My ordered truck is due in today (11/21 order). I have had no problems with dealer getting me weekly status. I had the VOPC about a week after order with VIN# etc. The only real problem I have had is, I still haven't got a priced DORA. I know by my VOPC I have I was price coded at 430 when I ordered and now it is up to 435. I've read on here that I should have recieved one at least within a couple days after ordering and he should have had no problem printing a new one...as he says he "hasn't recieved one yet". I asked him about this and his reason/excuse is beacuse they don't deal with ford directly (several major brand dealerships under a corporation..."AutoNation")and they don't have access to FMC programs directly. Everything "comes through corprate". ie: weekly staus report. He says I will have to pay the "new" 435 price......is this a true statement.....any insight?

 

Good luck trying to get a straight answer out of AutoNation. No one there ever knows what's going on, and if they did, the corporate policy will change tomorrow anyways. If you ordered your truck before 12/26/03, and it was ordered as a retail, sold vehicle, then you should be price-protected. It should show as an order type "1" on your VOPC. As to how AutoNation handles all this is entirely up to them, unfortunately.

 

On my VOC I have Order#xxxx, Prioity 10, Order type "X" (assuming x-plan?), Price level 430, order code 608A, Cust/Flt name: (Mine)
and yes a CO9 was ordered/listed and I have been asking since week 1 (last week of Nov 03) where it is....all I get is "it's on order", "we haven't recieved it yet"..."we don't deal with FMC directly, it has to come through corporate" (autonation). I'm assuming having my name on the VOC means that it was special ordered "retail sold" in "my name" and therefore afforded price protection?

 

Yes, the "X" order type indicates X-Plan, and that's considered a sold order type, eligible for price protection. The problem is this: when the vehicle arrives, the window sticker and invoice will always show the CURRENT price, and NOT the one at which it was ordered. It's up to the dealer to apply to Ford for a credit to get the old price. Since the higher price will show on all the paperwork, it's real easy for a dealer to say to the customer, "sorry, but as you can see by the sticker and invoice, we were charged the higher price." Add in that you're dealing with AutoNation, and it's just that much more frustrating. BTW, I thought those con artists were OUT of the new car business- where is there an AutoNation that still sells new Fords? They bought all the dealerships here in Rochester a few years ago, and damn near drove Ford right out of the marketplace. 3 years later and they all reverted to individually-owned dealerships.

 

Thanks 1956MarkII for the reply....Here in Memphis "Autonation" is involved with 2 of the 4 major Ford dealerships and a Honda dealership..all under the same name ("Dobbs")...I know they are up in St. Louis area as well.
Truck arrived today (7 Jan) and I went by and looked at it during lunch. I'm glad you talked about the window sticker because I did look at it but didn't really think to look at $$number...however I did see my name on it so by that I assumed it was "retail/sold".

One last question....do I let the truck sit until they apply and recieve credit from FMC (how long a process is that?) or do I sign for vehicle and wait for some type of rebate. I may have another out....because I am elgible for "upfit", I am getting Line-x and Retrax cover that fleet guy was going to do before I took delivery. I may be able to juggle the numbers that way? Instead of going through the FMC credit process for $170ish, if they absorb it as part of the upfit cost as I have already been quoted from him prices on both items. $380 for Line-X and $900 for Retrax cover puts me at $1280. I know thats a touchy subject with FMC so that may not work.
Thanks again you've been a big help reading your inputs

 

You don't have to wait for anything- your dealer should just sell it to you at the old price, and then he'll apply to Ford for a credit; he'll get his money later, no big deal. I'll assume that "upfit" refers to the Commercial Connection program, and there's two ways to handle that. 1) Have the dealer do the upgrades, figure them into the price, and apply the rebate towards the deal. Or get it done yourself before you take delivery, give the dealer the receipts, and he'll apply for the rebate and apply it against your down payment. 2) Take delivery now and have the work done later. When it's finished, give the receipts to your dealer so he can apply for the rebate. You'll get a check from Ford about 2 weeks after that. You have till either the end of June or July to apply for the rebate.