Delivery Dates

[jackbran]

Has anyone been made aware of planned delivery dates? Are the 200 NM cars the first to come off the line?

[jim]

I was told the black, white and red ones will be delivered about January while the yellow and blue ones will be about May or June.

I was also told the yellow and blue will only be made in 2002 model year, so the blue seemed attractive, even though I have to wait. I don't mind waiting. I figure the second batch may have some "corrections" and also I don't need to have an extra winters worth of salt and sand hitting it.

Jim

[Domenick Calabro]

What year are we talking about 2001 or 2002?
Interested in when 2001's with hit dealerships"

[Domenick Calabro]

P.S to last chat I live in Southern California

[DavidA]

There won't be ANY 2001's and delivery should start in July. First pre-production models will come off the line in late May. All will be 2002 models.

[tbird]

Originally posted by jim:
I was told the black, white and red ones will be delivered about January while the yellow and blue ones will be about May or June.

I was also told the yellow and blue will only be made in 2002 model year, so the blue seemed attractive, even though I have to wait. I don't mind waiting. I figure the second batch may have some "corrections" and also I don't need to have an extra winters worth of salt and sand hitting it.

Jim

Just keep your fingers crossed that there won't be paint problems. :-)

[rlstonejr]

Does this mean Neiman Marcus models will be delivered in late May? Originally posted by DavidA:
There won't be ANY 2001's and delivery should start in July. First pre-production models will come off the line in late May. All will be 2002 models.

[kats7777]

when i ordered my car i was told yellow would be first and thats what i ordered but when i went to the pittsburgh car show the rep. said they would run all the neman marcus colors first but he did not give me a firm date just late summer. Originally posted by jackbran:
Has anyone been made aware of planned delivery dates? Are the 200 NM cars the first to come off the line?

[DavidA]

my understanding is the MN cars will be built along with the normal production cars. They will be AMONG the first off the line, but not necessarily THE first ones.

[tr cruiser]

As posted in another thread, the official Job1 date of May 21st has slipped 2-3 weeks due to problems with the soft top supplier. Ford also announced there will be a 90-day delivery freeze for possible factory updates [to avoid recalls]. All this means that the first customer deliveries probably won't begin until September, with showroom models some time sooner.

A dealer bulletin just came out announcing the Job1 date has been moved to June 7th. Mickey D'Armi announced in a satellite broadcast to dealers earlier this year that a fifth paint booth has been set up at the Wixom plant, so choice of color will not affect delivery date. All five colors will be available through the end of the model year, but blue and yellow will only be offered for the 2002 T-birds.

[This message has been edited by tr cruiser (edited 04-14-2001).]

[tr cruiser]

A Ford dealer posted in another forum that the Thunderbird's Job1 date was moved back to May 21! Perhaps an indicator that the production ramp is on track?

[Tom W]

I spoke with my dealer yesterday and he showed me a schedule he received this past week. They have apparently pushed the assembly date back to mid-June with his first one coming mid-August. Those dates were on the production schedule. This is his initial car (#10). Others are on the list, but have no dates associated with them.

[tr cruiser]

We could go back and forth on this I guess, but here is the first posting the dealer made on April 29th:

Our latest Dealer News Bulletin came out and still shows a June 4th Job 1 date. will keep everyone informed as things progress.

He gave this update on May 12th:

As of the new May 11th Dealer News Bulletin, Job 1 HAS CHANGED to MAY 21st. I can not remember the last time that Job 1 has moved up on any vehicle line. I will do some research next week to see what I can find out. I will also e-mail the brand mgr Micki and ask him. will keep everyone posted. (at least this will give everyone a topic to talk about over the weekend).

So unless Ford did another about face, I'll stick with May 21st prediction.

[Tom W]

I would certainly like to think they were still on schedule for May, but my dealer's sheet clearly showed the production date in mid June - the 19th I think.

[tr cruiser]

Looks like you had it right, Tom. The Ford dealer I referred to is backing off, now calling it a "tentative build date". He doesn't know if it's subject to the 90-day hold. When will I learn to stop listening to salesdroids? http://www.websiteworld.com/ubb/frown.gif

[Tom W]

I didn't like the date either. He had the printout in his office and was able to show me the bad news. I guess the build date is one thing, but the thing I was most disappointed about was the ship date - mid August for the first one!

[tbird]

Originally posted by jim:
I was told the black, white and red ones will be delivered about January while the yellow and blue ones will be about May or June.

I was also told the yellow and blue will only be made in 2002 model year, so the blue seemed attractive, even though I have to wait. I don't mind waiting. I figure the second batch may have some "corrections" and also I don't need to have an extra winters worth of salt and sand hitting it.

Jim


Has anyone read the products sheet from Ford Motor? It talks about production and colors. See http://www.websiteworld.com/tbird/thunderbird.pdf

[65TBSteve]

Well, May 21st has come and gone. Did Job 1 happen yesterday at Wixom? Does anyone know?

[lin]

According to John Jelinek, Ford's Brand Communications Manager, "We expect the first cars will arrive at dealerships in August, 2001. The Neiman Marcus edition cars will be among the first cars produced and therefore would be among the first Thunderbirds delivered. The red Sport Roadster version is a concept car, not planned for production." By the way, an additional paint booth was added at the factory; all five colors will be available at Job 1.

Lin Somsak
Editor, EarlyBird magazine

[Tom W]

It's my understanding there will be no 'showroom floor' cars. The orders for all new Tbirds are driven by a customer (verified by Ford). They have already discovered several individuals who have ordered several cars from several dealers. Sources inside Ford have indicated those individuals may not receive any? I anticipate the first ones to be produced will be in a couple weeks. I am also told the NM cars will be done first. That's fine - get all the multi-colored paint out of the system for production and lets get rollin'! In my town (Des Moines) there are three dealers. I don't know about one of them, but one has an allotment of 8 and mine has 6. The third one just did a big remodeling job on his building so his allocation has been increased because of that. Two weeks ago, my dealer placed his last two cars. Every one of them are being sold at sticker! He doesn't have many kind workds about the dealers that are stiffing folks for more than sticker price. I am number 2 on his list with a red one with the works - under $40K. I would be interested to know what everyone's order number within their dealer.

[tr cruiser]

I am #7/24 in my dealer's queue. If he gets two cars a month, I hope to see mine by October, regardless of the still uncertain 90-day delivery freeze. I did have to pay a small premium over MSRP, but it includes shipping and local dealer prep and is considerably cheaper than anything I could find locally (Northern California).

[nmbird]

Tom W: I'm from Des Moines too and have an Neiman-Marcus edition coming thru Gabus Ford (which I assume is your dealer too, since they just remodeled)

I had been talking to Gookin in Story City for over 2 years. Even placed an order (I'd really rather have blue than black). Then he jacked up the price over sticker and that was the end of that.

I checked w/ everyone in town. Even Mid-States (who is buying Mitchell out of Adel). I would either be too far down the list of they wanted more than sticker.

Its a tough world. We'll have to get together sometime.

PS: Feel free to bad-mouth Gookin to your friends and neighbors.

[Skip]

Our dealer has an allotment of 12, we are #1. Ours is the only one preferenced with a build date-July 16th. If that holds true, we expect to see the car about mid-August.

[Tom W]

To nmbird: Last thing I would have expected is a "neighbor" in DSM! I used to work for Charlie as a service advisor. Since I got my cruiser from Gene, I ordered the Tbird from some long-time friends at Dewey. Charlie and I go way back through Rotary. I understand the NM cars will be made first. I would love to see yours when it comes in! Dewey didn't mark any of the cars above sticker-do you know if Charlie did? Keep in touch.