Ordered my new Titanium Hatch

[allanv6gt]

Lesson for next time...
Show me the car in the metal, and (only) then will I sign on the dotted line.
....or take my business elsewhere.
I feel for you big time. All that build up, only to be let down.....
Not good customer relations at all.

[Mackspower]

Thanks allanv6gt . . . alas we live in a world now where nothing is made until you order it (even McDonald's). Six Sigma and LEAN manufacturing have a lot to answer for.

Thanks again for the support and sympathy from forum members, looks like there's a few of us in this same boat and many that went before us too !

[allanv6gt]

My Mondeo XR5 was actually in OZ when bought, sitting at a dealers.....interstate (I found it myself on CarSales.com).
Been down your road a couple of times in the preceding years before purchase. Seemed to be always 'supply problems' mentioned by local dealer - partly true in those early years of Mondeo Mk4, but mostly the enthusiasm for a $48K sale displayed by some local sales people was quite underwhelming.
On purchase, the interstate/more competitive market sales person couldn't do enough for me (even picked me up from the train station!).
So.. there really are some great sales people out there, but it's the poor ones or poor service that people tend to talk about, and that lasting impression affects brand image. (just finished watching Gruen transfer..he he).
And at the time of my own purchase, I was just about ready to give up and take my business to another almost as desirable brand/product....
Hang in there, it will be worth the wait.

[heaps79]

Can I ask, is the only reason your waiting for your Mondeo is because you are after a particular colour that wasn't available in Australia?

I picked up my Titanium 2011 hatch in Perth about 3 weeks ago now, but I had about 5 to choose from that were in stock in varying colours.

There is no way I could ever wait more than a couple of weeks for any car - I am not that patient!!!LOL

[pbouzaid]

I'm waiting because I wanted a white wagon. There were none in melbourne when I ordered in May. Not sure what others have to say about the reason for their wait times.

[Soulsearcher]

I ordered the Panther Black wagon specifically, also none in stock.

[Mackspower]

I ordered a 'Lunar Sky/Brisbane Brown' Titanium Diesel hatch. There was only one in stock at the time and it was a 2010 build (and being used as a demonstrator).

The Dealer didn't want to move on price for the 2010 build/Demonstrator. As it was nearly six months into 2011, I elected to order a new one as this is a lease vehicle and the build date and purchase price are king.

If I pick-up on heaps79 and allanv6gt comments . . . the Sydney Ford dealer/market attitude is that premium Mondeo models are in high demand and so they simply refuse to be flexible about sourcing or pricing. Last year build and demonstrators sell for sticker price it seems . . .

I'm a Mondeo fan but I'd think twice about dealing with Ford imported vehicles in the future. I work in an industry where I see production/manufactruing planning happening all the time and I honestly can't believe a mature factory like Genk simply can't meet forecast and schedule.

Their performance dashboard must be a constant sea of red indicators as the delays cascade through new orders.

[apstar]

And to make matters worse they now releasing the Ecoboost Mondeo not to mention the November upgrade MC model that happens near that time

apstar

[allanv6gt]

I bought mine interstate..... IN Sydney, found on carsales.com.au.
Ordering/Supply/dealer swaps seems very confused....which can all too easily translate into lost sales.

[pbouzaid]

I have rung ford today and they advise the Fedora (containing 45 Mondeo Titaniums - one of which is mine) will arrive in Aus on the 3/9. Not long to go

[Dusty1]

Now you've got the name of the boat, get onto Ship Tracker and see where it is. Probably getting close to South Africa, or into Thailand depending on which way it goes.

Logistics like that are very interesting.

[pbouzaid]

The latest track I can find is from www.marinetraffic.com and that is from the 19th. Is there a better site with more recent position data?

[Dusty1]

check this out: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def...203:38:18%20AM

Looks like it's on the other side of Madagascar.

You can use this link and punch the GPS positions into Google Maps and see where it's been. Good clean family fun and a great way to waste a few hours: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/dat...MMSI=266259000

[pbouzaid]

Yeah that was the page I found but the last position is dated the 19th. Anyway, it is great to see it is sort of on the way to Aus so I'm happy.

edit: That second link you posted is awesome Dusty, and yes, I will be spending a few hours tracking where it has been.

[Dusty1]

I wasted a good number of hours tracking the boat with mine, checking out the docks - hopeless but good fun.

[Mackspower]

Wonderful news pbouzaid! That's really exciting and pretty close to schedule right?

Hope the new car buzz is there for you now that the long wait is almost over.

Checked out the ship tracking too . . . sweet.

[Dusty1]

Saw a truck full of Mondeo's leaving the docks in Melbourne today, so I'm pretty sure a few of you will be in them by the end of the week/early next week.

[pbouzaid]

That is awesome news I hope one of them is mine .....

Sorry to have hijacked your thread with all this info Mackspower.

[Mackspower]

Hey - no problem pbouzaid . . . I think it's all very relavent.

It's helping me stay a bit more positive about my purchasing decision. :-)

[Mackspower]

Oh boy . . . another delay to the delivery date of my car. So now it's been pushed out to 31 Oct (was supposed to be 10th October). Maybe I'm setting a new record for longest wait for Mondeo delivery? 5 months now.

I'm really switched off to the whole thing, very disappointing. I won't be ordering a factory delivered car through Ford again.

Just to add insult to injury . . . I'm travelling to the U.S on business on the 30th Oct so I'll miss the delivery date. :-(

[Soulsearcher]

Sorry to hear the news, I'd be pretty annoyed by now as well.

I was in the same position, but ended up changing my colour preference to one that they had in stock (Midnight Sky) and picked it up a month or so ago.

Any chance the extended delivery time will mean an MD model (or whatever the next upgrade will be called)?

[Mackspower]

Hi Soulsearcher - The dealer only has petrol Titanium models so no opportunity to switch colours. And no, you get what you pay for (MC model) and you get it when it best suits Ford it seems.

By the way - I now have my VIN and the Ford ETIS website tells me it was manufactured in late June 2011. Wonder why it's taken so long to simply ship it here and why they've been telling me the delays are due to Diesel Engine supply shortages?

Be interested to hear what others have experienced with Build date vs Delivery date: Eg: 4 Months difference?

[Dusty1]

The MC Titanium wagon I ordered was built on 5 Feb, but didn't land here until mid May. The ships don't sail unless they have a full load from a multitude of manufacturers, so that's more often the reason for the delay.

I also learnt when waiting for mine, that the dealers have little access to information out of Europe. You are better off sourcing it for yourself from the Mondeo forum on Talkford.com.

[Mackspower]

Well . . . I finally have a delivery date from the dealer. I get to pick-up the new ride this Wednesday 26 Oct. Only four more sleeps kids!!

Wow it's been a looooooong wait.

[pbouzaid]

So .... how is it? Pics, impressions etc ?

[Mackspower]

Hey there pbouzaid - to be honest I thought interest in this thread had pretty much died, so let me round up some enthusiasm to post some pics!

The car is awesome . . . the technology integration is superb and the great chasis is still there.

Top 5 things I love about the Mondeo: (in order)
1. Keyless everything (have to stop the old reflex to grab the ignition keys when getting out)
2. Adaptive cruise control (even in suburban driving, amazing)
3. Spartial safety (Blindspot / Lane guidance / forward collision) How safe do you feel !
4. Adaptive headlighting (the on demand corner lighting is really impressive)
5. The fit and finish is better than I expected

I even like that the parking sensors stay active for a extra seconds after you have reversed out of your spot and the forward sensors look out that front bumper scrape as you drive away - now that's thoughtful.

Other than that . . . the way it all works so seamlessly together is incredible for approx $40,000.

Loving it. :-)


P.S: The Voice command is system could easily be No 6 . . . some don't love it, but it's an everyday use for me, so much safer than buttons and menu's

[NZ XR6]

They are great value - not far behind the quality of the German makes but a fraction of the price. Enjoy!

[Ros5co]

Boy you have some patience Mackspower. Doubt I could wait that long!
I decided to chase up a demo to save on cost & get the vehicle pretty quickly when I did mine. Luckily I found a Zetec TDCi (which was what I was wanting) at my local dealer which happened to be Ink Blue. Colour wasn't that important but my previous AU Fairmont was dark blue & I preferred the darker blue of the Mondy so was happy to go with it.

Haggled a price on the Saturday afternoon, paid a deposit & was fortunate in that the car had just been detailed & had a current roadworthy so was able to pick it up on the Monday morning.
Was also extremely lucky in that as soon as I paid the deposit the rep put the car under cover in the service department. Half an hour later we had a massive hail storm which damaged almost every car in the yard & took out a couple of windscreens!

Love this car! The more I drive it the more I appreciate it's power, handling & finess & with the turbo deisel I'm not missing the six from the AU at all.

These are the best kept secret in Oz. Can't understand why Ford don't market them a lot harder.