My experience so far with Ford's Build & Price website

[invertedspear]

I ordered a 2024 Flash using Build & Price two days ago. I got an instant, probably automated, reply: "I'll need to get with a sales consultant to check its availability. They will reach out shortly".

No one has contacted me yet. On Build & Price, submitting your credit card info and clicking on "Place Order" just submits an "Order Request" to the dealer. When the dealer has decided to "accept" the "request", the transaction is submitted to the bank. The fine print on Ford's eCommerce Terms states that only then does it become an "Order".

The deposit payment has not been submitted to my bank yet.

And, the vehicle I selected is still listed as "available" on the Build & Price website. (I used my hack of examining the internet address of the details page of the vehicle I selected. The VIN appears at the end of the address). According to the Long McArthur video on how Build & Price is supposed to work, even if you just put a vehicle in your "cart", until you remove it or leave the site without placing an order, the vehicle is not listed as available.

Curiouser and curiouser, cried Alice

The whole online ordering system is a pile of shit, it was a pile of shit when we reserved the lightning back in the beginning and this new build and price tool is just a sculpted pile of shit.

I'm not sure what your options are. Can you even go to a dealer and tell them "I want this Flash" and show them what you're trying to order?

IMO a 23 XLT ER is a better choice (biased) because the big screen is a terrible UI in my opinion, but some people really like it so I'm not going to die on that hill. But you can probably go find an XLT on a lot somewhere that's close to what you want and skip this whole issue. There are a lot of "nice to haves" on the Flash, so maybe some of those are dealbreakers for you.

Either way, I think you should try to give up on this website, and see what you can do working with a dealer directly.

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[climateguy]

What

But you can probably go find an XLT on a lot somewhere that's close to what you want and skip this whole issue. There are a lot of "nice to haves" on the Flash, so maybe some of those are dealbreakers for you.

Either way, I think you should try to give up on this website, and see what you can do working with a dealer directly.

Mallory was once asked why did he climb Mount Everest? Supposedly, he said: "Because it was there". Obviously, that has nothing to do with this Ford online ordering system. Moving along:

I gave up believing in the system, but I put in an order anyway.

On the online system, you can search for dealers who are offering the identical vehicle (i.e. same VIN) at different prices. There is a line item in the price details for specific vehicles at specific dealerships called "Dealer Adjustment", which in most cases is zero. But some dealers list an actual number.

If this is not some sort of glitch, this makes the deal better than any of the bricks and mortar dealers I talked to. All have tried their best to convince me that the Ford MSRP is the lowest possible price they could sell a new Lightning for, so help them God. One even claimed that the invoice issued to his dealership by Ford is higher than the MSRP he wants to get from me, implying that his dealership is losing money on every sale. When I walked, they didn't call back. So far, they are being very convincing.

These were dealers who were telling me their current orders were being held up and they could not give me so much as a hint as to the date of delivery, whether I signed up to buy one they had had on order since last October, or if I special ordered one now.

Online, its possible that an order could arrive. Pigs might fly by my window before I post this. But this state of affairs appeared to apply to dealing online or in person.

 

[TaxmanHog]

@climateguy are you still waiting for the dealer to "Accept" your proposed order?

 

[climateguy]

@climateguy are you still waiting for the dealer to "Accept" your proposed order?

Still waiting.

Update: The order was placed May 20. A salesman called May 23. The first thing he wanted to know was if this was a real order and not some sort of accidental click on the wrong website button. Then he wanted to confirm what I had ordered. I sent him the VIN I had found in the details address bar, and a description of the trim and options. Maybe he is trying to work on a sale....

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