Delay on AWD Models?

[jackey]

I ordered the K8D..XLT with 202A pkg, power liftgate & moon roof.
Ordered 1/28, supposed to have a build week of 3/28. So sad this has happened, now I will probably look elsewhere for a SUV.

I'm assuming K8B is base, K8D is XLT and K8F is Limited.

 

[Token57634]

I ordered the K8D..XLT with 202A pkg, power liftgate & moon roof.
Ordered 1/28, supposed to have a build week of 3/28. So sad this has happened, now I will probably look elsewhere for a SUV.

I'm assuming K8B is base, K8D is XLT and K8F is Limited.

If you have a scheduled build week, I would assume you should be fine. I think the date in that link refers to the date the actual order was placed, not the date it was built (mine was built 3/15 and I got confirmation that it was built).

 

[jackey]

"Ford is making every effort to build orders received on and prior to 3/09/11"
That doesn't guarantee my order will be built..despite having a vin & build week.
Plus this the parts are for ALL of Ford's AWD vehicles. That's a lot of cars being built prior to mine.
Here's to hoping Craig or someone can have something positive to report!

 

[paulfrank285]

Over on the facebook site, Craig (who I believe is Craig Patterson, Marketing Manager for the Ex) said that they are running a bit "tight" on AWD parts right now, because of overall sales of the Ex exceeding expectations and more people ordering AWD than anticipated. Which seems a bit odd to me...I could have told them that the AWD would have been quite popular -- they are marketing it as a true "SUV", beating the hell out of the TMS, why wouldn't people want the AWD?

that's because most of the time, in general, people in marketing spent so much time and money to figure out something which result is kinda expected (like a small % of Explorer owners are going to use their truck to tow) or a result that is totally the opposite (isn't that common sense that most people want SUV's because of AWD's?)

anyway, for our sake, i hope it's not true, and that Ford is just being careful about getting more orders before it is out of controls.

 

[Arniect]

This is a bad situation for sure. Good to see sales exceed expectations, but sad to see Ford was so wrong with what could be sold.

I just looked and confirmed:
K8B=base AWD
K8D=XLT AWD
K8F=LTD AWD

The real question now would be when does MY 2012 Start for the Explorer? 2012 Mustangs are in the showrooms now.

 

[Token57634]

"Ford is making every effort to build orders received on and prior to 3/09/11"
That doesn't guarantee my order will be built..despite having a vin & build week.
Plus this the parts are for ALL of Ford's AWD vehicles. That's a lot of cars being built prior to mine.
Here's to hoping Craig or someone can have something positive to report!

True. Not guaranteed, but I'm not sure they would schedule a build week if they weren't going to build your Ex. I'm certainly not an expert in the matter, but I would think that scheduling a build would involve committing or allocating resources to that particular vehicle. Once they run out of the parts necessary to build the AWD models, they would probably stop scheduling them. Having placed my order on 1/17, I can certainly understand your frustration and anxiety about it. Good luck! I think you'll get your Ex. Hopefully sooner than later for all us that don't have ours yet.

 

[sm4astan]

US only Ford MY2011 Taurus, Edge, Flex, Escape, Explorer with AWD/4x4 orders balanced out date of 3/09/11. Demand for these vehicles and body styles have exceeded supply. Ford is making every effort to build orders received on and prior to 3/09/11 and will continue to accept will-try orders placed on 3/10 or after. Customers with orders placed that receive the balance out message will be advised. Ford anticipates these options will be available for the start up of MY12.

Above from the Donlen site.

Sounds like you'll be told if your X can't be built as you would get the "balance out" message.

I take that as others have said that if you get a build date, this would not affect you.

 

[jackey]

This is a bad situation for sure. Good to see sales exceed expectations, but sad to see Ford was so wrong with what could be sold.

I just looked and confirmed:
K8B=base AWD
K8D=XLT AWD
K8F=LTD AWD

The real question now would be when does MY 2012 Start for the Explorer? 2012 Mustangs are in the showrooms now.

Arnie..Craig mentioned there will be a week between 2011 & 2012 builds(of course with the now Donlen comments that could change) and they would start being built in Aug & showing up in showrooms in Sept.

 

[jackey]

True. Not guaranteed, but I'm not sure they would schedule a build week if they weren't going to build your Ex. I'm certainly not an expert in the matter, but I would think that scheduling a build would involve committing or allocating resources to that particular vehicle. Once they run out of the parts necessary to build the AWD models, they would probably stop scheduling them. Having placed my order on 1/17, I can certainly understand your frustration and anxiety about it. Good luck! I think you'll get your Ex. Hopefully sooner than later for all us that don't have ours yet.

I hope it's the case of being given a build week means you actually get a build. But, it could also mean we give you a build week in HOPES we have the supplies needed.
Craig did mention already that supplies are "tight" now.

 

[Token57634]

I hope it's the case of being given a build week means you actually get a build. But, it could also mean we give you a build week in HOPES we have the supplies needed.
Craig did mention already that supplies are "tight" now.

I think that could be why some people are having delays. Can anyone with the AWD model confirm that they did not have a delay? I'd really hate to have to wait another month or longer.

 

[jackey]

OK..the more I think about this..and where it comes from (A FLEET Management) this may just be fleet sales & not retail sales...

 

[Sparty09]

I agree Jackey. I think we are all so anxious to get our Explorers and after waiting for 8, 10, 12+ weeks with little to no information in most cases it is easy to assume the worst. I really think this is for fleet sales. Hopefully someone from Ford will clarify soon.

 

[peterk9]

I think that could be why some people are having delays. Can anyone with the AWD model confirm that they did not have a delay? I'd really hate to have to wait another month or longer.

It is actually a 4WD, not AWD, and no, my Feb. 24th built 4WD Limited did not experience a delay. It arrived at the dealership March 11th.

 

[jackey]

When Ford was first marketing the Explorers they tagged them as AWD w/ terrain management. Hence many folks thought of them as a CUV instead of an SUV.
I wish I had kept my original mini brochure because I am pretty certain it said AWD.
Now of course they say 4WD on them. Donlen has them listed as AWD trucks.

 

[ATLcanuck]

Peter9K has the only 4WD 2011 Ex that ford put out...now THAT is a collector's item! ;-) All the rest of us have AWDs, despite the badge Ford slapped on the back.

 

[WDinSD]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/business/global/18auto.html?src=twrhp

Lacking Parts, G.M. Will Close Plant

...

An average vehicle has about 20,000 parts and depends on thousands of suppliers, and the sudden loss of any one could be enough to stop production, Mr. Hoffecker said.

“It’s a real scramble for everybody,” he said. “It could be a chemical plant that got hurt that supplies material to make plastic that goes into a door panel that goes to someone.”

For parts that are shipped by boat to North America, shortages could take about a month to materialize. But for lightweight, high-value parts like microchips that travel by plane, problems could crop up much faster.

...

In general, automakers do not reveal many details about their supplier network, and several declined to say this week how many of their parts come from Japan. John Fleming, Ford’s executive vice president for global manufacturing and labor affairs, said parts were imported from Japan for “a lot of our products,” without elaborating.

 

[dutchie]

As far as I'm concerned if it's not here by this Friday I'm pulling the plug on this deal.

 

[xknoch]

AWD vs 4WD ??

When Ford was first marketing the Explorers they tagged them as AWD w/ terrain management. Hence many folks thought of them as a CUV instead of an SUV.
I wish I had kept my original mini brochure because I am pretty certain it said AWD.
Now of course they say 4WD on them. Donlen has them listed as AWD trucks.

I just dug out my big X brochure from 9/10 and it says 4WD all the way through it.

 

[WDinSD]

"Ford is making every effort to build orders received on and prior to 3/09/11"
That doesn't guarantee my order will be built..despite having a vin & build week.
Plus this the parts are for ALL of Ford's AWD vehicles. That's a lot of cars being built prior to mine.
Here's to hoping Craig or someone can have something positive to report!

Thank You Jackey - there's hope for me. I placed my order on 2/25/11 and my VOC from ford is 3/9/11 just under the wire. I haven't heard if there is a build date scheduled yet.

Now I need some luck!! I've got the cash if they have the X.

 

[peterk9]

Just to cause more confusion/discussion;

AWD Vs 4WD: An Overview

All the confusion about all wheel drive and four wheel drive system that prevails in the society today can be attributed to our lack of knowledge about these systems. Those who generally assume that an AWD vehicle is same as a 4WD vehicle are the ones who rely on the fact that all wheels are powered in both of these concepts and ignore the fact that even though all the wheels are powered the working mechanism is totally different in each of them. A bit of research and you will notice that the maximum number of vehicles in the all wheel drive cars list are small SUVs or luxury cars. The 4 wheel drive cars list, on the other hand, will feature more of large SUVs than small cars.Even though all wheels are powered in all wheel drive vehicles, each of these wheels have the ability of rotating at different speeds. This proves handy when it comes to sharp turns wherein the outer front wheel has to cover more ground than the inner front wheel. In four wheel drive, the mechanics change slightly with the implementation of the part time system wherein the driver has the option of resorting to rear wheel drive for on-road traveling and lock into four wheel drive for off road traveling. At times, all wheel drive vehicles are also referred to as full time four wheel drive vehicles, while actual four four wheel drive vehicles are referred to part-time four wheel drive vehicles.

Now just to add, my former Highlander had power to all 4 wheels all the time. 25% to each wheel and no driver adjustment. The badge on the back...4WD. To my way of thinking it should have been AWD. Vehicles with full time drive to all wheels seem to be called AWD. Subaru Symmetrical AWD, Acura SHAWD (Super Handling AWD). Those with part time or selectable drives therefore are referred to 4WD.