Ford Changed the Colour of Our Order

[Calvin H-C]

Our chance to place an order came up in late September and we made our choices and a purchase agreement was drawn up with our selections including the colour choice of Antimatter Blue.

Somehow, the colour got changed to black and we only found out about it a week ago when we were told a VIN had been assigned.

This week I've been told it can't be changed. I've let our sales associate tgat is not good enough. I would normally be a little more flexible, but we've been having an issue with our 2017 Ford Focus Electric that has me doubting Ford's ability to provide adequate customer service for its EVs. We are seriously questioning if we want to proceed with this purchase and may cancel.

Not sure yet if that is our best option, as we may be better off to take the vehicle and flip it for a profit. Gone are the days of new vehicles losing 30% of their value the moment they leave the dealership, and with waitlisted for the F150 Lightning, there's plenty who will pay a premium to get one immediately.

We really want this vehicle, it's a lot of money to settle for the wrong colour.

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[BennyTheBeaver]

Our chance to place an order came up in late September and we made our choices and a purchase agreement was drawn up with our selections including the colour choice of Antimatter Blue.

Somehow, the colour got changed to black and we only found out about it a week ago when we were told a VIN had been assigned.

This week I've been told it can't be changed. I've let our sales associate tgat is not good enough. I would normally be a little more flexible, but we've been having an issue with our 2017 Ford Focus Electric that has me doubting Ford's ability to provide adequate customer service for its EVs. We are seriously questioning if we want to proceed with this purchase and may cancel.

Not sure yet if that is our best option, as we may be better off to take the vehicle and flip it for a profit. Gone are the days of new vehicles losing 30% of their value the moment they leave the dealership, and with waitlisted for the F150 Lightning, there's plenty who will pay a premium to get one immediately.

We really want this vehicle, it's a lot of money to settle for the wrong colour.

There are little profits to be made on the resale market currently (unless you have a low cost model). All the demos and mannequins are becoming available and dealers got a bunch of Lariat SR stock.

People would rather buy "new" for the tax credit.

Sorry about your situation, that is frustrating!

 

[Calvin H-C]

I'm in Canada, so the situation is very different. First, there's no tax credit, and second, there were very few, if any MY22s that came up here, so we've been placed lower on the waiting list.

 

[Lucky Larry]

I have seen the F-150 Lightning in Agat Black Metallic and an ICE F-150 in Antimatter Blue. The Antimatter Blue is actually very dark and almost appears to be black until you get closer to the vehicle. It might be a good idea to see if your dealer has a truck in both colours and compare them side by side. I too have ordered my truck in Antimatter Blue but the Agat Black metallic has a nice gold metallic in it that looks great in bright sunlight. Attached is a photo of a truck in each colour. the Antimatter Blue one was taken on a cloudy day, and the Agat Black one was taken in bright sunlight.

 

[Calvin H-C]

Thanks for the photos, I've been hearing that the AM Blue looks very dark. There were a few blue choices for MY22, but only AM Blue for MY23. We spent a significant amount of time on this issue with the sales associate so they know this is a big issue.

We'll have to see what they come up with.

 

[GDN]

I have AMB and it is a great color. Sorry to hear this. Do you have a signed order from day one with the right color on it? I believe it to be hard Ford would do this unless they were discontinuing the color. Make no mistake this is probably on your dealer. Wondering if they thought they would end up with an abandoned order so they changed the color for something to sell?

I am guessing you'll never get the color of the truck that is ordered changed, so you need to likely start scouring dealers, see if you can find one to buy off a lot or one that your dealer might be able to trade for to get you what you want.

 

[Pioneer74]

Ford doesn't just change colors on orders. Even if the color is discontinued, it takes action from the dealer to correct it.

 

[Calvin H-C]

It appears the dealership made the error, though we watched as the sales associate entered it into the ordering system and went through everything once entered. They seemed to have to enter it in two different systems (dealer's sales system and Ford's order system) They've been apologetic bet given the issues with our other Ford EV, I'm being a bit hard-assed about this.

We're planning on going out today to get a close up look to compare AM Blue with Agat Black Metalic. If they are reasonably close as far as my wife is concerned (her 150), we will accept it provided the dealership makes up for their error. Perhaps we'll get a set of EV winter tires on rims with sensors plus some small discount in price or something else.

 

[Flashy McLightning]

It appears the dealership made the error, though we watched as the sales associate entered it into the ordering system and went through everything once entered. They seemed to have to enter it in two different systems (dealer's sales system and Ford's order system) They've been apologetic bet given the issues with our other Ford EV, I'm being a bit hard-assed about this.

We're planning on going out today to get a close up look to compare AM Blue with Agat Black Metalic. If they are reasonably close as far as my wife is concerned (her 150), we will accept it provided the dealership makes up for their error. Perhaps we'll get a set of EV winter tires on rims with sensors plus some small discount in price or something else.

Best of luck with your decision. Most dealers will work with you if you are reasonable. If you push it too far, it makes more sense for them to sell it to someone else.

 

[Pioneer74]

If it's a cloudy day or it's dark out, they look very similar. If it's sunny out the AMB looks dark blue.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[jimfigler]

Our chance to place an order came up in late September and we made our choices and a purchase agreement was drawn up with our selections including the colour choice of Antimatter Blue.

Somehow, the colour got changed to black and we only found out about it a week ago when we were told a VIN had been assigned.

This week I've been told it can't be changed. I've let our sales associate tgat is not good enough. I would normally be a little more flexible, but we've been having an issue with our 2017 Ford Focus Electric that has me doubting Ford's ability to provide adequate customer service for its EVs. We are seriously questioning if we want to proceed with this purchase and may cancel.

Not sure yet if that is our best option, as we may be better off to take the vehicle and flip it for a profit. Gone are the days of new vehicles losing 30% of their value the moment they leave the dealership, and with waitlisted for the F150 Lightning, there's plenty who will pay a premium to get one immediately.

We really want this vehicle, it's a lot of money to settle for the wrong colour.

i understand the frustration but those colors are not too different. Black trucks look pretty good. But I understand it’s not what you orderEd. Do you have anything that shows the correct color like your original order sheet? Maybe they add some accessories to make it worth it.

 

[Calvin H-C]

Best of luck with your decision. Most dealers will work with you if you are reasonable. If you push it too far, it makes more sense for them to sell it to someone else.

True. I made it clear to the associate that we appreciate his efforts to try and correct this.

 

[Calvin H-C]

i understand the frustration but those colors are not too different. Black trucks look pretty good. But I understand it’s not what you orderEd. Do you have anything that shows the correct color like your original order sheet? Maybe they add some accessories to make it worth it.

Our Agreement of Purchase says AM Blue. We understand the colours are very close, so we likely will make a concession as long as they do something more than just say, "Oh well, sorry".

As I said in my post, my added concern comes from an issue with a Focus Electric. Being able to have the car charge on a value schedule was lost back in March when we spent over $400 to upgrade the 3G modem to 4G. Is this shades of things to come for Lightning owners?

 

[RickLightning]

Our Agreement of Purchase says AM Blue. We understand the colours are very close, so we likely will make a concession as long as they do something more than just say, "Oh well, sorry".

As I said in my post, my added concern comes from an issue with a Focus Electric. Being able to have the car charge on a value schedule was lost back in March when we spent over $400 to upgrade the 3G modem to 4G. Is this shades of things to come for Lightning owners?

If you're asking if in the future, will vehicles have a connectivity problem, and possibly lose features, as cellular technology changes?

YES.

4G will become obsolete. Manufacturers may, or may not provide an upgrade path to 5G. Any path they provide may or may not apply to the Lightning, all depends on when 4G becomes obsolete.

We bought Ford's Remote Start for our 2013 F-150. That was a kit, a Ford part. It included a 3G modem, and the service was $50 a year to a 3rd party. That 3rd party decided in December 2020 to make it obsolete, despite 3G not yet ending. Goodbye remote start. No upgrade path provided.

With Ford switching from the current Sync system to Google's Android Automotive, at some point all of the online capability in today's vehicles will stop working, and that will be before the vehicles are obsolete.

 

[Calvin H-C]

Except I'm NOT talking about a remote feature, but a stand-alone feature in the vehicle. In fact, the value charging schedule was never something that could be edited remotely, just enabled and disabled. It still can, though enabling it, whether by remote or in the vehicle, is ignored by the car and charging wi'll just start immediately.

The car is also now really bad at estimating how long it will take to reach full charge, saying things like 0.4 hours whether the SOC is 90% or 10%. I don't expect the estimate to be perfect, but for over 4 years it wasn't orders of magnitude wrong.

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