Vehicle availability vs what the Ford website says?

[Oafy44]

Well, still have not been able to find a truck to buy - even pointed the most recent dealer towards the EV Replenishment center. Crickets.
Just for humor's sake, a few minutes I got a marketing E-Mail from "Southern California Ford Dealers" telling me how wonderful their trucks are and to see my local dealer...

there’s two antimatter blue flashes and at least 4 AMB lariats at Akins ford in winder,ga.
They ship nation wide and are the largest or second largest dealer in the country. I think they have national accounts with many nationwide companies that get 100s of trucks a year and can ship it out there if need be.

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[BostonLightning]

So a quick search for your zip code, 50 mile radius, AMB Flash shows 18 vehicles, most in stock. Are you saying they don't really exist? Makes you wonder how they are selling anything.

https://www.ford.com/inventory/f150-lightning/results?postalCode=91740&year=2024&trim=SE;SE#GJ_YZCEG-095dc&radius=50&sort=distance-asc&exteriorColor=PN4HY-f3591

The OP is saying that when he contacts those dealers with models listed as 'Available' they are not actually available. The best bet would be to contact out of state dealers with experience selling to California residents and get a shipping quote. The final cost with current rebates, APR, federal and state programs on a 2024 should more than be worth it to the vast majority of buyers.

 

[K6CCC]

So a quick search for your zip code, 50 mile radius, AMB Flash shows 18 vehicles, most in stock. Are you saying they don't really exist? Makes you wonder how they are selling anything.

That is correct. A little more detailed search will show the same vehicles listed by VIN as "In stock" at every dealer in the area, but none of those actually have them.

 

[bmwhitetx]

That is correct. A little more detailed search will show the same vehicles listed by VIN as "In stock" at every dealer in the area, but none of those actually have them.

Interesting. I've been a part of the whole "same VIN available at multiple dealers" discussion before. @climateguy did a good job uncovering all this. Like you said the website wasn't displaying the VIN but if you clicked the vehicle - the VIN would be in the URL and you could see multiple dealers had the same VIN. In these cases availability was always 10 days+. We learned later they were at Replendishment Centers.

But the search I did showed VINs upfront and they are completely different for the 18 (now 17) trucks (Flash in AMB). And most show to be In Stock.

So I went to a few dealer websites and you're right - most if not all are in transit and have the fake pic in front of a CGI dealer background. Ford is really making it difficult to buy a Lightning - I guess dealers didn't want them in inventory.

Tim Bartz of Long McArthur Ford in Salina Kansas is a dealer I would highly recommend. He became famous for his Maverick prowness back when those were hard to get. He did a lot of shipping to other states. He has a few Flashes in stock but not your color. He posted earlier today that dealers can now order 2025 Lightnings. If you go the order route and want a dealer who knows all the ins and outs of the tax credit, you might consider him. He owned a Lightning for a couple of years - now drives a Rally GT Mach-E I think. YouTube channel.

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