Hopefully some advice on what to do...

[skifastdrivefaster]

Hey everyone, so normally I don't do stuff like this but I'm a frustrated by this whole process and am looking for advice on how to go about taking to my dealer.

Basically what happened is I ordered a truck on 2/5 from the same dealer that WyoStorm did and got a great deal on the truck. And the saleswoman told me that I should expect a VIN pull in 4-6 weeks... Which was perfectly reasonable to me. So that comes and goes and I email her to voice my concerns and she says that she put my truck in as a special order and that it's the next one to get pulled and since it's a special order that 'Ford should be required to build it' which I have no idea if it's true or not.

Now it's coming up on 8 weeks since I didn't get a VIN today and I have no more information than I did when I first ordered. I don't want to be mean because she seems like a really nice lady but I'm wondering if it's out of line to ask her to escalate this to their region rep and see what's up? Or to talk to the owner directly and see what he can do. I know a lot of other people are doing this and it seems to be producing results.

Honestly I don't mind the wait, it's just the not knowing if I'm gonna actually get a truck that scares me, and with people who ordered after me getting their VINs before me I feel like time is running out. Like I said she told me that they should have no problem getting my truck built but that doesn't inspire much confidence right now.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[Marcs]

I don't see the word "allocation" mentioned anywhere

 

[skifastdrivefaster]

No you're right she skirted the question and assured me that since it was a special order that it didn't count towards allocation... Which is what has me worried. So I'm wanting to escalate this higher up and try to get some answers but not sure how to do it...

 

[Marcs]

My understanding is that every order counts towards allocation.

 

[dkfc13]

There are some Ford reps on this site now. Maybe one of them can help?

 

[MeenieMe]

Special order just means it is a retail order and not a stock order. They need an allocation from Ford to build any order. See if you can get a confirmation from the zone rep from Ford, either directly or with the dealer. Your order will just sit in limbo in the order banks until the dealer's allocation, if they have any remaining, come up.

 

[BAJASVT]

Every Raptor counts towards the dealers allocation and the Ford reps on this site aren't going to be able to help with this question.

Here's the thing... dealerships only get their allocation on a monthly basis. For example, right now, they don't even know how many pieces of allocation they're going to receive during the April wholesale process. Some small dealers* in small markets don't even get one Raptor per month.

You also won't be able to get in touch with the dealerships zone manager yourself, in fact, dealership sales staff typically don't even interact with their zone manager. Communication between zone manager and dealership is generally only between the dealer owner, general manager, and/or sales manager depending on the size of the dealer and how they operate... they're all individually owned and operated.

Long story short... there's really nothing you can do because your sales person doesn't have the answers, the dealership doesn't have the answers, and even Ford doesn't have the answers your looking for at this closing chapter of 1st generation Raptor. The best you can do is have your dealership get in touch with their zone manager and ask if they can get a better idea about what their allocation forecast looks like. I would also ask them how many pieces of Raptor allocation they've received in the past 6 months and how many Raptor orders they have ahead of yours to give you a better idea of how many they typically receive per month and do the math to estimate the wait time on your own. Of course with this, you have to trust and believe what the sales person responds to you with.

* - JB 2014 Raptor SCrew, if you're reading this I suggest you do the same thing. Your ordering dealership is small and probably doesn't get even a single Raptor every month.

 

[skifastdrivefaster]

Thanks everyone for the replies this is exact the direction I'm looking to go to hopefully get an answer as to whether I'm gonna be able to get a truck from this dealer or if I need to try and find one with an allocation elsewhere.

She said that mine is the only raptor order in the banks so when/if they get an allocation it should be pulled. Would the best course of action ask her to talk to the owner who would then talk to the zone rep or talk directly to the owner? I don't want to go over her head but I'm also not going to sit around and wait to see what happens while the chance to get this truck slips through my fingers.

 

[Marcs]

Every Raptor counts towards the dealers allocation and the Ford reps on this site aren't going to be able to help with this question.

Here's the thing... dealerships only get their allocation on a monthly basis. For example, right now, they don't even know how many pieces of allocation they're going to receive during the April wholesale process. Some small dealers* in small markets don't even get one Raptor per month.

You also won't be able to get in touch with the dealerships zone manager yourself, in fact, dealership sales staff typically don't even interact with their zone manager. Communication between zone manager and dealership is generally only between the dealer owner, general manager, and/or sales manager depending on the size of the dealer and how they operate... they're all individually owned and operated.

Long story short... there's really nothing you can do because your sales person doesn't have the answers, the dealership doesn't have the answers, and even Ford doesn't have the answers your looking for at this closing chapter of 1st generation Raptor. The best you can do is have your dealership get in touch with their zone manager and ask if they can get a better idea about what their allocation forecast looks like. I would also ask them how many pieces of Raptor allocation they've received in the past 6 months and how many Raptor orders they have ahead of yours to give you a better idea of how many they typically receive per month and do the math to estimate the wait time on your own. Of course with this, you have to trust and believe what the sales person responds to you with.

* - JB 2014 Raptor SCrew, if you're reading this I suggest you do the same thing. Your ordering dealership is small and probably doesn't get even a single Raptor every month.

I ordered from a very very small town dealer. When the truck was delivered the owner mentioned that it was 1 of 3 for the year!

 

[skifastdrivefaster]

So good news for me (and hopefully for others in a similar boat) I was able to get an update on what's all going on and it sounds like the weather delay that has been mentioned before hit for harder than many of us thought and really put things behind schedule. For example the region my dealer is in didn't get many of their raptors that they were supposed to get in March and I guess everything has been pushed back.

It sounds like I will for sure get my truck, it just may take longer than originally estimated. It also sounds like Ford is acknowledging the delay and the effects it has had and it sounds like they are going to act accordingly to try and get everything worked out!