MegaZone Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I wish I could say my experience so far buying a Transit Connect has been a pleasant one but unfortunately that’s not the case. When I saw the new T/C in 2014 I felt it would suit my needs perfectly. I went to my local dealer and since this may be the only new car I ever buy, I decided to order it just exactly the way I wanted. I knew it would take a while to take delivery, but the way this has played out is totally disappointing. And it’s not so much the wait, it’s the sorry ass way I’ve been treated by the Ford dealer. The vehicle was ordered in October and I remember thinking that there was no way it’d be here before the first of the year, but sometime in January would be okay. The day I ordered it my salesman said as soon as the order was placed and accepted they’d have some kind of ball park figure for when it would be built, how soon it would get here, etc. I gave him a week, and I did not hear from him so I had called him for an update. Of course they didn’t know anything, but just as soon as they knew something, they would call me. Right. So I decided to just let it go for a while, a while in this case being almost two months. In the week between Christmas and New Year’s I e-mailed my salesman again, and he said he check on it. He should have been checking on it already! Anyway he e-mailed me back that he’d know something in the middle of January. Again I had to contact them mid-January and when they finally came back all that they could tell me was that the order had been accepted and my van was on the “Pending” list over in Spain, meaning pending to be built. Fine I thought, at least it’s close to being put together. So again I wait, this time almost two months. On March 6 I emailed my salesman and he says yes this has been ridiculously long and he’s taking this problem to my manager. Later that day he emails me that his manager put a call in to Ford but that they wouldn’t get back to them until Monday. You mean in this day of instant computer information they can’t even tell where a vehicle is in the process? Give me a break. My salesman thanks me for my patience and says he’ll get back to me on Monday. So now its next week. Monday comes no word. Tuesday comes, no word. Wednesday cones no word. You get the picture? Friday afternoon I’m just about to send another e-mail when behold I have a message from my ever so helpful salesman. He says: “Oops, the manager left before I could talk to him. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” This was supposed to happen Monday not Friday. Guess what news I got Saturday? Zilch! So now I’m faced with this decision. Do I just cancel my order? Do I find another more caring Ford dealer? Should I just ask them to find a van already in the US that is close to what I want? I hate to start over but I can’t help but feel they would NOT be treating me this way if I was buying a Mustang. So how about it guys. What should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 (edited) Megazone - welcome to TC Forum. I fully feel your frustration. I went through it as well but I never had the expectation that my dealer was going to know anything about the delivery process. Most sales reps are used to selling what they have on the lot. The TC coming from Spain with a very long wait time and poor visibility is a different process for them. I don't think you'll find another dealer that has better intel on this. I'm not aware of how Ford does their allocation per dealer and if that has any affect on getting delivery. I ordered mine on July 10th 2014 after the order window closed for 2014 so I was on the waiting list for 2015. The vans went into production beginning of September and I got delivery January 10th, so that's about 6 months after ordering and 4 months after production started. Depending on where you live in the US can add more time. I'm on the west coast so that probably added another two weeks since the TC lands in Maryland for processing. Once the van has gone into production, a VIN is created. You can't change your order at this point. I got my VIN in October and the van was produced end of October. So it takes about 2 1/2 months from when it's produced till you get delivery. I would think that at this point you should at least have a VIN and a production date. Perhaps the dealer can check on that part. I wouldn't cancel the order at this point unless you found another one you prefer. It's my understanding that you don't have to accept delivery and you can get your deposit back at any point so there's no risk on your side. BTW - it was worth the wait for me. My only fear is that if this van gets stolen or totaled, I'm not sure I could wait another 6 months for a replacement. That would be a bummer. Good luck! Edited March 16, 2015 by windguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I'd buy one off the lot. How different can it be from what you ordered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkaresh Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 ^ This depends on the desired / required options. There are quite a few on the TC. I wonder how the timeframe compares to cars ordered from other European plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaZone Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 UPDATE I called Ford Customer Service thinking that maybe they would have the resources (being corporate offices and all) to see if they could figure out why my TC hadn't even been built year after almost 6 months. All they did was call the dealership, call me back and say "Yes, it's not built yet and no we don''t know when it will be. Sorry." Yeah, they're sorry all right.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 UPDATE I called Ford Customer Service thinking that maybe they would have the resources (being corporate offices and all) to see if they could figure out why my TC hadn't even been built year after almost 6 months. All they did was call the dealership, call me back and say "Yes, it's not built yet and no we don''t know when it will be. Sorry." Yeah, they're sorry all right.... that sucks. wonder WTF is going on with your order. someone at Ford needs to step up to the plate and get you some info. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaZone Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 Progress! After the disappointing phone call to Ford Customer Service I decided to try an e-mail connection and see if maybe I could get thru to someone different. It worked! The next morning I received an e-mail asking for my Order Number. I obliged and soon received another reply informing me that my problem (with reference #! ) had been kicked upstairs to the Customer Service Manager for this region of the country. The next morning I received a call from her with the news that I now have a VIN Number and an assembly date. I can’t help but think that the “squeaky wheel” method I used here put the onus on them to speed things up but at least I feel that it’s really going to happen now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 @MegaZone - great news on the van. not to dampen your spirits, but you're going to need another dose of patience till you get delivery. To give you a ballpark, below is the timeline for my order. Good luck! 07/11/14 - van on order 09/02/14 - 2015 production started 10/02/14 - order selected for production at end of October. 10/17/14 - got VIN from the dealer 10/30/14 - van produced 01/10/15 - delivery at the dealer in CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaZone Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Big Change Folks. When I talked to my salesman last week I told him that even though I now had a build date I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to wait any longer, so I reduced my options list to "must haves" and told him to see what he could do about finding one locally that fit these specs. This past Monday afternoon (April 27) he calls me excitedly about the fact that over the weekend they received one at the dealership that will fit the bill and would I please come in and have a look. So I did and I'm very happy to say that I am now the owner of a new 2015 Transit Connect! I picked it up Tuesday night. It’s a white XLT and though it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, it’s still a very nice vehicle and I think I’ll be very satisfied. It was also $2000 cheaper to boot! Makes me wonder why I waited so long. P.S. There were these little stickers on the keys with the VIN# and a date. 11/28/14. So if this was the build date it took 5 months from that date in Spain to get to the dealership here in central Texas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croakz Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Congrats on the new TC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Big Change Folks. When I talked to my salesman last week I told him that even though I now had a build date I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to wait any longer, so I reduced my options list to "must haves" and told him to see what he could do about finding one locally that fit these specs. This past Monday afternoon (April 27) he calls me excitedly about the fact that over the weekend they received one at the dealership that will fit the bill and would I please come in and have a look. So I did and I'm very happy to say that I am now the owner of a new 2015 Transit Connect! I picked it up Tuesday night. It’s a white XLT and though it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, it’s still a very nice vehicle and I think I’ll be very satisfied. It was also $2000 cheaper to boot! Makes me wonder why I waited so long. P.S. There were these little stickers on the keys with the VIN# and a date. 11/28/14. So if this was the build date it took 5 months from that date in Spain to get to the dealership here in central Texas... great news - that was a quick change in events enjoy your new ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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