4 months wait....

Teki04 · 09-09-2005, 11:12 PM

Interesting... you all complain about waiting 6 weeks.... look at this:

Taken from Drive.com.au today:

"A Focus shortage, with some customers told they will have to wait up to four months, restricted the car's tally to 922. "

Interesting when the Holden moved 3290 Astras and Toyota sold 4783 Corollas. I think Ford might bomb out the LS because of this. People will either walk away, or pay a deposit and get ****ed off about it. Remember, if you have a bad experience, you tell 10 ppl, whereas with a good experience you might tell about 3 ppl.... So i think Ford might limit its future sales due to poor supply when it first came out.....

WOW, 4 months for a focus...... thats getting upto the 6 month wait for a Golf GTI....

WASACL · 10-09-2005, 01:21 AM

Yeah but teki remember the 03 model... Flooded the market and no body bought! i think it is a good move by ford to restrict its sales like that...it will keep resale value up and you can be more leet!

Russ

Forest Bear · 10-09-2005, 12:54 PM

Ford dealerships should be honest and upfront and disclose an ETA FIRST and BEFORE a deal is done. That would certainly save a lot of grief instead of having the customer in the dark with uncertainty. It is not a good customer experience. Its also on my mind that when I finally get the car there could be something wrong. I'll just explode.

I'm seriously considering a way out of this deal and going with a Mazda SP23 instead.

I didn't ask before I sealed the deal. Now I'm just resigned to not getting the car for whatever time. I'm also in on a Ford prefered program because I work for a company affiliated with Ford in someway which allows me to jump the que a bit to get my car but that seems a lousy joke too. Its more than two months now and still there is zippo info.

At least my savings are growing faster.

The answers given by my Ford dealer has been...

"I don't know when we'll get your car."
"I can't give you an ETA."
"Your car is on a boat heading for Swanston Dock."

Teki04 · 10-09-2005, 01:03 PM

True Russ, but just as stated by Forest Bear, its going to send people out of showrooms and into the competitors.... Ford needs the $$$, so they have to sell! They are certainly going the wrong way about it. Bring in the supply to meet the demand....

Im sure if i had to wait 4 months just for a Focus (sorry, its a medium sized hatch.... I dont see why i should wait) im sure i would do just like Forest Bear, and just consider an alternative....

In regards to the SP23, i know that they account for 25% of Mazda3 sales.... so it goes to show that people are buying more premium hatches, or value-for-money i guess. Also, for every hatch sold, they sell 2 sedans.

Come on Ford, get the supply right so we can have more members!

Mick K. · 10-09-2005, 04:20 PM

If you can find out the VIN of the your still-to-be-delivered car, then there is a way of tracking it through the shipping process. This won't get you your car anytime sooner, but it will give you something to do while you're waiting and knowing your VIN, will prevent the dealer selling your car off to someone else who is maybe willing to pay more for a quicker delivery. Small cars are very popular at the moment, and the best of the small cars (Golf, Maz3 and Focus) are all in high demand with long waiting lists. You can probably get a Corolla / Lancer / Elantra / Pulsar with no delay, but they are a step down in many areas.

MK

focus_gal · 10-09-2005, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Ford dealerships should be honest and upfront and disclose an ETA FIRST and BEFORE a deal is done

The only thing is as I have said in another thread, unless the car has already landed on Australian soil they have absolutely no control over when it arrives. All they can tell you is what's on their screens and that is not always as up to the minute as it should be. My mother has worked as a Ford Stock Controller for 22 years and says that the only say they get with imported cars is how many they want from a pre-determined allocation. Even if they want to swap with another dealer, they are only taking another Focus in return since no-one wants to give up any stock cars right now. So if the dealership has none then they are pretty much buggered. Remembering also that this is a new model that's only been around for two months and has been a huge success that no-one has forseen. They are also having to order 4 months in advance. Having test driven the car and currently waiting for mine now, I reckon its well worth the wait for the car I really want.

b2tf · 10-09-2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forest Bear

Ford dealerships should be honest and upfront and disclose an ETA FIRST and BEFORE a deal is done.

That's not always possible.

Quote:

That would certainly save a lot of grief instead of having the customer in the dark with uncertainty. It is not a good customer experience. Its also on my mind that when I finally get the car there could be something wrong. I'll just explode.

I do understand where you're coming from but dont be thinking that the dealer is sitting there laughing about it either. The longer you wait, they longer they wait too.

Quote:

I'm seriously considering a way out of this deal and going with a Mazda SP23 instead.

Another car in extremely high demand. What makes you think you'd get one any quicker than the Focus youve ordered? Its starting the process all over again!

11-09-2005, 08:49 AM

Well i must say that ive never purchased a new car in my life ,i seem to always get a second hand car 1 owner 1-2 years old under 50k on the clock ,i have looked at new cars and was going to purchase the new focus ,went to Q ford and they had 4 cars there but none were what i wanted so i walked away ,i myself could not wait for a car ,i have to just drive it away that day or it's no deal ,i never put a deposit on anythink that has no guarante of the delv date ,that included the play station portable,all people keep saying was order now or you will miss out ,Hmmmmmm there is heaps still around .

Forest Bear · 11-09-2005, 01:42 PM

Alrighty! I guess I'll just wait it out. Just so you guys know why I'm a little extra-peeved.

I signed for it on July 19th. I was hoping to get the car before September because the rego and insurance on my trade-in is due. I've paid for those obviously.

It's got 58700 km on the clock now and I've no intention of getting the 60k service on the car which includes a timing belt change and will cost $8-900 bucks. The tyres are almost due for change too. I'll just find some cheapo seconds if I have to.

I wanted my focus before all this.

focus_gal · 11-09-2005, 03:54 PM

If you are giving your car to the dealer as a trade, they would have valued it without the rego. You could have gone to the dealer and asked them to put 6mths rego on it for you. As it is you can ask the dealer to either give you more for your trade in, reimburse you for what you have just paid for the rego or come to some arrangement with them. Its not your fault that the car has taken this long and you should be compensated. Do not spend anymore money on this car.

owens · 11-09-2005, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forest Bear

It's got 58700 km on the clock now and I've no intention of getting the 60k service on the car which includes a timing belt change and will cost $8-900 bucks. The tyres are almost due for change too. I'll just find some cheapo seconds if I have to.

I wanted my focus before all this.

Hey Forest Bear.

I had heard nothing on my new focus and so after six weeks my car was coming up to its next service as well as needing new tyres, so I rang the dealer and told him that I hadn't heard anything about my new car and that my existing one was in need of a service and I didn't want to pay for it myself because my car had taken so long. That's when the sales manager found another car for me.

As was mentioned though, don't pay anything more on your car.

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2005, 12:51 AM

Hahahahaha here we go again....

Ford stuffed up, plain and simple. They should have had 5,000 new Focus's landed in the country before they launched the new model, they stuffed up, dealers are frustrated but THEY do have some, if minimal information about when cars SHOULD arrive in the country... Whether or not they will disclose this is another story, as we all know shipping goods thru customers is a timely proposition.

As for not being able to get an SP23 thats bull, most dealers have atleast 10 in stock and can get them easily transfered from other dealerships, as for the Zetec you'd be lucky to see even 1 at most Ford dealers. I seen 5 Ford dealers between Brisbane and NSW border today and the most any dealer had on display was 4....

Go to a Mazda dealer and they will have 20 - 30 3's in stock.

b2tf · 12-09-2005, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShockWaveXR6na

As for not being able to get an SP23 thats bull, most dealers have atleast 10 in stock and can get them easily transfered from other dealerships, as for the Zetec you'd be lucky to see even 1 at most Ford dealers. I seen 5 Ford dealers between Brisbane and NSW border today and the most any dealer had on display was 4....

Go to a Mazda dealer and they will have 20 - 30 3's in stock.

The Mazda dealer here has one SP23 3 in stock and it is not for sale - display only. They are waiting on 9 vehicles already sold to be delivered, and they have a current 2 month waiting list.

guym · 12-09-2005, 12:26 PM

Ever thought the reason why ford is draging their feet on this, its because they are more interested in customers buying petrol gusling falcons as they are locally built.

To be honest I think ford has made a huge mistake with the falcon and focus. What they should have done is drop the falcon from being built here and started building local focus's. In the short term while some people still want a bigger car import the Mondeo. Should have taken a longer term view, the day of the big car is nearly over if not already.

Take a look at what is happening with Holden with cutting 1000 jobs in SA because demand is dropping.

We should be starting to gear up to building smaller cars in Australia and if ford had made this change first it might have hurt a little to begin with but would have won out big time in the end.

b2tf · 12-09-2005, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guym

To be honest I think ford has made a huge mistake with the falcon and focus. What they should have done is drop the falcon from being built here and started building local focus's. In the short term while some people still want a bigger car import the Mondeo. Should have taken a longer term view, the day of the big car is nearly over if not already.

Ford will never drop the Falcon or start importing sedan models. They tried it with the Taurus.

Timmeh · 12-09-2005, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WASACL

...it will keep resale value up and you can be more leet!

Russ

Rofl! It's all about being unique!

:

:

Timmeh!

Smoke Pursuit · 12-09-2005, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

The Mazda dealer here has one SP23 3 in stock and it is not for sale - display only. They are waiting on 9 vehicles already sold to be delivered, and they have a current 2 month waiting list.

Well since your into quoting figures, im not sure where you are located but i happen to work next door to a Mazda dealer and i just went and counted what they had in stock.

There was 8 SP23's in various colours and i counted 27 Mazda 3's in total.

:

Forest Bear · 12-09-2005, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

They tried it with the Taurus.

The taurus failed because it was a fugly car. Simply aweful. American cars are simply fugly or they look like angry kitchen toasters on wheels.

Australians just don't like American cars because we make better quality cars for less. American cars are built like crap.

Not only that.

Big stupid American gusslers represent the selfish and wastefulness of American culture. Its a good thing Aussies have rejected it.

Teki04 · 12-09-2005, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forest Bear

The taurus failed because it was a fugly car. Simply aweful. American cars are simply fugly or they look like angry kitchen toasters on wheels.

Australians just don't like American cars because we make better quality cars for less. American cars are built like crap.

Not only that.

Big stupid American gusslers represent the selfish and wastefulness of American culture. Its a good thing Aussies have rejected it.

Agreed! Mondeo would be better then a Taurus...

zetec · 12-09-2005, 08:01 PM

Please understand that Dealers will not sell your car to anyone else (shouldn't anyway and I've never heard of this ever even after working in sales for 6 months as a salesman), where the hell is the logic in that? Who in their right mind would wave more cash than needed to get a car earlier?!!?!! I certainly wouldn't part with a dollar more than I had to. Dealers don't want to have permanentlay ****ed off customers, don't for a second think Dealer are deliberately trying to slow anything down. Not as if they enjoy the daily phone calls either. There is not a single ounce of logic to explain why a Dealer would do any less than their utmost to get a car as quickly as possible. They are rated on your satisfaction.

This is a very interesting thread seeing the opinions out there but rest assured they are doing everything they can to crank up the output from South Africa. Trust me, they're working furiously to secure every single possible unit and then some.

Why go through all the effort to test drive, decide, settle, purchase and go through all the effort to buy a car only to storm off in a fury and buy another car?!! I wouldn't go through it twice, I do understand the frustration though but is it that drastic??? Honestly?? Impatience through excitement is very understandable, but stubborness and impatience only hurts one person... you. It's worth the wait as I keep saying, just think not only will you still be one of the first to own it, you will have a darn decent resale if there's no supply in the short term!! That's not a deliberate thing, but might actually be a good thing in the short to medium term. Why you'd ever want to sell a Focus is beyond me though... mine's going to be buried with me!! Ha ha.

There's yet to be anyone less than mega impressed once they finally received it, shockwave, losfp and others are all highly impressed from what I've seen. Pardon me for not remembering the others, there's so many new Focus owners here it's exciting!

We all understand the frustration of waiting for something we really want, even a car and it's tough, I saw it from both ends as both a purchaser and as a salesman. Reward yourself and your decisions and most of asll the poor Dealer in the middle of it all!! Having to contend with a car that's being vague and a customer being very patient but making noises!!

Matt signing off.

b2tf · 12-09-2005, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forest Bear

The taurus failed because it was a fugly car. Simply aweful. American cars are simply fugly or they look like angry kitchen toasters on wheels.

Australians just don't like American cars because we make better quality cars for less. American cars are built like crap.

Not only that.

Big stupid American gusslers represent the selfish and wastefulness of American culture. Its a good thing Aussies have rejected it.

Taurus failed for a number of reasons - probably the biggest was its looks but not far behind the fact was that it was a FWD sedan with a weak engine when compared to a Falcon.
The aim with Taurus was for it to be the replacement for the Falcon model but it never worked because Australians commonly identify with a RWD sedan - good for towing and carrying heavy loads etc etc. Thats why Taurus failed - because it couldnt do any of that.

Oh and Shockwave, those figures were from a Mazda dealer here. Im not canning your figures, just saying that those ones I posted are what's accurate for this area. :voldar02:

losfp · 13-09-2005, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

Oh and Shockwave, those figures were from a Mazda dealer here. Im not canning your figures, just saying that those ones I posted are what's accurate for this area. :voldar02:

When we were deciding on which car to buy, I went into a Mazda dealership nearby and counted probably 10 Mazda3s, in various forms. Though I was informed that none of them were available, all were either demo cars or being prepped for delivery. Was told 8-10 weeks for delivery on a Mazda3 sedan, perhaps less for hatch.

I tried ringing around and damned if I could find ANY in stock in Sydney at all!!!