delivered without ever receiving shipping notifications!
- Shipping times vary based on method and where the car is being delivered to the country. The further from MI the longer the time. Train is also generally longer than a convoy. Shipping times in general are a few days to 3 weeks.
- The final email you should get from Ford will be that your vehicle has made it to your dealership and is now being prepared for you. Your dealer will then reach out to you!
- One of the best resources available are the “Build Week” threads. Once you are given a build week search for that date on the forum. There you’ll find a discussion topic that will be a place where everyone with that same build week can chat and keep each other updated. There is an awesome member who puts together these spread sheets were everyone can enter their information and you can see whose car has been moved to in production, whose modules have come online, whose tear tag has shown up, whose vehicle has shipped, etc. There are even all sorts of graphs and info to check out. It really shows you that you are not alone, and many others are rooting for you and going through the same thing!
- The Bronco6g forum and the members in general are an amazing resource! There are so many discussions and so much information and people are happy to give it! I recommend looking around as I am sure I missed something.
- Ford customer service offers a Chat that will give you updates on your order as well. You can access that here Contact Us | Ford® Customer Service, Help & Live Chat | Ford.com though they always recommend using the tracker and reaching out to your dealer first.
All right I think that about covers it. I am sure I have forgotten something so if anyone has anything to add please feel free to do so! Again, I know others may have had a different experience or experienced much longer wait times than what I have described here. I just wanted to try and put down a very broad generalization of the process and some resources!
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