This Forum helped me get Priority Reservation on 2022 Lightning - Thank you

[idahospud]

Just wanted to drop a note about how much I appreciated this forum. On December 14th, I read an F150gen14.com post about dealers having the ability to allocate prioritization among their reservations. Although I was a very early reservation, I wrote a letter to my dealer representative politely asking him to look at my reservation and consider prioritizing my order. He immediately responded with an earnest "I will certainly try" followed up shortly with confirmation that I was indeed prioritized.

Fortunately, I was included in the Wave 1 invite and successfully ordered my lightning @ MSRP. While I can't say that the prioritization was the factor in my early invite, I can say for certainty that I wouldn't have known to ask without this forum - thanks!

Sponsored

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

I've already ordered, but I don't have a build date yet.

I wonder if it's too late to ask for a priority?

 

[idahospud]

What time did you reserve?

5/19/21 @ 7:35 MDT

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

5/19/21 @ 7:35 MDT

6am EST

 

[gorwell]

5/19/21 @ 7:35 MDT

Early enough to be in the first wave... A priority spot may or may not have impacted your place in line -- you might have been first regardless

 

[Lime Green]

Early enough to be in the first wave... A priority spot may or may not have impacted your place in line -- you might have been first regardless

Meh... My timestamp is earlier than that and I'm still waiting. All depends on where it puts you in line at your dealership and how many allocations they're getting vs. how many on their list and then there's prioritized reservations at many dealerships. Unfortunately, mine advertised great pricing and had an active online following to begin with. Lots of reservation holders picked them right off or transferred in, so there's lots of first-minute reservations and they've only received 2 allocations out of 3 waves. Not getting a 2022 if I keep my reservation there. I'm wondering if I'd even get a 2023 if I stay there...

And prioritizing is done. Dealerships had to give their re-prioritized list to Ford on December 17. So no way to juggle the lines now as Ford sends the invites. You can call around with your reservation number and time stamp and see if you can score a better place in line at another dealership and then transfer your reservation. Early reservations will help you when transferring, but you'll still be in line after anyone who was prioritized.

 

[Lime Green]

I've already ordered, but I don't have a build date yet.

I wonder if it's too late to ask for a priority?

You have a 6AM EST reservation and were able to place an order??? WTAF...? Or do you mean you placed your order at 6AM EST and that's not your reservation timestamp? If you reserved the following morning after the event for a 6AM timestamp and got to place an order, you either got lucky at a dealership with very few actual reservations or they already prioritized you.

Build dates will be assigned here in a bit, probably after they start wrapping up their invitation waves and doing their balance-out invitation/orders. 3 more waves of invites to go, then balance-out for stragglers or production adjustments. Ford still doesn't know yet how many of each trim they can or will make. I think they might have a good idea though. With the Pro sold out, the 3 waves are probably a good indicator of what the next waves will bring.

 

[EVBill]

5/19/21 @ 7:35 MDT

7:35 PM MDT = 9:35 PM EST, so this this a reservation in the first five minutes of reservations opening up. Not sure where others are coming up with 6:30 am EST as that would have had to take place on 5/20, not 5/19.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

You have a 6AM EST reservation and were able to place an order??? WTAF...? Or do you mean you placed your order at 6AM EST and that's not your reservation timestamp? If you reserved the following morning after the event for a 6AM timestamp and got to place an order, you either got lucky at a dealership with very few actual reservations or they already prioritized you.

Build dates will be assigned here in a bit, probably after they start wrapping up their invitation waves and doing their balance-out invitation/orders. 3 more waves of invites to go, then balance-out for stragglers or production adjustments. Ford still doesn't know yet how many of each trim they can or will make. I think they might have a good idea though. With the Pro sold out, the 3 waves are probably a good indicator of what the next waves will bring.

My reservation was 6am EST on 5/20. My order date was 1/20.

My dealer is HUGE, so they get a massive allocation. They typically have well over 150-200 new F-150s in their lot for inventory at any given time.

When my 2016 F-150 broke down and they couldn't fix it for over 4+ months, I decided to trade it to them and picked up a Mach-E from their lot. They had 50 of them just sitting there, meanwhile other dealers were only allocated 5 or less.

 

[PungoteagueDave]

I've already ordered, but I don't have a build date yet.

I wonder if it's too late to ask for a priority?

Too late - Ford gave dealers a brief window in 2021 to designate priority customers.

 

[Ken]

also prioritization moved people from reservation to orders, it doesn't change anything about build or delivery.

 

[Lime Green]

My reservation was 6am EST on 5/20. My order date was 1/20.

My dealer is HUGE, so they get a massive allocation. They typically have well over 150-200 new F-150s in their lot for inventory at any given time.

Heh... 200+ 150's in inventory is pretty average around here, but I know "HUGE" varies by location. I'm transferring my reservation from Granger (small and getting almost no allocations) to a local (large) dealership that handles most of my fleet business. They're telling me that I should, hopefully, get a Lightning in wave 6, maybe even wave 5, if they get the same amount of allocations as they did for the first 3 waves. They say they're getting quite a few. They said anyone who didn't reserve within the first few minutes is not getting a truck from them in '22.

So you just happened to land in a good situation where your reservation time still put you early enough at your dealership to score one. Some others have popped up on these forums with similar luck. I guess that means I could move mine to your dealership and probably be next up to bat for wave 4. But also looks like you're probably 2000 miles away...

Anyway, congrats on being able to order. Seriously, enjoy it. Some of us are facing heavy competition for an allocation, amongst crowds of people who ordered in the first 5 minutes. All because Ford is using time stamps to place us in line at dealerships while they monkey with allocations rather than just inviting first come first served...

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

also prioritization moved people from reservation to orders, it doesn't change anything about build or delivery.

If that's the case, I should be good. I was #2 at my dealer to place an actual order.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Heh... 200+ 150's in inventory is pretty average around here, but I know "HUGE" varies by location. I'm transferring my reservation from Granger (small and getting almost no allocations) to a local (large) dealership that handles most of my fleet business. They're telling me that I should, hopefully, get a Lightning in wave 6, maybe even wave 5, if they get the same amount of allocations as they did for the first 3 waves. They say they're getting quite a few. They said anyone who didn't reserve within the first few minutes is not getting a truck from them in '22.

So you just happened to land in a good situation where your reservation time still put you early enough at your dealership to score one. Some others have popped up on these forums with similar luck. I guess that means I could move mine to your dealership and probably be next up to bat for wave 4. But also looks like you're probably 2000 miles away...

Anyway, congrats on being able to order. Seriously, enjoy it. Some of us are facing heavy competition for an allocation, amongst crowds of people who ordered in the first 5 minutes. All because Ford is using time stamps to place us in line at dealerships while they monkey with allocations rather than just inviting first come first served...

In New York City, you rarely see big inventory or big lots. There's simply no space for them.

Staten Island is more suburban than the rest of the city. My dealer's lot is definitely the biggest in the city. It's so big they use golf carts for customers to see the whole inventory. With 200 trucks in stock at any given time, they must sell boatloads per year.

With that in mind, when my F-150 broke down, the only reason I was browsing their inventory of 50 Mustang Mach-e's was that they only had four F-150s in stock because of the chip shortages, and they were all $85K+ models. So, I ended up getting the Mach-e while I wait for my Lightning.

I think the reservation system is pretty bad. They should use the timestamps as the only factor, and let the buyers choose a dealer when their turn is up, regardless of the allocation at the dealer they selected at the time. If I was 10 miles away, where the dealer is only getting an allocation of 3, I'd be waiting at least another year, even though I placed my reservation on the same day (May 20). That's pretty bad.

 

[JediGamerCT]

In New York City, you rarely see big inventory or big lots. There's simply no space for them.

Staten Island is more suburban than the rest of the city. My dealer's lot is definitely the biggest in the city. It's so big they use golf carts for customers to see the whole inventory. With 200 trucks in stock at any given time, they must sell boatloads per year.

With that in mind, when my F-150 broke down, the only reason I was browsing their inventory of 50 Mustang Mach-e's was that they only had four F-150s in stock because of the chip shortages, and they were all $85K+ models. So, I ended up getting the Mach-e while I wait for my Lightning.

I think the reservation system is pretty bad. They should use the timestamps as the only factor, and let the buyers choose a dealer when their turn is up, regardless of the allocation at the dealer they selected at the time. If I was 10 miles away, where the dealer is only getting an allocation of 3, I'd be waiting at least another year, even though I placed my reservation on the same day (May 20). That's pretty bad.

What are you planning on doing with your Mach E once your Lightning comes in? We ordered a GTPE in August when I wasn’t certain when I’d get my Lightning, even though I reserved first day. Fast forward to this past week and I have a VIN and build date for our GTPE for next month, and simultaneously got a Wave 4 invite. Just curious if you are going to keep yours or trade/sell for the Lightning.

Sponsored