Sorry To Hit The Brakes? Ordering mess...

[macchiaz-o]

That's part of the confusion (at least for me). When I went on the Ford site, there was no 'reserve' option, it was just an 'order' option. So it looks like my 'order' deposit went to the dealer, who has not 'accepted' the order yet, as they want me to come in and finalize it (and at that point commit to a non-refundable build deposit).

Seems like others have had their orders 'accepted' by the dealer based on the (refundable) deposit - I guess those dealers are willing to take delivery of the car (whether the customer follows through or not), thinking that it will be popular enough that they will be able to easily sell it to someone else.

Is my thinking correct?

You saw Order instead of Reserve because you visited after the ordering process started in late June.

Regardless of whether we start from a reservation or go direct to order without one, the order deposits are collected by ford.com and transferred directly to a bank account designated/owned by your selected dealership.

Before completing that Order, there are terms and FAQs on the ford.com order flow informing that the deposit MIGHT NOT be refundable, and to check with your preferred dealer and have them provide you with a written statement on refundability.

So your deposit might be refundable, or it might not. It depends on your dealer.

Once you send that order to the dealer, the dealer needs to accept it. If they accept, they're telling Ford to allocate a vehicle to them and that they'll pay for it with the understanding that they're going to sell it to you (if you buy it and take delivery), or it becomes dealer stock if you don't.

So in this case, your dealer would like some commitment from you with those papers they want signed, and the deposit amount, so that they are less worried about having something on their lot that they aren't sure they want to deal with.

I know it's kind of silly (they should have no problem selling any new Mach-E)... But this is how the process works.

I can sort of see how if you lived in the northeast where AWD is super popular but you custom order a RWD instead, the dealer may be worried about how they'll sell a RWD in that area. Or if you ordered in vomit green color or something.

Sponsored

 

[RyZt]

Guess there's no harm in just waiting it out. I'm actually going to see a real Mach-E this coming Monday (at Fullerton Ford in Union, NJ), so I'll get a good idea about the car - but without driving it I'll still need to wait a bit longer to make a final decision.

It's not clear whether you have secured your position in the queue. My guess is that you haven't. But I really don't know. So the only downside of waiting it out is potentially more waiting.

Anyways, I see that you'll be talking to Fullerton Ford coming Monday. I hope you'll like the car.