graphicguy

I had the opportunity to speak with a Ford rep from their Mustang assembly plant. I met her at the Cincinnati International Auto Show last night. She came down from MI to get more reactions from people regarding the '05 Mustangs. She said her exact job was in customer relations. Very nice lady who spent about 30 minutes answering my questions (now I wish I could just rember the name she had on her badge). You can choose to believe what you will, but she was very knowledgeable.

The first question I asked her was about order delays. She said that there is no reason on the factory end that an order should take longer than 6-8 weeks, barring any carrier or rail transport issues (there were none that she was aware of). She went on to say that any deviation from that would have been a dealer issue in the way that they prioritized their orders. She did say that Ford had planned for a positive reaction to the Mustang and that parts and supply vendors were given a range of production numbers that included a "high end" number based on early, positive customer reactions from the auto shows. While she said that orders were on the "high side" of what Ford expected, the parts vendors and the plant itself had the capacity and ability to produce "everything in the pipeline". She said Ford had started the plant slowly in order to get the early cars "built right". But, the plant is running "full bore" currently with no "hitches" in production. She stressed, there are no "HOLDS" on any cars for any reason.

I quizzed her on why some people who had ordered cars were waiting 4,5,6 months for production. Again, she said that was probably a dealer issue. I posed the question about whether there could be a corelation between ordered cars affecting allotments. She said there was absolutely no reason for an ordered car to take over 6-8 weeks.....maybe 9-10 weeks if weather affected the truck transports. She said by the looks of things, Ford would make 150,000 '05 Mustangs. She said the plant can and would make more if the orders justify it.

I asked her about the "My Color" lawsuit. She was aware of it and said Ford's stance is that it's frivolous. She went on to say that they are producing Mustangs with "My Color" as fast as the orders come in. There is no holding "lot" where Mustangs sit idle awaiting any hearing. She went on to say that Ford (as well as other manufacturers) are used to this type of lawsuit from people who "think" they've got some claim to technology. She went on to say they have people suing for alleged infringements on every model Ford makes. They have a dept that does nothing but address these claims. Then she got real serious. She said Ford researches all patents thouroughly and that they go through the exercise of researching patents that their suppliers use, too. She went on to say that these claims result in higher prices for the consumer since the cost of any litigation is built into every car. Then, something that rang true to me, she said "we have a lot of experience with this after coming off the Bridgestone tire debacle". I believe her.

I asked her about the Shaker problems. She said they are aware of some owners having problems with them. She said only a few replaced units have come back to them so far and admitted they don't know whether it's a laser tracking issue or a firmware issue. Ford has instructed the dealers to replace the units currently. But, she said once Ford finds out the cause, there would be some sort of TSB issued if warranted, but not to worry "Ford will make certain Shaker customers would have an agreeable fix, either with a replacement unit or something that can be done on the dealer level".

Asked her about shortages of the red interior. She flatly said "NO...any official Ford option the customer wants, we can accomodate".

Wish I could have talked to her more, but the show was getting busy and I had already dominated enough of her time. Believe what you will, but personally, I believed everything she said.

tsrek

Thanks! itis a relief to read this..It puts to rest all these rumors that float arround on these Forums.

I can add that while waiting for my Gt I was worried about my CD player comming in bad , so I went over to my local dealer and brought along a CD to test out on a Mustang and It played fine on a shaker 500 system.

If your Ford rep is correct about delays comming from the dealership, and priorities...How can I find out what my order priority is? My dealer said it was 13, but how can I be sure? I trust him less every day. I have only been waiting 30 days so far, but if My dealer is pulling a con job on me I want to know.

Higgie

Nice Info Thanks. I enjoyed visiting with the factory rep.s when the auto show was in Indy. As I recall, the Frod rep.s were two men, when I visited. They were professional, and handled my negative feedback well. I gave them crap, for Ford choosing to make a safety device a styling option. Told them I thoght that was irresponsible to the public and should be rectified immediately.

I am reffering to the decision to allow factory fog lights on the V8 only. I sure use my fogs a lot on my Ford truck. Since I traded my F150, on an 05 GT. I am very happy with the car, and have used the fogs often during the first 600 miles. I wish those of you choosing a V6 could have them from mile zero also.

IMHO

graphicguy

Without knowing how your dealer prioritized your order, it's hard to say. This is strictly my opinion, but I think dealers would rather have their own allotment on their lots first before any orders. That gives them the opportunity to put addendum stickers and add any inflated "dealer installed options" to boost the price.

Without proof of how your dealer ordered yours, who knows. My guess is that as the end of any given month approaches, and the dealers need to make their sales quotas, you'll see a lot of Mustangs mysteriously "appear".

Earl

Oh and the "cd playing fine thing..."....

Mine played fine for the first 400+ miles, then same problems as everyone else reports....I'm waiting for the TSB fix.

Earl

Higgie

Mine is hanging in there, only 600 miles on car though. Shaker 500. I personally don't care for the operating controls. I liked the Ford 6 disc, that was in my 03 F150??

mocha98

Great Information! If what you were hearing then maybe my dealer is not lying to me when they said I should have it no later that the middle of May. Ordered it five days ago....now I cant wait. Thanks again for the information

graphicguy

I can only guess at what's going on at the dealer level, but one thing is clear to me....the factory is cranking them out as fast as they can. 6-8 weeks is the time it takes from the time the dealer puts in the order to the time it's made and delivered. Ford has that down, pat. All the talk about cars with IUP, My Color, red interior, etc not being produced or being held because of some silly lawsuit, just isn't true. That much comes straight from Ford (via the Ford factory rep).

What we don't know is how the dealers are manipulating their order allotments. I think most of us have seen a good number of V6s around the lots if we want them. I'd bet that if you wanted to order a V6, a dealer could get the order in 6-8 weeks, regardless of the equipment level you wanted. That leads me to believe that the dealers see the GT as their hot ticket to some big profits. They may be putting their own orders for stock ahead of special orders or X, D, Z, etc plans so they can get them on the lot and at least sell them for MSRP, and in many cases, above MSRP from walk up traffic. That being the case, it's no wonder we're hearing all these excuses about the reasons the dealers can't get an ordered GT in that 6-8 week time frame....especially if it's on one of the Ford employee, friend or supplier plans.

Because of all of this, I'm still skeptical that I'll have my GT in 6-8 weeks, even though my dealer tells me it's supposed to be built in the middle of next month. It's an X plan deal and what I had to go through to find a dealer willing to do X plan tells me they could still start BSing me if mine isn't delivered in the time frame Ford said it would.

I think we have to hold the dealer's feet to the fire. Get all the information about our cars and why they are not being built...insist on it. My guess is, you'll find the dealer holding up your order, not Ford once you dig into it.

The other alternative, cancel your order and go somewhere else to order one. If you've been waiting 3 months or more, you've got nothing to loose by going to another dealer to get your car.

graphicguy

Quick update....apparently Ford has reissued a new version of the Shaker that addresses the problems. Not sure if that's true, since there aren't enough of the new Shaker versions out there, but Ford seems to have moved quickly to get this resolved.

Earl

Personally, I think the ordering is a huge waste of time - though certainly in the case of an A/Z type plan a savings of some money - but then time is money in my world.

I work with someone getting a GT on the A Plan. It was ordered in November. He's supposed to get it the first week of March...yes he picked his color (windveil blue) and his features (automatic) so that is worth something.

Me, I walked onto the lot on day middle of January - found this 5spd manual black beauty with IUP, Mycolor, Red Leather, bullit wheels, and just about everything else you can think of during my lunch hour - test drove her, and paid for her that night after work. Is it the color combination I would have selected? Probably not - but it has certainly grown on me bigtime. Would I have likely bought an Automataic if given the choice? Probably so as I hadn't driven a manual in nearly 20 years. But then that too has grown on me (besides for whatever reason, 99% of the GT's in North Texas are ordered as manuals - I don't get it 'cause the percentages are reversed in other parts of the country). I know as I've taken it back to have the windows tinted, pick up some Mustang parts and accessories, get my plates, etc. there have been at least another dozen or more GT's on the lot of the dealership in the past 6 weeks....I'm enjoying driving mine while my friend still waits, and waits. and waits...


Earl