As far as getting the dora, my dealer (salesperson) only had 'this slip of paper' showing the order went in, about 2 or 3 weeks after I placed my order. I looked at it, and it was the DORA. My understanding is that they should have the dora within a few days, to maybe a week. Certainly not more.

And to follow up on my post above: The dealer where I originally placed my order for the FEH did finally get back to me about a week after I bought another car off of a dealer lot 3 hours away. She said that the vehicle I ordered should be in the first or second week of November. That would be about 6 to 6.5 months after I placed the order. I wish them well with it. I'm sure it will sell before it gets there, or within a couple days of when ever they do get it. I'm glad I did some other shopping finally and found my Mariner on a lot ready to go. I don't know if I would have lasted 6 months waiting on my ordered vehicle. Me thinks the frustration factor would have kicked in and I would have done something else.

 

thanks prattman08, I've just about given up trying to figure out the logic behind this whole ordering process. I'm okay with waiting.

totally unrelated, and maybe this should be in a different thread, but somewhere I heard/read on the internet that Ford doesn't want to build more hybrids because they are a money loser. Anyone else hear that? And is it true?

 

Welcome to the club. I've been researching these things for 4 months, and some folks here have been on the FEH scene for years. Since FEHs are in high demand and low supply, there will always be a touch of luck or hard work needed in getting one, especially before or near the beginning of the model year. In reference to the DORA, you should be able to get it the day after your dealer hits the "Order" button, if I have my facts straight. As to the FEH being a money loser, it has been since it came out in 2004. Ford reported some months ago that they expect to start making a profit in mid 2008. With the price increase on the FEHs in the past month or so, I would expect that to be accurate. Every year after they should make more money as costs on parts go down.

If you don't want to wait for your order, you can do what myself and others like mmdlcab here have done and find your car on a lot somewhere. Some dealers do they have them in "stock", although they are going fast. Use autotrader.com and cars.com together with fordvehicles.com to find them around the country. Hopefully you can find one fairly close by, or if not, you can arrange to have them shipped cross-country.

Good luck.

 

Only Ford knows for sure (and you can take a lot of accounting approaches), but I understand the FEH is profitable but not as profitable as a conventional Escape. Unexpectedly, the conventional Escape has become one of Ford's best sellers and they are running at capacity on Escapes in general, not just hybrids. If you can only make so many, you would tend to make the higher profit models (taking the typical short term view). What Ford really needs is a hybrid sedan and a plug in hybrid, but those aren't on the show room floor yet.

 

thanks KenG, InsGadget, and cab for your replies. I thought that the DORA would be available just after the order was placed as cab and InsGadget indicated. But my dealer said he can't give me a copy until they get the vin #. Who knows when that will be. I'm wondering if something fishy is going on. For now I'll continue waiting....

 

Saying you can't get a copy of the DORA prior to them getting the VIN would make me very uneasy. You ordered the car, and or put down a deposit. You should be able to get a copy of it. In my case, I think the salesperson was a little bit uninformed on the order process, but when she showed me the slip of paper, and I saw that it was the DORA, she gladly said she would make me a copy of it. The DORA should have your name on it. In my case, it had my name, and the salespersons name on it. That was my indication that the, for lack of a better word, reservation was there and in my name. Why can't they give you a copy of it? What is there reasoning? I'd be asking lots more questions at this point. It may be perfectly on the up and up, but them not wanting to give you this paperwork, would make me very concerned at this point.

After all, I waited 4 months without a VIN before I looked at other local (or semi-local) dealers and bought elsewhere. Do you really want to wait what could be several months to get something official that you really do have an order with the dealer and ford? If you live and ordered your vehicle in California, this may be different since that state seems to be able to get vehicles very quickly.

 

A DORA is a Dealer Order Recipt Acknoldgement. It's a printout dealers get back from Ford after ordering. Usually comes next buisness day. You should get one from your dealer after ordering. Its a good way to verify what's ordered is what you want.

 

I was able to go by my dealership and take a look at the DORA so at least I know it was ordered and it had my name attached to it.

 

Ordinarily the DORA would be available _very_ quickly after placing the order (a day... maybe two). BUT... the FEH orders for _most_ (but not all) states is that dealers can only place retail orders for real buyers (they cannot place orders for dealer stock). Dealers try to "fake" orders because one of the sales problems with the FEH is that *IF* it was on the lot, they could sell 50 of them per week... but once a customer learns they have to wait 6-7 months for one, they're off to another dealer. So the dealers try to "fake" a retail order to get them on the lot.

Ford, attempting to avoid these fake orders, requires that retail buyers submit a credit app to show that they're a real person and not a dealer employee trying to make up a name.

This slows down the ordering process just a little because Ford wont accept the order and issue the DORA until they review & verify the order. In my case this delayed the order by exactly 1 week, but I can imagine this varies a little.

I'm still upset that some dealer in California can place an order for dealer inventory -- just to have one laying around for the next buyer who wanders in, and get their order in about 8 weeks... meanwhile I've been waiting 4 months and still don't have a VIN and latest estimates are that I wont see it for another 2-1/2 months. That's just wrong.

I got a sympathetic person at Ford... who unfortunately was powerless to correct the situation.

 

When I placed my order the dealer didn't mention anything about submitting my credit info, and I never received a call from Ford trying to verify that I was a real person.... So now I'm wondering if I have something else to be worried about? Is there anyone else out there who ordered the '09 FEH and who didn't have to prove themselves?