800 Number

[Tommy Tbird Blue]

I'm new to the group and I see references to the 800 number - what is the number and what information do I need to have to check on my car? I do not have a vin number from the dealer, but have my DORA with me...can I get any information about my car from that?

Thanks,
Tommy T
Blue on Blue with White hard top

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[RedBirdDlx]

You cannot get any information without your VIN. Perhaps later, when you have a VIN, you should check with your dealership on Mondays (since the Ford scheduling computers are updated late in the week) to get your status.

I hate to encourage anyone to use the Ford Dealer's phone lines (into the Ford systems) because it ties up the lines and prevents dealers from doing their work. If you should get tripped up and get an operator, they are not going to be very happy when they find out you are not a dealer.

The second point is that the schedules are only a planning tool, not a promise. A lot of factors can alter the schedule on a daily basis. It's really better to let your salesperson keep you informed. They usually do a complete listing and can find your status fairly easily, if there is anything to report.

Once you have your vin, just watch the postings here to get an idea of when your vehicle will be built.

You can tell a lot from your position in the dealer's allocation. If you are 12 out of 15, you are looking at the 2nd quarter 2002. Start looking for a VIN in March or April.

 

[Tommy Tbird Blue]

Thanks for the info! I'll check with my dealer. I'm number 4 of 8 in my dealer's queue.

 

[Gobird]

Tommy Tbird Blue, You never know what will happen with these Birds. I was 7 of 12 when I ordered back in Jan. My dealer called two weeks ago and said my car was moved up to 4 of 12 and would be the next one they would get. He didn't know why and I'm not complaining about it. So you never know what will happen.

------------------
Blue on Blue Prem. STILL WAITING Ordered in Jan. 7of12
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond
Got Vin. 109293 Build Date 01/14

 

[Wudzee]

My dealer said I was 2 of 6 some 15 months ago, but then he went and ordered all 6 with the same priority code. So now I'm number 3 at best. Oh well, at this point I'd just as soon have it for St Patty's day, as it might snow here in CT before then, maybe.

 

[RedBirdDlx]

The priority code will not affect the order of build for your dealer. If you are #2 of 6 with a priority of 45 (lowest) you still get built before #3 of 6 for another dealer even if it has a priority code of 10 (highest).

Ask your dealer if he/she may have moved you around to satisfy someone else. The dealer can change the order of build if they desire. The priority code has little to do with the scheduling sequence for the dealer.

A dealer would normally order them all with the same priority code. Mine used 25 - medium priority.

 

[tr cruiser]

I like this explanation posted by carguy on BON in June.

Order numbers are assigned by the dealership. Each dealership has its own system and has nothing to do with scheduling order. This is a brief overview of how a vehicle is scheduled. Each month the dealer is given the quantity of vehicles to be scheduled in the following month (allocation). In the case of the T-Bird we know how many we will get for the entire 2002 production run but do not know what months they will be built in. Next the dealer places orders into the Ford computer with a priority code, 10 being the best and 40 the worst priority for sold cars and 80 the worst for stock units. (A dealer can choose to give a stock order a better priority than a sold order if he wishes to do so.) Thursday night is the first night of the week that the computer tries to schedule orders. If you have an allocation for a T-bird the computer checks the order bank from the best priority to the worst to find a car it can schedule to fill that allocation. If the priority 10 has some option that they cannot build during the week being scheduled it will then look at priority 11 and so on until it finds a buildable order. The computer then assigns a VIN number to the order. In the next day or two it will give the unit a production week for assembly. These dates are always a Monday but the unit can start down the line on any day during that week. The production week is usually three weeks after the VIN is assigned. Sorry for the length of this post but this is the simplest way I know to explain the procedure. If you have any other questions let me know and I will try to clarify.

 

[TBIRD II]

Yes, you can use the order number. Once I got a VIN I tried calling the number and ended up using the order number because it was shorter (in my case 4 digits).

The bottom line was that I saw that the system is not accurate. In most cases dealers are reporting that their cars are showing up several weeks before the promised date... I even tested using it with a car I saw was already delivered to my dealer. It said the car was "locked in" and would be delivered in early February. It's been sitting on the dealer's lot for nearly a week.

I agree with RedBirdDlx, the best source of information is right here. Keep an eye on Jodrod's VIN number tracking on his Yahoo page. In general it's easy to predict the time of delivery once you know the VIN number... based upon about 100+ cars per day. For those without a VIN, use your dealer's alloctation to figure out how many cars per month they will get, and then figure out how many they have so far.

For example, my dealer is getting 30, that's about 3 per month for 10 months. A dealer getting 10 would get about 1 a month.



------------------
Joe
TBIRD II - My License Plate
# 9476 - No delivery date yet...

 

[carguy]

RedBirdDlx wrote

"The priority code will not affect the order of build for your dealer. If you are #2 of 6 with a priority of 45 (lowest) you still get built before #3 of 6 for another dealer even if it has a priority code of 10 (highest)."

You are absolutely incorrect regarding priority codes. THE PRIORITY CODE DOES DETERMINE THE SEQUENCE OF A DEALERS PRODUCTION!

 

[K6RU]

My DORA copy shows a Priority of 19. Is that good?

Dealer told me before Christmas I was #19 and he had just received shipment infor for #16.

Thanks,

Chuck

 

[Wudzee]

My dealer said he made all 6 0f us a 10 code. That being the case would make it a crap-shoot, or would it? I've been waiting to change my interior from black/black to red/black. Maybe I should do that now and then I'll get to see a new DORA.

-

 

[carguy]

Wudzee
You are correct. The computer will just pick any of the orders at random if they all have the same priority code.

K6RU
If the dealer is using the same logic that I use when prioritizing orders you probably have two people that will be scheduled before you.

 

[TBIRD II]

Let me try to shed some more light on this.

The priority code is a code given WITHIN the dealer's allocation. The number itself does not give the dealer any priority over other dealers. So you can't measure a priority code from one dealer and compare it to another dealer's. The Priority Code does INFLUENCE the order within the dealer's allocation, but only to a certain degree.

There are several factors. First the system looks at the dealer itself and says "Dealer ABC is getting X TBirds this week." It then looks at the pending orders placed by that dealer. It sorts that list by priority, date, and color. Assuming the dealer has used the same priority code for all the cars, they will go in date order. If he used more than one code, the highest are looked at first.

The wildcard is the color. Since the factory will do certain colors in batches it's possible that the computer will select another car if they are scheduled to build that particular color on that day.

My dealer received #3 first, followed by #2 then #1. All three were the same priority. My dealer was given the down payment for #1 in 1999 (right after the first concept was unveiled)... but as I mention, he got his 3rd... It was red. They shipped two black cars before his.

This year, black seems to outnumber the other colors by a huge margin.

------------------
Joe
TBIRD II - My License Plate
# 9476 - No delivery date yet...

 

[RedBirdDlx]

Well you learn something here every day. My dealer ordered all his allocation as priority code 25 and is relying on the input date to sequence his orders.

Now, if I could convince him to change my priority to a 10, I would presumably jump ahead of a few of his buyers. I'm 7 of 15 now and 2 have been delivered. #3 of 15 is scheduled for early Jan production. With a 10 priority, I would jump up to next in line, assuming they have commodities and paint capacity for my unit.

I wonder if this is what happened with some of the "changes" in production sequence at some dealers. I wouldn't ask my dealer to do that to the 4,5,6 place buyers, but it may have happened at other dealerships.

 

[Gobird]

RedBirdDlx, I didn't ask my dealer to do that eather but maybe because I buged him alot and made him sign me up for the T-Bird collection, I was the only one out of 12 that did that although I'm paying for it. Just maybe he though he could get me off his back and moved me from 7 of 12 to 4 of 12. Don't know for sure. All I know is that my baby will be built the week of Jan. 14

------------------
Blue on Blue Prem. STILL WAITING Ordered in Jan. 7of12 NOW 4of12
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
a dog a cat and a couple hundred fish in my pond
Got Vin. 109293 Build Date 01/14

 

[thebuda12]

I am awaiting the arrival of the T-bird. We have tried the 800-962-3746 with no success on arrival date or any other information. All they say is there is no status on this vehicle. We give them our dealer # and the order #. If anyone has any other suggestions let us know.

 

[redbird]

thebuda12

No status means your order has not been scheduled for production or assigned a VIN number.

 

[SoCal Tbird]

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[Kristi]

Before I got my VIN I thought it would be cool when I could finally call the 800# to find out status on my car. My Ford service manager (my oldest son) put that idea to shame when I was at the dealership yesterday. He entered my VIN on Ford's online site and checked the status. He's as anxious for a build date as I am!
I'd suggest for any of you with a VIN, waiting on your car, find a friendly service rep at any of the Ford dealers, trucks, used, new, and have them check status for you. It's a little more immediate, and accurate.