How to interpret Ford Online Vehicle Tracker + Tips & Tricks

[Interstellar]

Howdy all, there seems to be so much confusion regarding the online vehicle tracker and I figured a thread that new people could learn from would settle down some of the uncertainty and questions. Might be smart to sticky this too.

First off, what is the Ford Vehicle Tracker? It can found at the link HERE
To use it, you will need your VIN number and order code. Generally speaking, both of these come from your dealer. The order code pretty much has to come from your dealer, but the VIN can come from Ford chat assuming your order has been processed through Ford (and not just your dealer).

Ford chat can be reached HERE and Ford Performance Chat can be reached HERE​

You should receive an email from Ford immediately saying your order has been confirmed. This is the date that will eventually show under "Order Confirmed"

Note: This may be the last time you receive an email from Ford. The email system is highly automated and many users report inaccurate, delayed, or missing emails every step of the way.​

Next Ford will assign a week you are scheduled for production. This date is likely to change and is meaningless until you are assigned a blend date and a window sticker is generated. You will receive a date under "Scheduled Week of" when your build is actually sent to the factory.

Technically, this is the BEGINNING of your car's production, although parts aren't physically assembled until your blend date (which is found at the top of your window sticker where it says "Blend")​

Obviously the next step is completing/assembling your build (which again actually begins on Blend Date not on the date under "Scheduled Week of"). This may take a few days or a few weeks, depending on your blend date's timing relative to your scheduled week, the complexity of your build, and any unforeseen delays.
When your vehicle is BUILT, you will see a date under "In Production".

AT THIS POINT YOU MAY START RECEIVING ETA'S FROM FORD CHAT OR YOUR DEALER. THEY ARE MEANINGLESS AND ARE COMPLETE GUESSES. MANY USERS' DATES HAVE COME AND GONE, MONTHS AT A TIME. Read below.​

Now begins the worst part of the process, waiting for the vehicle to ship. This may take hours or may take months (RIP all of us with early build dates). You can check with Ford chat for your vehicle's location in the meantime but this info is essentially meaningless. When your vehicle formally BEGINS SHIPPING TO DESTINATION (this might mean transfer to a rail yard, transfer to holding area to await pickup, or loaded straight on a truck to your dealer), you will see a date under "Built". This is an automated status update, and I have not seen any vehicles arriving without a date under "Built". Again, this is more of an admin status and your vehicle may or may have been physically moved from the plant at this point.
ETA MAY POPULATE IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR TRACKER, AND ANY CHAT OR DEALER PROVIDED ETA'S CAN BE TAKEN AS "TRUE" ALTHOUGH STILL EXPECT DELAYS.


Next comes the date under "Shipped". This section has been updated as of 8/31. For all orders, this date seems to be fairly inaccurate or random when it appears. Note that many users are reporting missing dates under "shipped" even after taking delivery from dealership. Any date listed here should be taken with a grain of salt, although an updated status here does mean more "progress" has been made since the "Built" date.

• FOR CONVOY (truck) DELIVERY ORDERS: Generally, this date should appear when the shipper has received your Mustang or the Mustang has officially been "released" to the shipper (released in this context could also be an admin status, not an actual physical status. Some trackers report shipped dates 1+ months before an estimated ETA). This date may also appear when your mustang is delivered. This date may appear when your vehicle is already in transit. This date may never appear.
• FOR RAIL (train) DELIVERY ORDERS: Generally, this date should appear when your Mustang has moved from a factory ramp to a railyard. A date might appear when your Mustang is loaded on the train. A date might appear when the train makes its first stop or while already in transit. This date may never appear.

Again, the tracker MAY OR MAY NOT update to include a date under "Shipped". This seems to be a process that requires an input from someone, so this date may never appear, even if your car has been delivered to its destination.
REGARDLESS OF DELIVERY TYPE: THIS DATE IS ESSENTIALLY MEANINGLESS; Some users have 0 days between "shipped" and arrival, while some users have "shipped" status for weeks before leaving Michigan.

Finally, your car needs dealer prep before you get the keys. A date seems to appear under "Final Preparation" as soon as dealer acknowledges receipt of car, but again, may remain blank even if your car is ready.

Notes:

• Sometimes the tracker will not load or display an error message. Refresh/try a different browser/come back later.
• Sometimes the tracker will display dates with or without green bubbles or checkmarks underneath. This is simply a UI glitch. The only thing to focus on is date or lack thereof
• Bugging Ford chat or your dealer may provide more detailed information, but 99% of the time they will not know anything more than the tracker
• ESTIMATED DATES OF ANY KIND ARE LIKELY TO BE INCORRECT
• Of course, the tracker may be completely busted or incorrect sometimes, so no need to comment "tHe trAcKEr is WRonG FoR mE"

TL;DR see picture below or simply shift the title of all statuses to the left to get your vehicle's correct status. The status displayed is always 1 phase behind what is really happening.

Edited 8-31: Infographic updated, "Shipped" details added and updated in post. Small correcting to "Built" details in post

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[Interstellar]

Reserving this spot for pictures of trackers....

Here is an example of a tracker showing "Order Confirmed" after previously showing Built Status. Usually means the car has actually shipped but not a guarantee. (Ford Chat confirmed vehicle shipped via Convoy the day that this status showed)

 

[Back2Gas]

Also, one thing to add, the email with subject line "Make room in your driveway.." seems to automatically send when your car actually leaves a ramp. My car was parked at New Boston ramp 5M for over a week with the status of "Shipped." After about 9 days I received the shipped email and my car was loaded onto a railcar leaving New Boston.

 

[Pyroguy]

This is just from my observations in the last week, and I may be wrong.

It seems like the cars going by rail are getting the "shipped" marked in the tracker. This could possibly mean they were accepted at the rail yard, but not necessarily loaded on the train yet.

The cars going by truck just seem to be showing up at the dealer without "shipped" checked. I have noticed this a lot on Facebook too. Then once the dealer does something on their end the tracker goes immediately to "shipped" and "final preparation"

It's just what I have been noticing.

 

[steveo1960]

Howdy all, there seems to be so much confusion regarding the online vehicle tracker and I figured a thread that new people could learn from would settle down some of the uncertainty and questions. Might be smart to sticky this too.

First off, what is the Ford Vehicle Tracker? It can found at the link HERE
To use it, you will need your VIN number and order code. Generally speaking, both of these come from your dealer. The order code pretty much has to come from your dealer, but the VIN can come from Ford chat assuming your order has been processed through Ford (and not just your dealer).

Ford chat can be reached HERE and Ford Performance Chat can be reached HERE​

You should receive an email from Ford immediately saying your order has been confirmed. This is the date that will eventually show under "Order Confirmed"

Note: This may be the last time you receive an email from Ford. The email system is highly automated and many users report inaccurate, delayed, or missing emails every step of the way.​

Next Ford will assign a week you are scheduled for production. This date is likely to change and is meaningless until you are assigned a blend date and a window sticker is generated. You will receive a date under "Scheduled Week of" when your build is actually sent to the factory.

Technically, this is the BEGINNING of your car's production, although parts aren't physically assembled until your blend date (which is found at the top of your window sticker where it says "Blend")​

Obviously the next step is completing/assembling your build (which again actually begins on Blend Date not on the date under "Scheduled Week of"). This may take a few days or a few weeks, depending on your blend date's timing relative to your scheduled week, the complexity of your build, and any unforeseen delays.
When your vehicle is BUILT, you will see a date under "In Production".

AT THIS POINT YOU MAY START RECEIVING ETA'S FROM FORD CHAT OR YOUR DEALER. THEY ARE MEANINGLESS AND ARE COMPLETE GUESSES. MANY USERS' DATES HAVE COME AND GONE, MONTHS AT A TIME. Read below.​

Now begins the worst part of the process, waiting for the vehicle to ship. This may take hours or may take months (RIP all of us with early build dates). You can check with Ford chat for your vehicle's location in the meantime but this info is essentially meaningless. When your vehicle BEGINS SHIPPING TO DESTINATION (this might mean transfer to a rail yard, transfer to holding area to await pickup, or loaded straight on a truck to your dealer), you will see a date under "Built". This is an automated status update, and I have not seen any vehicles arriving with a date under "Built".
ETA MAY POPULATE IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR TRACKER, AND ANY CHAT OR DEALER PROVIDED ETA'S CAN BE TAKEN AS "TRUE" ALTHOUGH STILL EXPECT DELAYS


When your vehicle ARRIVES at its destination it MAY OR MAY NOT update to include a date under "Shipped". This seems to be a process that requires an input from someone, so this date may never appear, even if your car has been delivered to it's destination.

Finally, your car needs dealer prep before you get the keys. A date seems to appear under "Final Preparation" as soon as dealer acknowledges receipt of car, but again, may remain blank even if your car is ready.

Notes:

• Sometimes the tracker will not load or display an error message. Refresh/try a different browser/come back later.
• Sometimes the tracker will display dates with or without green bubbles or checkmarks underneath. This is simply a UI glitch. The only thing to focus on is date or lack thereof
• Bugging Ford chat or your dealer may provide more detailed information, but 99% of the time they will not know anything more than the tracker
• ESTIMATED DATES OF ANY KIND ARE LIKELY TO BE INCORRECT
• Of course, the tracker may be completely busted or incorrect sometimes, so no need to comment "tHe trAcKEr is WRonG FoR mE"

TL;DR see picture below or simply shift the title of all statuses to the left to get your vehicle's correct status. The status displayed is always 1 phase behind what is really happening.

View attachment 565660

Thank you for posting this! Much appreciated !

 

[Interstellar]

This is just from my observations in the last week, and I may be wrong.

It seems like the cars going by rail are getting the "shipped" marked in the tracker. This could possibly mean they were accepted at the rail yard, but not necessarily loaded on the train yet.

The cars going by truck just seem to be showing up at the dealer without "shipped" checked. I have noticed this a lot on Facebook too. Then once the dealer does something on their end the tracker goes immediately to "shipped" and "final preparation"

It's just what I have been noticing.

The truck deliveries definitely seem to have a higher likelihood to not receive a date under "shipped". I'm sure it's cause Jim-Bob the trucker probably has no incentive to mark a delivery, but a train carrying hundreds of cars is going to get marked as delivered.
This isn't a 100% rule though as some truck-delivered Stangs do have dates all the way through. That's why I chose to say "Shipped" (actually meaning delivered) MAY OR MAY NOT get a date. The most important date in the whole tracker is "Built" (actually meaning shipped)

 

[Pyroguy]

Yes I understand that "built" means released to shipper, and "shipped' means delivered.

I just think when they go to the Railyard someone is scanning them as "received" so then it marks it shipped in the tracker. I think the Railyard is a separate entity, so there's a transition at that point.

When the go by truck they are not getting marked "received" until they get to the dealer and then tracker goes to shipped.

 

[Interstellar]

Yes I understand that "built" means released to shipper, and "shipped' means delivered.

I just think when they go to the Railyard someone is scanning them as "received" so then it marks it shipped in the tracker. I think the Railyard is a separate entity, so there's a transition at that point.

When the go by truck they are not getting marked "received" until they get to the dealer and then tracker goes to shipped.

if you can find a tracker with a date under shipped that is actually at a rail yard and not at the dealer I will gladly add it to the second post I have yet to fill in, which is going to be “special trackers and situations”

 

[Pyroguy]

if you can find a tracker with a date under shipped that is actually at a rail yard and not at the dealer I will gladly add it to the second post I have yet to fill in, which is going to be “special trackers and situations”

I'm not disagreeing at all with anything you said. And I'm not saying there is a date added at all under shipping.

I was just adding an observation from what I've been noticing. I think the green dot (I should have said) in shipping is showing up different for cars by rail vs by convoy.

Everything you said is great and true. I was just trying to add to the conversation.

I will go back in the fetal position and hit refresh on my tracker.

 

[FroYo]

I'm not sure but this "DELIVERED\SHIPPED" seems not right to me at least

My car still on Shipped for 2 weeks almost, still not delivered to dealer yet.

 

[dfwford]

When your vehicle ARRIVES at its destination it MAY OR MAY NOT update to include a date under "Shipped". This seems to be a process that requires an input from someone, so this date may never appear, even if your car has been delivered to it's destination.

Most of your post is good, but I would clean up this speciifc part I quoted.

The date under Shipped just means that's that it's at landing point and ready to be loaded on the next available truck/rail car. That date doesn't mean it has arrived at its destination (the dealer).

Source: My tracker has a date of 8/19 and my dealer confirmed today that my car still hasn't been delivered.

 

[Interstellar]

I'm not sure but this "DELIVERED\SHIPPED" seems not right to me at least

My car still on Shipped for 2 weeks almost, still not delivered to dealer yet.

Most of your post is good, but I would clean up this speciifc part I quoted.

The date under Shipped just means that's that it's at landing point and ready to be loaded on the next available truck/rail car. That date doesn't mean it has arrived at its destination (the dealer).

Source: My tracker has a date of 8/19 and my dealer confirmed today that my car still hasn't been delivered.

Could you both provide some more info for me so we can clear this up? Y'all have dates under shipped but your car is where exactly? And how did it get there, and what happened on the date under shipped that deserved a tracker update? Thanks!

 

[dfwford]

Could you both provide some more info for me so we can clear this up? You have dates under shipped but your car is where exactly? And how did it get there, and what happened on the date under shipped that deserved a tracker update? Thanks!

Who knows where our cars are now.

All we know for sure is that our cars aren't at their destination (our dealers) yet.

I will say, for me, the tracker had a built date of 8/18 before getting the 8/19 shipped date. It was originally scheduled to go into Production the Week of 8/14.

 

[Back2Gas]

Could you both provide some more info for me so we can clear this up? Y'all have dates under shipped but your car is where exactly? And how did it get there, and what happened on the date under shipped that deserved a tracker update? Thanks!

My tracker updated to shipped with a date when my car reached New Boston, MI. My car is now on a railcar and that's when I finally received the shipped email.

 

[Paulie820]

Your infographic is good it’s just the last part that needs edit, the “shipped” is release to carrier.

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