Dealer can't tell me my place in line?

[SmoothJ]

…

When you think about it they may only get 10-15 this year and they probably sell that many other vehicles in a few days or a week so this just isn't moving the needle for them. He was surprised when I told him price, deposit, etc. were all finalized online. I think a lot of $0 ADM and $500 deposits are because the dealer never went in to change those defaults.

I was told the same about my dealer.. 10-15, but he isn’t sure.

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[frautumn]

My experience: Talked to my dealer in early Dec, was told that I am 2nd in line out of 253 reservations (I reserved in first 30 seconds or so). He said even the owner of the dealership was behind me in line at #5. So I was hoping to get a Wave 1 invite email, but didn't. I emailed the dealer to ask what my place in line is, and he told me that "The List has been Shaken Up looks like you are now #26".

I knew I could be bumped by up to 25 slots, given the rules Ford created, but was surprised that out of their first 25 reservations there was only ONE (the owner), who didn't get priority. I would think that if they were prioritizing loyal/repeat customers, there would have been a few already in the top 25. Makes me wonder what those 24 people did to get bumped up in priority, it smells fishy given the potential money involved.

 

[GreaseLightning]

It is possible mainly cause you were either “beat” by other people, or the dealership put in place the priority slot and pushed you up/down.

Having these slots are great, and I get and understand why they are doing it. However if you only have ~2000 dealerships that are BEV certified, and you only going to produce a certain number for the 22MY at least tell us or cut us off at that number. This way we are not expecting a 22MY.

Why are having priority slots great?
You’d only say that if you benefited from it. It just allows dealers to play games.

I can pretty much guarantee you that I was the first one to place a reservation at that dealership.

I’m a returning customer, recently purchasing a $65k truck. I do all my service there even though there are closer Ford dealerships. I’ve been loyal to buying only Ford trucks both personally and at my business.

So being first to place reservation and a good customer means nothing apparently.

 

[SmoothJ]

Why are having priority slots great?
You’d only say that if you benefited from it. It just allows dealers to play games.

I can pretty much guarantee you that I was the first one to place a reservation at that dealership.

I’m a returning customer, recently purchasing a $65k truck. I do all my service there even though there are closer Ford dealerships. I’ve been loyal to buying only Ford trucks both personally and at my business.

So being first to place reservation and a good customer means nothing apparently.

It would be great if it wasn’t abused and I get what you are saying. I don’t like they are playing games or charging money to be one of the top ones. I think it was supposed to be used for people whos lease is ending or if they need this vehicle as soon as possible.

I am number 10 in my dealership and I honestly don’t think I will make the cut for the 22MY at this point anyway. As a backup plan, I also have a reservation for the Silverado EV and I am number 2 with that dealership. However that’s not supposed to be released till next year.

 

[Sun Devil]

I was asking them what my position in line would be at their dealership.

I asked several dealers this same question and the answer was the same. They can't know in advance because they don't what the time stamp is for their existing reservations. They only know the reservation number. So it is gamble of where you will fall if you move your reservation.

 

[Rgwinn]

Ok, I have to chuckle at people that say “I bought a new Truck from my dealer couple years ago, why don’t I have
priority!” do people not realize how many trucks are sold each year?
To be on the “preferred” list at any dealer means high end purchases, like Raptors, Shelby’s and GTs and multiple vehicles per year. This will also hold true for the Bronco Raptor.

After going through this process with the Bronco I can understand the frustration people have, the biggest issue I see is the lack of communication.

 

[SmoothJ]

Ok, I have to chuckle at people that say “I bought a new Truck from my dealer couple years ago, why don’t I have
priority!” do people not realize how many trucks are sold each year?
To be on the “preferred” list at any dealer means high end purchases, like Raptors, Shelby’s and GTs and multiple vehicles per year. This will also hold true for the Bronco Raptor.

After going through this process with the Bronco I can understand the frustration people have, the biggest issue I see is the lack of communication.

The preferred list can be used for anything, and it doesn’t have to be due to buying a high-end car. I was put on the preferred list due to me simply buying cars and doing service at that location for a few years. I didn’t expect to be, but I was.

 

[SmokingtheMeats]

I asked several dealers this same question and the answer was the same. They can't know in advance because they don't what the time stamp is for their existing reservations. They only know the reservation number. So it is gamble of where you will fall if you move your reservation.

This is not true. When I called 5 dealerships they all knew where I would be in their line. They were able to look up date reserved and tell me the range of buyers I would fall in by date. It depends if you have a good dealer or not willing to tell you.

 

[shocker]

What I assume a dealer knows is the prioritized list they sent to Ford. How those lists are ranked against each other at corporate...., only corporate knows.

 

[EaglesPDX]

I can pretty much guarantee you that I was the first one to place a reservation at that dealership.

11/65 is great and it means you can buy an F150EV next year.

I'm 35/22 so '23 for me. I guess I should have picked a dealer with a larger allocation.

 

[Deleted member 9341]

I placed my order on 5-19 within 5 minutes of the reservation system opening and have a low reservation number.

After not hearing back by phone call or email for the past 2 months (my first time trying to contact the dealer since 5/19), I finally was able to get in touch with someone last week who told me they didn’t know my place in line and that only Ford knew. They said they would have “employee name” (person in charge call of Lightning orders) call me. He never did. I emailed him directly and he told me I was 11 out of 65. I asked how that was possible because I ordered within 5 minutes of the reservation system opening, he never emailed me back.

I’ve only owned Ford Trucks for 10 years now and just bought a Platinum F150 from this dealer a couple years ago. Apparently that doesn’t matter for a priority list because I’m not on it.

Terrible model by Ford. If you want to let people skip the line it should have been limited to only moving up 5-10 spots or make the list every other based on time stamp and dealer priority.

I was planning on purchasing a 2022 Expedition as well, but now have a sour taste in my mouth and debating how to proceed. Not like it matters to the dealers right now because they can’t keep cars on the lot, but this supply/demand imbalance wont last forever. Their reputation however, will last forever.

It’s a debacle for sure.

 

[Nick Gerteis]

11/65 is great and it means you can buy an F150EV next year.

I'm 35/22 so '23 for me. I guess I should have picked a dealer with a larger allocation.

Did you mean 35 out of 220?

 

[EaglesPDX]

Did you mean 35 out of 220?

Dealer said I'm 35th on list (first day) and Dealer's allocation is 22.

 

[cclark20]

Yep, they should be able to see it. Ignorance or intentional.

Agreed and I’m guessing that most of the lack of communication is intentional so they don’t have to explain what is going on. As mentioned in other threads there also are some Inventory managers that for whatever reason are lost in this process.

My dealer acts like it’s a big hassle to communicate with me at all. I visited right before the priority lists went in and all they would tell me is “Ford will email you”.

I followed up again yesterday and below are their replies.

“we currently have 600+ reservations.
The order bank hasn't even opened yet.”

”the priority list was done a few weeks ago and I believe it consisted of 5 names. Other than that I have no additional info at this time. Keep and eye on your email from Ford.”

This a local dealer not a high volume sales store, that has 2 other Ford Dealers with 20 minutes of them so 600 reservations seems off to me.

I believe some of the dealers are concerned that if you know that you are deep on the list you will send your reservation elsewhere. I guess they are fearful of losing allocations if enough people bail on them.

Everyone can draw their own conclusions if these dealers are doing this intentionally or are they just oblivious to the Lightning order process

 

[EaglesPDX]

Agreed and I’m guessing that most of the lack of communication is intentional so they don’t have to explain what is going on.

I'd put it more to nothing new to say until they have something to say. I've got three or four emails since the first day reservation. Had a couple from dealer.

Way more than Tesla over THREE YEARS from deposit to purchase.

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