First of all, thank you to all the folks that have provided information on how to track your vehicle purchase through Cotus and Jack Cooper. This was better than any other information that I could get from my dealer (not blaming the dealer here as I don't believe they have a lot of special orders).

Once I have a VIN, I was given an estimated date of September 24th. I was able to follow along in COTUS and the truck was built Aug 30th and shipped 9/9/18. From there COTUS just states in Transit. I looked at Jack Cooper's VIN tracking and it states "Pending". From talking to folks at Jack Cooper's Kentucky Rail Plant, it made it to Tampa (about 2 1/2 hours from my house) on 9/17/18 and it's been there ever since. Jack Cooper's can't give me any information other than my truck needs to be inventoried at the Tampa Terminal, placed on a trailer and then picked up by a truck and driver for transport. The 24th has come and gone with the only update was that my dealer gave me a new estimated delivery date of Oct 7th and COTUS estimates 10/18/18 but I can't put any validity in either date as it's basically


"when it shows up, it shows up". I continue to be dismayed with the shipping process. When amazon can tell me every step of the way on a $2 item, it's amazing that Jack Cooper and Ford can't give me an idea on a $50k truck.

 

I hear ya. I have a F-350 on order and found a tracking site someone posted. Gave an estimated delivery of 9/27. Day came and went and now its 10/14. I called Jack Cooper and they said it was still in Kentucky. He transferred me to Kentucky dispatch and they wouldn't release any info. Dealer says the delivery date is 10/9-10/12, so don't know what to believer either. A little upset I missed out on the $1000 First Responder discount. Now it's back down to $500...

 

blue oval forum's https://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/ had several good posts of the many issues beyond Fords control with shipping. That forum seemed to have a lot of 'insider' info, be patient, when asking questions there though.

 

I went thru the same process, found the estimated delivery date on the owners site you took a screen shot of was spot on. Mine took 3 1/2 weeks to get from Kentucky to Virginia, that was from the rail yard to dealer, and my dealer always said I'll call when it gets here. Actual delivery date was about 3 weeks past the early estimates. I think the salesmen (oops salespeople) have less information than the people on these sites.

 

I dont get how you guys can ever order a truck, I'm way too impatient for that crap. Find one on a lot with everything you have to have, add anything that is missing after the fact for cheaper. Have the truck in a couple hours instead of a couple months....

 

 

It's hard to get definitive dates, CSX is so low on high roof rolling stock that shipments have been delayed for the better part of 20 months now. Our fleet orders are 3 weeks late minimum. It really sucks because we are paying to book spots with upfitters and getting charged to cancel.

 

I'm with you on this one. I ordered my 350 on Jun 9th, it was built on Sep 12th and supposed to be delivered today. I heard nothing from the salesman today so I did the Ford Chat. I asked the status and it was in transit and now the delivery day is October 16th.

 

You would just think they would have a better tracking process for such expensive items. The good thing is that my dealership and I had agreed on a trade in for my current truck but i had to keep it under certain miles. When the estimated date was missed, they agreed just for me to keep my miles low.

As far as ordering or buying off the lot, I hear ya but I couldn’t swallow the added cost for leather or diesel but wanted some of the options that came with those packages, ie keypad, led box lighting, sync 3, center console, spray in bed liner, gear ratio, etc when I tried to find one in the market in blue jeans, it became worth the wait.

 

The feeling is mutual. :-) At these price points, I don't see how one would tolerate anything less than exactly perfect as far as option choices and wishes. And I too keep vehicles for a log time - my other truck is a 1999 Expedition, also a factory order.

 

LOL this is why I would never order a vehicle. I am flexible on usually a couple of colors and "hard loaded" as they say with the right axle ratio and a rear window defroster. Buy 4wd's and always replace tires and wheels and add suspension luckily around DFW there are many dealers who order stock vehicles loaded this way.

 

I pick the motor, drivetrain, color and body style I want. Everything else is superfluous since these truck are like legos and you can add anything you want after the fact. Leather? $500 Katzkins. 8" IPC dash display? $165@LKQ. Console instead of a jump seat? $400 on eBay. Wheels and tires I always replace, BLIS you can add, LEDs you can add, adaptive cruise you can add, Raptor/Limited Steering wheel $300....

I guess if you don't like working on a truck I could totally see being super picky at purchase time. But in my experience its much cheaper to add what you want after the fact and then you get exactly what you want, even if its not a combination offered by OEM.

 

I haven't ordered a truck in many years. But the 3 or 4 trucks that I have ordered in my life, I didn't obsess over them. I made my deal, ordered and basically forgot about it until the dealer called me to tell me it was in. Life's much less stressful when you don't create your own. My biggest worry was damaging a truck that was going to be the trade in during the waiting period.

 

Mine was shipped out of the factory 6/13 and I didn't get it until 7/30. I live 6 hours from the Kentucky plant...

Around the 4th of July, I was begging my dealer if I could just go down there with a trailer and pick it up...