As an aside, I know the stated reason dealers exist is to protect me from the evil manufacturer and act as my advocate during the transaction, providing excellent service and information to keep me informed.
So I asked Jae about ordering a Lightning:
It was not possible.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Highlights are that Ford now has three branches:
- Ford Blue will sell ICEs and PHEVs
- Model E will be all electric vehicles
- Ford Pro will be commercial
Dealers can choose which branch(es) of vehicles they sell, but dealers that choose to sell Model E products will need to invest in infrastructure (including public DC fast chargers), and training. And they will be required to sell at MSRP.
Hopefully in a year or two, interactions like that will be much less common.
Tom Suddard said:Good morning everybody, and welcome to ORDER DAY!
At least, I think it's order day. Supposedly it is.
I haven't heard from my salesperson since July, so I texted him just before 9am to ask if we were all set to get the order in. Here's what he said:
So, success!
Then I got this email a few minutes ago:
Meanwhile, if I wanted a Tesla, it's three clicks on my phone with an Apple Pay transaction, then it shows up at my house a few months later. I can't believe how difficult Ford makes it to order a product at list price.
Yeah there's a lot I don't like about Tesla, but they definitely got the ordering/purchasing system right.
For me:
Hot Pepper Red, XLT, hybrid, Ford360, trailer hitch receiver. That's it.
Wow, that little thing can tow 4k with the right setup.
I read through this thread, and I'd love to know how well they actually do off-road- like on the beach, not rock crawling.
I got this email at 2pm:
I replied that I was serious, and have received... nothing.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Did you get a build submitted? I was able to get mine in. I sent a salesman I know at my local dealer a 2022 build summary via pdf. Told him I wanted those exact options, nothing less. He replied a few hours later and said he submitted my build. He did say that the site was slow from high traffic and some features weren't working but he was able to get mine in.
Nope. Here's the latest interaction.
I heard from a friend something about the system crashing. I've gotten a few emails and a call from various dealers I've contacted in the past.....none of whom are the dealer that I supposedly had a pre-order placed with. So I guess that's not happening as I kind of suspected might be the case. I decided a little while ago to go in a different direction and so far I don't have any regrets. Maybe if all of this didn't result in still waiting a year or more for the thing to show up.
Was anyone on the board successful at getting an order in yesterday?
too much buying, not enough living with. not your fault. i look forward to the living with part.
In reply to eastsideTim :
Yeah got mine in
In reply to yupididit :
Awesome!
Time for an update!
No update. I texted Jae. We'll see if he replies.
In other news, a dealer an hour away listed a new Lightning Pro for $40,000 (screaming deal) on Autotrader. I smashed the "get info" button, then the dealer called and said they couldn't sell it, only demo. It is not currently possible to order a Lightning.
Wow it is hard to buy a car these days.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
They meant $40000 over msrp
In reply to yupididit :
Oh I know. But sometimes you get lucky.
Just emailed Jae (the dealer) again and asked for an update. Zero communication today.
A friend recently picked up a new hybrid F150, more or less right off the lot. He's an EV enthusiast (has owned a few, currently dailies a Model Y) but towing is the tough one. Here's what he said about driving from CA to CO for a Lemons race.
"did 3k miles of towing in the F-150 with 9k lbs or so, and I have to say that it is an incredible product. So impressed with the range of capabilities that they've engineered into that thing. Probably the best overall vehicle I've owned and it isn't even close."
Haven't gone back through the 12 pages of this thread, but any chance of the F150 instead of the Mav, Tom?
Yes. I've shopped them pretty hard but price is a little high. If I'm spending $50k on a vehicle, I don't want it to have a gas tank tbh. None of the used ones I can find are less than MSRP, and most don't have the 7.6kw pro-power option which IMHO is the hybrid's killer app. Fuel mileage is a little lower than I'd like, too.
I would love to buy a Lightning, but that's years away. One of those would be a great daily and short-haul tow vehicle, then my F-250 and truck camper would probably turn into a Class C for longer hauls.
Shopping the Ionic 5 pretty hard, too, but I need to see one in person to figure out if it's practical enough. I'm not sure its hatch is durable enough for how I use a car.
And why no Tesla... i don't need to derail this thread, but Teslas are out for a few reasons. Price, company ownership, approach to regulation, attitude towards my occupation, etc. It's an amazing product, but comes with baggage I'd rather not buy.
They also don't make a truck, which makes the decision a lot easier in this case :)
WRT fuel economy, my friend reports that he saw about 8 mpg for the tow. That's with a 10k lb enclosed trailer and dealing with some serious Nevada winds. No better than I'd expect a gas truck to do, but interstate towing is the sort of use where a hybrid powertrain isn't much help.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Sure they do! Cyber trucks are going into production any day now. 
That's about what I expected fuel economy wise, but yeah, not awesome. 90% of my driving is around town with no trailer and bikes/parts/lumber/etc. in the back, so that's the primary situation I'm trying to optimize. The more I think about it, the Lightning is appealing because it would be ideal for that as well as for most of my towing--70 mile drives to the FIRM or 150 miles to Sebring--so in theory it could replace my daily and my F-250 with an occasional truck rental for longer tows.
I hope to have the maverick as my forever daily driver commuter kid hauler. I also have been looking for a very used 6.2 f250 for my towpig big stuff move. Yes, I'll have 2 pickups. One that can tow 10k the other will get 40mpg. Now that I typed this, it sounds kind of ridiculous lol
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