I placed my order for a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid in April and have not yet received a production date from my dealer. Has anyone else received a production date yet? They were suppose to start scheduling the orders for production on May 15th.
Thought I'd post some info on the 09 MMH we ordered today. I haven't seen anyone's prices yet on the MMH.
We had to put a deposit down of $1000. We are being faxed the copy of the order tomorrow, so I don't have the exact figures with me, but will post later.
Basically the MMH with the Hybrid Premium Package plus moonroof (pretty much all the options) was $33,800. I don't know if that includes destination fees, etc., etc. The one we ordered was the Hybrid plus leather seats and moonroof, which was $30,800. We paid MSRP, and x-plan would not be honored. Dealer didn't even guess on a delivery date.
I was actually surprised by the price. I was expecting it to be more. If the price we were quoted includes destination and fees, seems like it's slightly less than a similiarly equipped 09 FEH.
In the blue oval news forum--http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20729&st=20&start=20---
a poster has stated he received a VIN on May 16, 2008 for a 2009 Escape---Limited with a tentative build date of June 25. I'm not sure if this is hybrid or not.
2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best Interstate tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.
Best Interstatetank trip E30 MPG 34.6 for 271 miles along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio.
Best multiple road tank trip E30 MPG 36.2 for 202 miles in Southwestern Pa.
I talked to a dealer in my area and they have a 2009 MMH on order. They already have a VIN and know the price of it. They are willing to offer X-Plan pricing on it, but not too sure what it will be. I think I am going to go for it. They do not know the build date or when they expect it though. I am trying to decide if I want this or a Prius.
I have a VIN! I talked to my dealer today and my order that I placed on April 18th for a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid Limited has a VIN and is scheduled for production. My dealer told me that the order is showing up as "Locked-In" status and has a VIN number. However, he needs to talk with the Ford Rep to find out the exact date it was scheduled for production.
Got my VIN today! I ordered mine on May 2nd. My dealer said I was looking at a build date to start on June 23rd. Anyone know how long it takes to build an 09 Limited?.... naa J/K.
Hybrids: '05 Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD & '06 Toyota Prius
Posts: 203
Re: 2009 order and build dates
It's been a couple of years since I factory-ordered mine... but getting the VIN is one of the first steps in a process that's about a dozen steps long. The _real_ production date only becomes known after the vehicle goes through a step they call "blending", and that could be a while. I seem to recall that I had a VIN number probably about a month or so before the order was "blended".
Once it's "blended" you'll have a build date. Once it's built it'll move pretty fast (it'll build in a day and depending on where you live you'll probably have it within a few weeks after that).
So what's this "blending" I speak of?
Cars aren't actually queued to be built in the same order in which the customer orders are placed. There are constraints due to the options that you asked for... both on how fast they can get the specific parts from the suppliers as well as how they build the cars in the plant.
Example (1): My '05 FEH was ordered without the 'nav' system. I later learned that if I _had_ ordered the 'nav' system that my ordered would have been delayed by several weeks because in '05, the nav system was somewhat constrained. Had I ordered it, it wouldn't be the 'car' that was holding up the order... I'd have been waiting for the next un-claimed 'nav' system from their supplier.
Example (2): If you order a moon-roof, it takes a team of two people to install it. One person hangs above the vehicle and another inside. They ride with the car for a distance of 3 stations in the assembly plant to install the moon-roof, then jump out and walk back 3 stations where they're available to hop into the next car that needs a moon-roof and do it again. That means that at best, only 1 in 3 cars can have a moon-roof *and* the computer must schedule at least 2 cars which do NOT have a moon roof between every car that does have one. Side-step-bars (running boards) are another pain-in-the-butt option to install.
So "blending" is basically where the computer looks at the queue of vehicles (hybrids & non-hybrids are both built on the same line) and options and figures out how to "shuffle" the order the cars are built so that they don't have awkward problems where a car is scheduled to be built in an order when the supplies can't be available or in a way that conflicts with the cars being built either shortly before or after that car. They basically work out the logistics needed to build your particular car.
Once that's done, they know _exactly_ when they'll build your car and it's just a wait for your turn in the queue.
The dealer (sadly) doesn't actually have a lot of visibility... there's only a few times that the dealer is notified about the status of an order. Internal Ford employees have a way of looking up the order and actually know a lot more than the dealer (the dealer isn't blowing you off if they don't give you a precise date... they really _don't_ know and don't have good tools to find out.)
Re: 2009 order and build dates
-John
