Those in the DFW listening area may be familiar with a radio car show Saturday afternoons on WBAP 820 (A.M.)

"The Car Guys" features a local radio D.J. and co-host Jerry Renolds, CEO of Prestige Ford, one of the highest volume Ford dealers in DFW. He stated this past Saturday the 04 F150s will begin arriving in early June but he doesn't expect to see volume until July.

Makes sense to me. If the Ford dealer inventory website is accurate, I just did an inventory search on Prestige Ford's F150 stock and looks like they have about 900 - count em' 900 freakin' hundred 03 F150 units!!! Sounds like F150 constipation...All those 03's going to make it tough to get a decent deal on the 04. I would not be surprised if they even charge premium$ on the early 04 units.

 

That's hard to figure considering the plant in Norfalk won't start building them until Mid June and the plant in Kansas City won't be building them until Mid July. And both plants are shut down the first 2 weeks of July. On top of that Ford will most likely hold thousands upon thousands in storage until they are sure everything is just right.

 

It is what it is but ain't it fun to try and guess?

I just spotted this on Blue Oval News:

2003:

Trucks - Norfolk
Norfolk Truck Will Be Closed The Weeks Of : 05/12, 05/19, 05/26, 06/02 For 2004 JOB1 Build Prep. JOB1 Will Launch The Week Of 06/09.
12 May 03. BON.
Update: Norfolk Is Reporting That They Will Be Down On 05/19 And 05/26. The Last 2003 Models Will Be Build On 05/22. Our Above Report Was Compiled From Ford Documents.


Of course, Screwbuilder, I can certainly understand why you'd build up a buffer of inventory. But not for the reason you say

"Ford will most likely hold thousands upon thousands in storage until they are sure everything is just right".

Maybe I don't follow but you say that they'll build "thousands upon thousands" of units and let them just sit there burning money in case they find a problem? Does this mean they'll pull "thousands upon thousands" of completed units back in if they find a problem? That would be a nightmare and I don't buy it. Its more likely that they would build up "thousands upon thousands" of trucks so as to be fair to more dealers, to have enough to ship out to multiple markets at the same time. I'd buy that.

But the horse is saying they have some in June. So maybe later June what's a week. They're bound to get some early units placed into the bigger volume dealers ASAP to keep the hype flowing.

Ain't speculatin' fun?

 

Yeah, speculation is a riot. They will probably turn up on the lots around here 15 minutes after these current incentives break me and I get an 03. They are offering great trade values and price breaks now, I may very well sign this week if the salesman is any good at all.

 

you know an 04 is gonna cost more - up front. Depends what your willing to pay for stiffer body, more horsepower, more angular styling.

There was a silver/graphite Expedition sitting there there the other day. I don't care for Expeditions usually but this one just way cool. The interior was leather grey/graphite with those interesting silver rings around the A/C vents. A real coque-pit [SIC]. From the front seats forward of that Expedition it appears to me as basically the 04 F150, except for the drop front windows (ah-la Super Duty on the 150.)

Based on what I'm seeing out there you can get a killer deal on an 03 but alot of the stock around here is V6's. Those are the ones they're really dealing on. Me, I need a tow vehicle and I'm still on the fence between an 04 and the F250. I did see a few 4.6 V8's and hardly to none 5.4 V8's. Supply and demand will dictate you'll get a lesser deal on those but still they're stackin' em high and selling em (sorta) cheap.

I've seen paper ads pegging the price around 17% off MSRP then take the $3000 cash back (and on multiple units, not just one) and that's pretty hard to beat - if the dealer really wants to cut a good deal...but for me, even those savings are not enough for having to live with 7 year old technology. All the competitors already moved to stiffer frame and body. Silverado and Dodge Ram both use hydroformed rails for more stiffness. The new 5.4 three valve is supposed to be a significant evolution of the Ford modular V8 design and essentially kicks butt. But now I'm preaching to the real experts around here.

 

If they're not going to be rolling them off the lines until then, why are there so many sightings here lately? Seems to me that they're in the process of rolling several out...

Are these all just the 'first ones' to roll out or did they put these together elsewhere?

Heck... here's 8 of them in one place!

 

Yes in fact, they will bring them all back in if there are any problems, just look what happened to the 2002 thunderbirds 2 years ago.

 

They have been building a few here and there between shifts at norfolk and at kansas city for about a month now.

 

So, what you're saying is that the parts are available however, they aren't in production yet?

The ones that we're seeing have basically been built by hand correct?

 

Screwbuilder and kidtriton, which of you guys work at the FOrd plants? Sorry if I got it wrong.

Just speculatin'

 

i just work at a dealership.

heres a thread from another board, i dont know if it will work from here...

http://www.fordtruckworld.com/forums....asp?id=159028

 

okay, so that took me all the way to www.fleet.ford.com which listed the job1 for the F150 reg cab as 6/9 so thats inline with what blueoval says.

 

Hey guys....That is correct for Job 1 on the Regular Cab (P-221 Program) for 06/09. I work for a Tier 1 Supplier to both Norfolk and Kansas City on the 2004 Reg. Cab F Series.

Kansas City Job 1 will be around the middle to late July (after Summer Shutdown).

Also keep in mind, Ford has stated they will also be producing the current model for about 9 - 12 months along with the new 2004 Models.

 

ksystems, yes Ford will hold all the trucks that are first produced just to make sure things are right. Recent examples are the Thunderbird and the 2002 Explorer. These along with the new truck are critical launches. They will in fact hold them and fix any problems they run into. Norfolk and Kansas City will be producing the 2004 as stated above. The 2003 will continue to be built in Canada until the end of the year. We build the 2004 right along side the 2003 right now. It is called an integrated build. We are building 2 2004's per hour at the moment. The trucks in the picture were built at Norfolk and Kansas City and then shipped to Detroit. My money still says dealers won't see them until Aug or September.

 

Local dealer here said to expect August - still debating whether I'm going to wait or not...some good rebates going on