Not really directly at the Ranger specifically but Ford overall and how awesome they are to deal with

[Nate]

I will say this, ordering a new car from Ford is FAR easier than Lexus. With the new Ranger, It was all done over the phone/email. No deposit required, no fuss, even no obligation if I decided I didn't want it when it came in. Paperwork sent over was all above board and looked great. Took less than a day.

Now...the wife wants a new 2024 ux250h. Initially I was told that they would keep an eye our and let me know if they found a match...then the General Manager emailed me and I asked why we couldn't just order one. She responded that we definitely could and asked for my build. I gave it to her and she said great, she would get it submitted.

Then the next day I get an email from the salesman saying that he received the build, but would need me to come in to sign some paperwork and put down a $500 deposit. I told him I had a full weekend and they are a little over an hour away, so getting there before next Saturday probably wasn't doable. He comes back and asks for a copy of my license and current insurance(the insurance threw me off) so I gave it to him. He said he would be sending over an order sheet for me to sign and then their finance guy would reach out with a link where I could submit my deposit with a CC.

The sheet comes it and it looks like it something someone just drew up in Word. It listed the model, color and interior color of the car and that's it...however, there was one line where I told them they lost a sale and I'd shop other dealers.

"By signing below, we acknowledge and confirm the equipment requested for this vehicle order. We also agree the transaction will be finalized no later than 3 days from the vehicle arrival from factory to the dealership, or the vehicle will be placed on the market for sale and the deposit will be lost"

The Package Codes line of the form was blank, meaning it didn't have any of the options she chose and we would have to accept the car however it arrived or walk away from the deposit. He tried to tell me that was standard, they don't need to fill out the package codes since they will enter them in the system. I told him I wasn't signing anything that didn't have the full build on it.

Sponsored

 

[MJE]

Wow very different from my fore experience ordering too. sales & i went over every line on the confirmation to make sure it’s 100% correct before any deposit was put down

 

[JennyjoannSuebeeMcNash]

I've never put a deposit down on ANY vehicle. Before placing an order for my Maverick in November 2021, I had visited the Toyota dealership to discuss a Corolla Cross. They wanted a $2000 deposit to even start the ordering process. No thanks. They lost a sale.

The dealership I ordered my Maverick from initially wanted a $1000 deposit back in 2021. When I refused they were more than okay with just a copy of my drivers license.

For both the (now canceled '24 Maverick) and the '24 Ranger, a DL is all it took to place the order.

 

[Xyotafella]

Ford has been 100x better than Toyota to order as well. Not to mention you can actually order exactly what ya want. Toyota ya have to call 20 dealers in a 300 mile radius trying to find what you’re looking for…..pita. Most of them want a deposit as well.

 

[FreezingFlatlander]

Have ordered several Fords over the years and it was always an easy process. I remember getting an order preview showing the vehicle description and options along with the various order codes during the last couple orders. My last order for the new Ranger didn't take over 15 minutes and I had an email to confirm the order within an hour. The time between ordering the F150s that I had ordered was never very long, I think the last one arrived a couple of months after ordering so hope the Ranger arrives soon (ordered Jan 2nd, 2024). So now like everyone else I wait.

 

[MJE]

Thanks for the insight, as in this segment I’m also looking at what Toyota is offering. Ford’s order process really couldn’t be easier overall (even if there are individual complaints about not getting emails or getting bulk emails that don’t actually give you the update/info you‘re looking for). I pick what I want & Ford produces it next in line subject to parts availability for the configuration I’ve chosen. That takes some time, but generally easy.

Toyota’s I haven’t quite figured out yet. It seems you can tell your dealer what you want. Then they hope to get an allocation that matches it, or as closely as possible. When that allocation comes in you can choose to accept if it’s close enough, or wait until something possibly closer comes in at some future unspecified date. A friend just went through this with a Camry, so it seems he waited a year to get a car that was the wrong interior & exterior color, but close enough.

 

[Xyotafella]

Thanks for the insight, as in this segment I’m also looking at what Toyota is offering. Ford’s order process really couldn’t be easier overall (even if there are individual complaints about not getting emails or getting bulk emails that don’t actually give you the update/info you‘re looking for). I pick what I want & Ford produces it next in line subject to parts availability for the configuration I’ve chosen. That takes some time, but generally easy.

Toyota’s I haven’t quite figured out yet. It seems you can tell your dealer what you want. Then they hope to get an allocation that matches it, or as closely as possible. When that allocation comes in you can choose to accept if it’s close enough, or wait until something possibly closer comes in at some future unspecified date. A friend just went through this with a Camry, so it seems he waited a year to get a car that was the wrong interior & exterior color, but close enough.

Toyota changed that sometime after ‘17. We got a new ‘17 4Runner and could order it how we wanted. Ordered a ‘23 Tacoma about 6 months ago and it was the allocation game getting one close to what ya want. I will say though if ya find the right dealer they can usually find and trade another dealer for what ya want or pretty close to it. Still might get some add ons ya don’t want like running boards etc. Definitely like Ford a lot better, first experience with them for me

 

[MJE]

Toyota changed that sometime after ‘17. We got a new ‘17 4Runner and could order it how we wanted. Ordered a ‘23 Tacoma about 6 months ago and it was the allocation game getting one close to what ya want. I will say though if ya find the right dealer they can usually find and trade another dealer for what ya want or pretty close to it. Still might get some add ons ya don’t want like running boards etc. Definitely like Ford a lot better, first experience with them for me

Thanks for sharing your experience. The idea that you could order one the way you want seems to make sense to me. Your 17 4Runner experience. I might do ok with Toyota, considering a Taco Limited, so basically it comes one way, & getting it in a normal color should be easy enough. So it might work out. I really think I’ll need to experience the trucks in person though before making a decision.

 

[Xyotafella]

Thanks for sharing your experience. The idea that you could order one the way you want seems to make sense to me. Your 17 4Runner experience. I might do ok with Toyota, considering a Taco Limited, so basically it comes one way, & getting it in a normal color should be easy enough. So it might work out. I really think I’ll need to experience the trucks in person though before making a decision.

Like I said find a good dealer. I’ve called a few and said I wanted this exact truck and got the “ya we can do that but it will have a 5k markup”…..click. End result you can get what ya want just a different way of getting it. Also don’t have the luxury like fords order tracking system, that’s nice

 

[Moto26]

Just a word of caution: Go check the Bronco forums and see what happens when you don't get everything in writing. And if Ford makes any changes to options, colors, packages, or any other detail before yours is built, make sure you get all of that in writing as well. A lot of this depends on your dealer's ethics, of course, but Ford has lost a bunch of long-time customers over the whole Bronco ordeal...

 

[tbalt14]

My dealer was pretty thorough about the order process and I like the way they handled it with my being 4 hours away. Not it just needs built.

Sponsored