Roger Baker

Okay, finals for me: the van arrived on July 2nd, giving me delivery time of 8 months.I got every fun option except the mudflaps. The bad news is I was in the hospital before I drove 30 miles - and it was 20 miles from my place to the hospital! I had my 3rd surgery (brain cancer) and I am just now returning to the road. One fill-up so far, the van doesn't yet get the high mileage but locally all fuel has the low-carbon, poor mileage additive. The driver's seat ability to adjust to be taller is great. Really helps me. The connection for the phone is not as great as I'd hoped, but it works. No connection of SYNC for satellite radio either, you have to buy a separate receiver (no big deal.) The interior of my van is carpeted just to the back of the rear seat - sigh, I can put in carpeting after I get my wheelchair lift installed. Driving is fun in the city, the van is peppy. Highway entrance is a different story, adequate if you floor the accelerator, but the van isn't made for heavy freeway off & on traffic. I paid full price and have no complaints. Once I get my lift for my wheelchair installed, I'll post pictures.

Another week of waiting. "Today has it showing as released with an estimated delivery to dealer date of June 30" according to the dealer. :fool:

Change of status: Awaiting Shipment Released Jun-21-2012, 00:03 EDT May-15-2012 Dealer says, "Hoping it will be here the first of next week. I will keep an eye out." We'll see. It strikes me odd that the drive from Baltimore to Virginia, a quick 35 miles, might not happen until next week, but at this point, who cares? I just want my vehicle. :reading:

Well, I hope to solve the camera dilemma quickly, cause the status changed again. The latest report says: In Transit Received - Portyard (Schenker Inc ) Ramp 2E, Maryland Port C, MD Jun-20-2012, 00:01 ET May-15-2012 Note that the only thing that was updated was the date, but there has definitely been the sign of acknowledging time. So we'll see. My dealership is all of 30 miles or so in Virgina, just across the river. This could be a simple affirmation that it has been passed through customs or it could be that it is being noted as ready to transport. Have to wait and see. Now at the 8 1/2 month waiting point, and I suspect that we'll get to the "delivery room" soon.

Do you have any info on how to contact Ford or your regional sales manager?

I'm guessing you ordered one that was available from another dealer. When you order a vehicle, the dealer network first looks at who might have a car already built and available that matches your order. Vehicles with full windows are notorious for not being widely available. How many have you seen just like the one you want? I have never seen one like the one I want but I have seen a photo here (red, all the windows, all the options except mudflaps.) Hope you car is running fine!

I'd guess you want to find the specifics of the damage, and what if would cost to repair the damage at the dealership. Then I'd talk about reducing the cost of the vehicle. It's supposed to be a new car. Good luck!

Okay, a week later and here's the status from the dealer: Ford has updated status! In Transit Received - Modcenter (Schenker Inc ) Ramp 2E, Maryland Port C, MD Jun-11-2012, 00:01 ET May-15-2012 In theory, this means that my car was checked-in at midnight on June 11th. Of course, this just means that all the vehicles were "checked-in" at the same time in some sort of batch process Monday morning. I was tracking the ship on the map and noted the ship was moving away from Baltimore harbor by then. :burnout: But at least the dealer gave me an update, so that's nice. I talked to the dealer customer relations manager one-on-one who reminder me that I had ordered the truck with two options that are installed at the Baltimore stop (sure, sure, tell me now that they take a long time to install.) One was the rear-view camera for backing-up (an essential as I'll use my wheelchair which will be stored in the back of the van) and the other was the connection to SYNC (gotta do phone hands-free.) I also added the handicapped wire harness because I may need to add a lift for my chair in back. So we'll see how long this takes. One week down in Baltimore, a total of eight months, twelve days thus far.

Okay, for those following this, here's a note about where the vehicles are unloaded. There is apparently only one dock where this happens at Baltimore and the unload lots are acres. The dock is just north of I-895 where it goes into the tunnel to cross the harbor (Harbor Tunnel Throughway.) I grabbed the latest snap from Google and spotted the big lots for unloading cars. Try googling "Port of Baltimore" and zoom-in looking for Ft. McHenry (the one from the national anthem.) The big unloading lot are across the harbor directly south. They are easy to spot. I can't get the Google link to paste properly, but Google "Port of Baltimore" and zoom in and yo'll see it. Of course, Google photos are'nt awlays recent, but you'll get the picture. MRIs tommorow and then doctor consult on Wednesday. We'll see if I survive long enough to drive the van (heck, just receive the van!) In some ways this is so funny, really. I'll keep you updated. (soap opera organ music comes up, as the anouncer says...) Can the doctors keep Roger alive longer enough to drive his car? Will the crew unload the car? Has GM been bribing the captain? And what about Colonel Sue, Roger's wife. Isn't she more in love with a new Jeep? To find out more, tune-in for our next episode of "Where's My Car, Dude?"

Okay, the latest: the ship is now in Baltimore harbor getting ready to dock. Eight months, four days. Looking to find any web cameras that watch the port, but no luck yet.

Okay, the latest: the ship supposedly carrying my vehicle is located at http://www.marinetra...10&type_color=7 . This currently (as I write) shows the ship in the northern end of Delaware Bay near the canal between Deleware Bay and the north end of Chesapeake Bay. It is possible the cars are being carried by a barge or such to Baltimore, or there might be some other explanation. Eight months, three days. We have had a Ford dealer conversing with us occasionally; do we have anyone who is will to admit being a dealer? Would love to get some intel on how all of this works.

Okay, here's the latest. My car is on the ship GLOBAL SPIRIT and the ship is located at http://www.marinetra...10&type_color=7 . Kinda crazy, I haven't seen the car yet, but I do have a picture of the boat it's supposed to be on. Crazy. When I wanted tracking information, the dealership passed this along to me. Notice that there's a six-week delay between the first order being cancelled and be re-entered (if there's a Ford dealer reading this, please correct me.) I never cancelled the order, the dealer says they only got info that the order was delayed in April. This doesn't sound right to me, so some explanation with more detail would help. Primary Secondary Status Date / Time ETA In Transit Shipped Ocean - Voyage # GLOBAL SPIRIT Ramp 9T, Turkey, EU May-29-2012, 00:01 EET May-15-2012 In Transit Received Compania Sud Americana De Vapores Ramp 9T, Turkey, EU May-25-2012, 00:01 EET May-15-2012 In Transit Shipped Ocean - Voyage # Ramp 9T, Turkey, EU Apr-18-2012, 00:01 EET May-15-2012 In Production Produced Apr-11-2012, 00:03 EDT May-15-2012 In Production Sent to Plant Apr-10-2012, 00:03 EDT May-15-2012 In Order Processing Scheduled to Week Mar-27-2012, 00:30 EDT May-15-2012 In Order Processing Selected for Scheduling Mar-01-2012, 07:35 EST In Order Processing Unscheduled- Clean Feb-27-2012, 09:59 EST In Order Processing Selected for Scheduling - Rej Dec-13-2011, 00:02 EST In Order Processing Selected for Scheduling Dec-08-2011, 15:27 EST In Order Processing Unscheduled- Clean Nov-05-2011, 15:15 EDT Okay, I'm holding out to see how long this takes. My guess is that another three-weeks is a minimum, but we'll see. Might be here before July 4th, which would be the day before the start of month 9. Nine months? Hope they clean the interior.

Many of the people who run sites on the 'Net are doing so for reasons that aren't easily justified, and thus they can't put down a lot of time or money. This one costs us nothing, and many of us have caught some good breaks from the info here. Just my perspective. :mellow:

Frankly, without the high roof, why buy this van - where does it have an advantage over more proven vehicles? Okay, I got it... it isn't as tall, so you won't have the extra room. Yep, no doubt, it will keep all the attention it has from those of us who need a tall vehicle or use it's advantages.

Same here - I am on the start (at midnight) of month eight. I will be visiting the dealer tomorrow and see what the dealer says.

Good one! Tomorrow will start month eight, at that point I will call this a pregnant pause... or am I a bit premature? :backtotopic: If it isn't a 2013 model, then it wasn't built recently, as the ones coming across these days (so I understand) are now 2013. I have an advantage on this: if the dealer doesn't give me at least a little break (after taking my check and telling me delivery might takes as long as sixty days) then I will give up my down-payment and tell them that they took my money, delivered nothing, and I'll see them in court. When they discovered it would take half-a-year, they should've called, emailed, something. Instead, I have educated them, kept them informed, and waiting for them to do basic inquiries. For everyone else, I understand delivery times can be a challenge. I am less that 50 miles from Baltimore where the Transits get their modifications and are trucked out. According to the dealer, mine has been at Baltimore for at least seven weeks now. So, where's the finished product? Seriously, I think the dealer failed to put in the order at first, because I haven't yet seen a seven-month delay of this web site or others. I really want this van because of the tall mobility scooter I use - don't want to disasemble it, just want to roll it up into the Transit (I'll have a ramp installed) and take-off. Right now I have to disassemble it in places and lift heavy pieces. I am getting weaker and cannot do this much any more. Month number eight starts at midnight EST. ^_^ Customer upset at dealer starts at about 9AM, after I have a cup of coffee.

Okay, Tuesday will make eight months - that's right, eight months. Is this the record for a Transit Express order? Anyone beat the length of this response? :D Or is it possible that a delivery before 9 months would be premature?

Got a call from the dealer yesterday saying the car was stateside, and we should start paperwork so the vehicle would be drive-in, drive-out - a quick delivery. I got things together and set a time... then the saleman called back and said they couldn't do it yet, officially the vehicle wasn't theirs yet. May 5th will make 7 months, we'll see. But if mine isn't at least a 2012, well, I'm not ready to buy last year's model. :stop:

Super! Hey, be sure to rat-out the dealer (joking) and give us an idea of how much the shelving costs you. Enjoy! I'm on month #4 of waiting for my custom build, hopefully less than 60 days to go!

This sounds pretty good - would you be willing to take a pic and share it with us? I would love to drive camping with my two sons and let the wife & I stay in the TC overnight. I am disabled and doing the tent thing is getting old. We have cots and it hadn't occurred to me to do this. I could show-off the pics to the wife and she'd give it a try. . .

I am awaiting mine still having ordered about 2 months before you. The current flow posted on this site seems to be about 5-6 months, so my guess is you'll get a 2013 model. I was told "as long as two months" when the reality posted here is much, much longer. I can wait, hope you can, too!

One minor item - most power lifts of wheelchairs/scooters/powerchairs that can handle the loaded chair require a few more inches of depth than the Transit provides with the seats lowered. One possibility to make this sort of lift fit would be to remove the 2-passenger seat and install a 1-passenger seat as a replacement. This would reduce your loadable passengers to 4 instead of 5 (I think 5 is a gross over-estimation anyway.) It would allow room to install the sort of wheelchair lift that can handle a loaded wheelchair/powerchair pretty well, depending on the measurements of the chair & occupant. Just a thought. I measured this out carefully and decided againt it because I still occasionally need to seat 5.

I decided to go this route and ordered on back in November - so I will post my results once the vehicle arrives. :mellow: I did some careful measuring, and it looks like I can load my wheelchair/scooter behind the second row of seats. We'll see.

Interesting info on this order. My order went in on November 5, 2011, along with a $1K down payment. I ordered most of the same items, I went with red, rear windows, SYNC, window tinting, and the top-end of the interior. I was told (then) that the order would be about 2 months (hah!) We're now in February, and from what I am reading, looks like May is about right. I did get an order number from the dealer (4 digits) but that doesn't seem to help with the tracking, any and all suggestions welcomed. I live in northern Virginia, not too far from Baltimore, close enough to visit if the Ford modification folks would allow a visitor. I am figuring out some other items right now, like how to put my wheelchair/scooter in the back. Haven't decided between a ramp or a lift. :unsure: In short, I can wait 'till it gets here to get things right - but I would love to be able to track the order.