Dark Horses out of country ???

I’ve been watching YouTubes showing Dark Horses being delivered to dealers both in Canada and Mexico (and I mean way out in very rural areas) and yet Ford is not fulfilling Special Orders of the DH from U.S. customers…WE should be taken care of first…and when that has been accomplished, then send them outside our borders. Someone at Ford has their head up their derrière! Six months since my special order from a local dealer…and a not one word from Ford. Ridiculous! Take care of your U.S. customers FIRST!!

 

[Ryunket]

I’ve been watching YouTubes showing Dark Horses being delivered to dealers both in Canada and Mexico (and I mean way out in very rural areas) and yet Ford is not fulfilling Special Orders of the DH from U.S. customers…WE should be taken care of first…and when that has been accomplished, then send them outside our borders. Someone at Ford has their head up their derrière! Six months since my special order from a local dealer…and a not one word from Ford. Ridiculous! Take care of your U.S. customers FIRST!!

Going on 11 months, dealer stocks fulfilled before retail orders. Found and purchased one 1,300 miles away and canceling my long awaited retail order.

 

[MJS54]

Wow! That's insane...there's one DH at a dealer less than 8 miles from me...but not my favorite color. I may just have to bite the bullet and get that (and of course, the one I ordered will show up a week later...LOL).

 

[Ryunket]

Wow! That's insane...there's one DH at a dealer less than 8 miles from me...but not my favorite color. I may just have to bite the bullet and get that (and of course, the one I ordered will show up a week later...LOL).

I knew from the Ford site "limited production" so they drop a few all over the place including overseas. I chose to buy one from the lot because very soon they will be into the 2025 production year and no clue what changes that could bring. My car still is enroute due really tomorrow before noon. Transport truck broke down on the way so delays were added.

 

[Ryunket]

You'll be pleased to know they're not currently accepting orders from UK / EU for DH's despite taking reservations they're not going to confirm any orders for the next few weeks / months

Here is the US ordered mine just about 11 months ago and still nothing from Ford. Found mine 1,300 miles away. The entire acquiring this car has been 100% disaster.

 

[Ryunket]

Well mine finally rolled down the production line last week. Now awaiting gate release from factory. Could be a long wait with no information

So what's the details on your new future ride?

 

[MJS54]

Keith, I will check on it's status again this Tuesday (nearly 9 months)...I will say that the new Torch Red C8 1LT I've had my eye on here locally arrives sometime next week (few options, but MSRP of $73K)...if the DH continues to be "no-go" I may just go with that instead. Undecided at this point. Mark

 

[Ryunket]

The details are in the attached screenshot.
I'm not sure what the issue is with Ford tbh, is it Hq being 'economical' with information they provide to dealers, or is it between dealer management and sales reps.

Either way vital information doesn't get communicated to the end buyer.
Information like oh the black roof is holding up your order if you change that you'll get built next cycle.

Made even worse by the pre-allocation sales model they're running for Europe. (They've chosen the 200 cars they're going to build for the UK with very limited options, and it was a first come first served if your dealer has allocation)

My dealer has an allocation of 8 Dark horses, I was number 9 to place an order, i got lucky that one of the first few dropped out and i picked up their order.

I was never told anything about the allocation until the contract was transferred over despite me asking directly do they have allocation and being told it doesn't work like that in the UK. Only that my order was awaiting approval from Ford USA with no reason given.

If i was still on my original order i'd still be promised a VIN soon, or that my order would be accepted when the factory orders opened in Q2'24, which is now Q1'25.

Someone else who ordered the exact same car from the same dealership as me a couple of days before hand was given an april build date but then never received a vin. They still haven't.
if i was number 9 of 8, they must of made the 8.

You are going to love it, similar to mine except I opted for the standard seats and weather tech type mats.

 

[Ryunket]

Keith, I will check on it's status again this Tuesday (nearly 9 months)...I will say that the new Torch Red C8 1LT I've had my eye on here locally arrives sometime next week (few options, but MSRP of $73K)...if the DH continues to be "no-go" I may just go with that instead. Undecided at this point. Mark

Go ahead and settle for the run of the mill Verte, leave us and this forum in peace.

 

[MJS54]

You are going to love it, similar to mine except I opted for the standard seats and weather tech type mats.

So what I see in the screenshot is that your DH should be delivered to the dealer in August ‘24?

 

[BSpankinAz]

Correct, shipping times to the UK are longer and have gotten longer.
Used to be 6-8 weeks it's now 10-12 weeks.
It will only meet that date if it gets gate release this week and leaves the factory.

I actually ordered the standard seats but so did everybody else so that wasn't available. Someone had ordered my car before the pricing was announced and they pulled out and I'd say I was given the chance to inherit the order but I wasn't.

They made the change, I got the vin and then found out it was different and was told I could accept it and get the car by September, if i rejected it i'd go back in the queue and unlikely to see it until mid 2025.

The DH is the first car I ever ordered (reminder, I purchased in March or April of 2023, I was told in December 2023 to drop the HP so my order could go through, I declined. Then I found my spec on autotrader and bought it. I then cancelled my allocation) It seems like a nightmare getting information. I just don't understand the lack of information from Ford. I could understand if it was a small manufacturer or something but Ford knows how to schedule and build cars.

Are they just limiting/slowing production on purpose for some reason? They want to keep the car in limited numbers? I mean they originally said, 1 to 2 allocations per dealer. They should certainly stick to this and get these cars built. I also follow autotrader and DH numbers on there are going down too.

 

[MJS54]

The DH is the first car I ever ordered (reminder, I purchased in March or April of 2023, I was told in December 2023 to drop the HP so my order could go through, I declined. Then I found my spec on autotrader and bought it. I then cancelled my allocation) It seems like a nightmare getting information. I just don't understand the lack of information from Ford. I could understand if it was a small manufacturer or something but Ford knows how to schedule and build cars.

Are they just limiting/slowing production on purpose for some reason? They want to keep the car in limited numbers? I mean they originally said, 1 to 2 allocations per dealer. They should certainly stick to this and get these cars built. I also follow autotrader and DH numbers on there are going down too.

I agree…something is going on and Ford is not honoring their to commitment to produce special orders. Way to go Ford! I still believe that they committed too many DHs out of country…bad move in my opinion.

 

[BSpankinAz]

I agree…something is going on and Ford is not honoring their to commitment to produce special orders. Way to go Ford! I still believe that they committed too many DHs out of country…bad move in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, the DH is an awesome car. But I don't think anyone believes that it has rare attributes that would explain why Ford is being so stingy and uncommunicative for the build process. But again, I have never ordered a car and it seems like this process from car makers can be dicey pissing a lot of people off.

I guess the truth will come out sooner or later.

 

[BSpankinAz]

I agree…something is going on and Ford is not honoring their to commitment to produce special orders. Way to go Ford! I still believe that they committed too many DHs out of country…bad move in my opinion.

I don't have an opinion either way about shipping out of the country. I don't know enough about global marketing, supply/demand to offer an opinion.

 

[MJS54]

Keith, received news from my dealer on Monday that Ford will not be able to honor their full six allocations for the DH at my local dealer. I was the sixth and I had put my order in last September as you recall. So they are returning my deposit and like you said, a DH for MY ‘25 is not for certain. So, yesterday, I pulled the trigger on a new C8 at a local dealer that was just delivered off the carrier. Ended up paying a few thousand more that what I would paid for the DH. Though I had ordered the DH in a carbonized gray, I ended up with Torch Red 1LT (black interior)…I was hoping for the DH…oh well I tried. Dealer offered me significant discounts for a well equipped GT premium, but I had my heart set on the DH. I wish all the forum members adieu and wish you all the fun in the world with the DH!
My C8 nicely tucked in for the night below!

 

[MJS54]

Enjoy your new ride!
Ford only have themselves to blame for the situation they've created and I bet they'll still moan about poor sales. They should be making the most out of being the last v8 standing, not squandering the opportunity. Unless of course they're being influenced to fail to prove the others right.

Thanks Keith!