Production Delay Extended...

[luebri]

To be fair to Ford. Traveling service technician is one of the hardest positions to staff in America right now. I am sure they are horribly understaffed in that regard.

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[detansinn]

Good to know that no communication whatsoever is very much status quo for the Blue oval. I appreciate you all letting me vent my frustration.

 

[metroshot]

..... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I would be absolutely shocked if you get any special reaction or communication regarding “on hold” trucks. Ford is truly incompetent regarding transparent customer communication.

As I stated above your best bet, is they simply lift the hold and there’s nothing they need to physically do. If they do need to physically touch in transit vehicles, it will be a long long process and many soon to be assembled trucks will likely be delivered prior to the currently “on hold” vehicles.

Agree - no special treatment for delays like this since the customer does not technically own the vehicle yet - as the dealer who got invoiced owns it.

Look at my MME order from April 2022, it's still sitting in Mexico fully built since December of 2022.

Neither Ford nor my dealer can get any answers on my built MME and why it won't leave Mexico.

It left the Cuautitlan factory and sitting in Lecheria Mexico so technically it's in the "shipped" status but in reality, it moved a mere 5 miles and my delivery dates since December have slipped 6 times. Now it's predicting March delivery which I am doubtful since it hasn't left Mexico....

 

[detansinn]

Just as an FYI, other manufacturers do address and communicate with the end customers behind the orders for this kind of thing, even for vehicles costing substantially less than the F150 Lightning.

Ford is the outlier here and very much behind the rest of the industry.

 

[viennaxmas]

Communications is one of the big things Ford will have to solve in their push towards a "build-to-order" strategy. This makes much more sense from a financial perspective and used to be this way for many years. It also reduces the risk for dealers and manufacturers. It will also be a major shift for customers, but the supply chain issues have laid a good foundation already.

Two items are key for success: A manageable delivery time (no more than 2-3 month) and good communications. I don't care about delays but I want to know what is going on.

 

[Jreed]

Normally I’m an optimist but I’m also a realist and this battery issue is a real big problem. There is a line in a movie that said “Plan for the worst but hope for the best”. Best case Ford delivers by 3/31, (which seems to be the default date for all of us with trucks in transit) worst case there is a serious problem with the battery which necessitates a replacement. I’m no automotive production expert but to recall all these trucks and replace batteries will take months. So my 2011 F-150 is now off the market and the trips I planned to take with my new Lightning will be taken with my wife’s car. But like I said I’m an optimist so I’ll have my truck at the end of March.

 

[metroshot]

Communications is one of the big things Ford will have to solve in their push towards a "build-to-order" strategy. This makes much more sense from a financial perspective and used to be this way for many years. It also reduces the risk for dealers and manufacturers. It will also be a major shift for customers, but the supply chain issues have laid a good foundation already.

Two items are key for success: A manageable delivery time (no more than 2-3 month) and good communications. I don't care about delays but I want to know what is going on.

Agree!

When I placed a special order for my BMW over 6 years ago, the production line would send emails & photos of the progress up until it got built - and from Germany even!

 

[detansinn]

Agree!

When I placed a special order for my BMW over 6 years ago, the production line would send emails & photos of the progress up until it got built - and from Germany even!

Yep. This is the standard of customer care and level of play in the industry.

 

[COrocket]

I’m really trying to be optimistic about the Lightning but I have a sinking feeling that there might be a recall at some point over these batteries. Seems statistically unlikely that the truck that caught fire or the one that was flagged during inspection was the very first vehicle to be produced incorrectly. When Chevy had to recall every Bolt battery due to fire risk, 99.9%+ of them never caught fire throughout the few years they were being used by customers.

I can’t tell if Ford is using the “not aware of any issues in the field” as a method of buying time for them to figure out a program to fix any existing trucks without causing panic among current owners. I really wish they’d come out with a little more specific information about what exactly the problem is and why they don’t believe that existing owners are impacted.

 

[jlwillia6]

My estimated delivery date changed. For the last 2 weeks, my estimated delivery was 2/28 - 3/6. I checked everyday and today it changed. Now it says 2/25 - 3/3. So if that’s accurate, that would mean they’re not touching every Lightning already shipped. I’ll keep everyone updated if it actually shows up next week.

 

[detansinn]

My estimated delivery date changed. For the last 2 weeks, my estimated delivery was 2/28 - 3/6. I checked everyday and today it changed. Now it says 2/25 - 3/3. So if that’s accurate, that would mean they’re not touching every Lightning already shipped. I’ll keep everyone updated if it actually shows up next week.

When was your build date?

 

[EVMainer]

My delivery date went from 2/2-2/8 all the way to 3/7-3/13. At this point I'd be stoked if they release it from the rail yard two hours away and let me take delivery.

The thing that I don't understand is why people with vehicles produced on the same day got to take delivery if the truck was already at the dealer, while mine is on hold because it hadn't been loaded on a transport truck. If there is an issue, why let the customer take the risk? If there isn't an issue (since some customers were allowed to take delivery) then why continue to hold vehicles in transit. This is what is pissing me off, doesn't make sense to me.

 

[jlwillia6]

When was your build date?

My build week was the week of 1/16. Blend date was 1/22.

 

[detansinn]

My delivery date went from 2/2-2/8 all the way to 3/7-3/13. At this point I'd be stoked if they release it from the rail yard two hours away and let me take delivery.

The thing that I don't understand is why people with vehicles produced on the same day got to take delivery if the truck was already at the dealer, while mine is on hold because it hadn't been loaded on a transport truck. If there is an issue, why let the customer take the risk? If there isn't an issue (since some customers were allowed to take delivery) then why continue to hold vehicles in transit. This is what is pissing me off, doesn't make sense to me.

There may be some very specific Battery build dates or batches that are problematic here. On some level, luck of the draw is at work here.

 

[Its PJ Bia]

I love that I waited almost 2yrs for this truck and my luck puts me in the select group of trucks held in shipping purgatory with zero updates from ford or my dealer. which could lead to a several month wait if the battery needs to be replaced

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