Ford has forgotten who the customers are

[Turtle]

I suggest that Ford rethink the dealer allocation system if they want to operate in a Customer Build retail world, The only ones that benefit are the large dealers and the folks that place the order via the small town Mom and Pop dealer has to wait. They need to allocate based on order date - the big dealers will still make a fortune but the smaller dealer will still have a chance to fulfill orders in a timely fashion. Whatever ever happened to first come - first served. I purchased (ordered) two new Fords this year and the Maverick ordered in July has not been assigned a delivery date. Let’s let Ford know what we think of their system. Agree or disagree that is up to you but please input your thoughts in this thread. Hopefully someone like @fordvideoguy can direct the brand manager to this thread.

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[Naranjita]

I suggest that Ford rethink the dealer allocation system if they want to operate in a Customer Build retail world, The only ones that benefit are the large dealers and the folks that place the order via the small town Mom and Pop dealer has to wait. They need to allocate based on order date - the big dealers will still make a fortune but the smaller dealer will still have a chance to fulfill orders in a timely fashion. Whatever ever happened to first come - first served. I purchased (ordered) two new Fords this year and the Maverick ordered in July has not been assigned a delivery date. Let’s let Ford know what we think of their system. Agree or disagree that is up to you but please input your thoughts in this thread. Hopefully someone like @fordvideoguy can direct the brand manager to this thread.

Since Tim is from a high volume dealer, I don't think he has much incentive to change the model. And if you think about it, Long McArthur has done a lot to not just accept their lot in life as a small town dealer and has done so much to thrive in the Ford system. They do much more volume than just being a rural regional dealer would do. That took a lot of work and effort over the years. To reinvent the wheel would not be in their interest. It would only likely result in less units for them to sell.

Not that I disagree with you. Just thinking how I would see it if I was in Tim's shoes. But I suppose no one can put his thoughts down better than he can. Let's see if he comments.

 

[Darksider]

Just gives some of us time to spend money else where.. Doesn't hurt me, doesn't hurt ford (right now) so no biggie.

 

[Old Ranchero]

or not

 

[Lone Star Proud]

My small town dealer has five orders and not one has been scheduled yet. I'm #3 on that list with a late August order. I would have ordered differently if I had know small dealers were not treated the same. As it is, April or May will be a guess now. If I'm lucky.

 

[Turtle]

Since Tim is from a high volume dealer, I don't think he has much incentive to change the model. And if you think about it, Long McArthur has done a lot to not just accept their lot in life as a small town dealer and has done so much to thrive in the Ford system. They do much more volume than just being a rural regional dealer would do. That took a lot of work and effort over the years. To reinvent the wheel would not be in their interest. It would only likely result in less units for them to sell.

Not that I disagree with you. Just thinking how I would see it if I was in Tim's shoes. But I suppose no one can put his thoughts down better than he can. Let's see if he comments.

I agree Tim is a great guy and knowing what I know now I would have ordered thru him,

 

[UncleDuke]

Been using my small local dealer for years. I like to shop locally when I can. He has 7 mav's ordered and I am #1 ordered 6/10. Been priority 10 since day one.
I will never go this route again, if it ain't on the lot I ain't buying it.
In fact if and when I do get my Mav I will drive it into the ground if I have to before I buy another vehicle.

 

[Big_T]

My small town dealer has five orders and not one has been scheduled yet. I'm #3 on that list with a late August order. I would have ordered differently if I had know small dealers were not treated the same. As it is, April or May will be a guess now. If I'm lucky.

I'm not sure how much the allotment system plays into it. My small town dealer has 12 orders of which I was the first on June 14. I got the scheduled for production email on August 12; scheduled for the week of October 8th. Of course, I'm still waiting to be shipped so I still don't have a truck yet either.

 

[jbpoole]

In my area, several small town Ford dealers have closed over the past 20-30 years. At least one of these had been in business 60+ years.

I hate to see the mom and pop operations go away. Maybe some would call it progress...

 

[Squirrelfight]

I ordered mine through a small dealer as well and I've not heard a thing since the day I placed the order.

 

[tonyinsd]

Wouldn't the high volume dealers be where the customers are? I mean, if you're going to piss someone off, would you rather piss off someone who sells a handful of vehicles a week or someone who sells hundreds?

That's business for you.

 

[bgn]

Ford doesn't care. Whether you buy it or someone else does, their profit is the same.

 

[BILLNOROVILLE]

My town is about 15k population and total with surrounding area about 40k. I was order #1 for a Maverick hybrid on 9/8 got my ship notice 12/1 . Not 1 email from Ford but my small town dealer gave me my vin and locked in 1.9% financing within about 1 week of ordering and even told me I had a build date of 11/8 window stick date 11/17 and 11/26 at bottom. Might get it around 12/20 so is that a long wait, not really.

This is the kind of dealer I like. Waiting time is irrelevant due to EPA, factory starting up in Sept, and OKTB wait. I got nothing to bitch about. The Ford model is fine. My dealer is running short on F150's and other Ford Trucks. Seems like a pretty normal thing now days. Good luck finding what you want when you walk onto a lot.

 

[psuarmy]

I suggest that Ford rethink the dealer allocation system if they want to operate in a Customer Build retail world, The only ones that benefit are the large dealers and the folks that place the order via the small town Mom and Pop dealer has to wait. They need to allocate based on order date - the big dealers will still make a fortune but the smaller dealer will still have a chance to fulfill orders in a timely fashion. Whatever ever happened to first come - first served. I purchased (ordered) two new Fords this year and the Maverick ordered in July has not been assigned a delivery date. Let’s let Ford know what we think of their system. Agree or disagree that is up to you but please input your thoughts in this thread. Hopefully someone like @fordvideoguy can direct the brand manager to this thread.

So I ordered two trucks one through a small town dealer and through Chapman in Philly, a week apart. XLT 2.0. I was around order #7 with spray in bed liner and hard cover with small dealer. I have production date of next week. Big dealer with both of those features removed (to speed things up) and have not been scheduled.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason to how trucks are being processed.

 

[HybridOnOrder]

Wait what? 7?? Are you going to hold on to them or resell?

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