[CrewVanMan]

Matt Ford is a Kansas City suburb dealer who is 24 miles from the KC Transit plant. He has ordered Transits for some of our forum members and a lot of them are picking up their vehicle at his dealership to save the transportation time staying on the KC lot waiting for the railroad to load and make the trip to their local dealership. With the medium and high roof Transits needing the special height rail car for loading, this has held up a lot of them for a month or longer.

I have a friend who has tried to order a Transit locally and has been frustrated in the dealer sales staff lack of knowledge and attitude when trying to get information on what they might want to order and pricing. He came to me and I sent him the Transit Order Guide to help see what was available and what options he might want for his Low Roof Wagon order. Now he is looking for a dealer to order from.

I sent a email to Ryan Matt at Matt Ford and he said he could order the Transit for them and have it redirected to any Ford dealer of their choice. Since they want a Low Roof Wagon, it does not have the same transportation problem as the larger Transits and gets loaded with F-150s at the KC plant site and out on the railroad. Ryan requested to get the Transit Order Guide and go through it using the option code and description to come up with your order and then email to him. He will send you a written quote with detailed order information and pricing. Then by making a $1000 deposit, he will get it ordered for you and keep you informed when the VIN is issued and updates on how the scheduling is coming up to your build date. You will need to decide at the time of ordering if you want to pickup your Transit at his dealership in Buckner, MO or have it redirected to your dealer of choice.

If you decide to go this route, you can email your order to Ryan Matt ([email protected]) and he will get right back with you. Tell him you are part of the Ford Transit USA forum so he knows you are a member and are really interested in getting a Transit. You will be dealing with the owner of the dealership, not a salesperson, so you will get a GREAT deal with proper information about the Transit and your specific order.

 

[Budsky]

So how does the delivering dealer handle prep for delivery, such as washing etc? Surely they don't do that for free....

Too bad there isn't a way to pick up an ordered vehicle direct from a rail yard- back in 1995 when my ordered F350 arrived it was taken off the train less than 10 miles from my house- put on a truck and hauled 100 miles to the dealer, where I picked it up and drove it 100 miles back right by the rail yard.
Seemed kind of inefficient for everyone!

 

[CrewVanMan]

Dealer Prep is paid by Ford. The selling dealer loses out on getting the Dealer Prep money when he redirects the vehicle to another Ford dealer. Some dealers will not do this as it could be a lot of lost money for their service department. Matt Ford is a small family owned dealership and they hope to get some buyers who decide to pickup their Transit at the dealership, especially the medium and high roof models that take so long to get delivered since they have to go with the special height rail car that is in short supply.

Ryan Matt is finding out from our forum members how much their local dealer knows little about the full body Transit and how they are treated when they walk into the dealership. He is dedicating his time as a dealer owner to help out the forum members order their Transits. He has helped a few who ordered the Dual Sliding Door models find out the delay on their order even though he was not even the ordering dealer. Their ordering dealer is playing games not telling the buyer there is a delay due to problems showing up in the Quality Control area, and Ford itself is keeping requesting dealer contacts from finding out the true problem with releasing these vehicles.

On your question about picking up the vehicle at the rail yard, there is a lot of security issues getting it at the rail yard, plus a lot of the new electronic options in the vehicle are not activated until it arrives at the dealership. I have worked at some of the local auto auctions and they make you have a secured vehicle with special lighting (amber light on your van) when you go to the rail yard to secure a vehicle. You have to have special paperwork issued by the rail yard to enter the facility and each vehicle is checked by VIN and the driver has to submit their drivers license to exit the yard.

With the Transit having a lot of high tech electronic equipment, it has to go to the dealer to get all this checked out before releasing it to the customer. Some have the plastic wrapping that covers certain area of the vehicle and that has to be removed before delivery to the customer. Would be nice if you could get the special treatment just like they do at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY. GM has a program where you can pickup your ordered Corvette at the Corvette Museum, and/or view it as it is being built and then pickup at the museum. From the museum, you can drive it home, put it on a trailer going to your home, or have it go the regular delivery route from the museum to the ordering/directed Chevy dealership.

I am still wondering who the person was who ordered the Blue Corvette and ordered the RED interior. I took some pictures of it and sent it to a friend of mine who works at a Chevy dealer body shop and told him he would need to repaint this Corvette when it got to their dealership! HaHa!

 

[Budsky]

Good info- thanks!

 

[CrewVanMan]

Don T Dewitt just ordered a T-250 Medium Roof 148" WB Magnetic exterior van from Matt Ford and will be making the trip from Houston, TX to KC to pick it up when it rolls off the KC plant lot for the 24 mile trip to the dealership. He got a $500+ better price than his local Houston dealer and liked the way Ryan made the purchase so easy to work with via email and phone call.

 

[RustedRoot]

I ordered my Transit 3.5, MR XL from Ryan Matt very recently and have a firm build date. I expect to take delivery by no later than the end of March. As I said on another thread, I have found Ryan to be transparent, forthcoming and, overall ,a pleasure to deal with -- something I've never said about a car dealer. I have to fly from Hartford CT to KC and all-in might spend a bit more than what I would have paid locally, but getting the Transit sooner and liking the way Ryan is handling the transaction won me over. Of course the deal isn't final until I get the Transit, but I expect the transaction to complete without a hiccup from Matt Ford. I'm grateful to CWM for making the referral.

 

[bicyclist]

I'll probably order a 2017. This looks like a viable option. A quick look at Google maps shows motels about 8 miles away in Grain Valley down on I 70. I could ride out on my motorcycle, flop in a motel, pick up the Transit and spend a day or so putting it through its paces to make sure there are no issues before loading up the bike and heading for home. I wonder what's involved in getting a temp tag to make the trip home.

 

[CrewVanMan]

$5 and insurance!

 

[RandomJoe]

I'm getting mine from Matt Ford as well, asked Ryan about the tag. He said they'll put a dealer's paper tag on it and it's up to me to get the permanent tag within 30 days.

I did some brief browsing online about paper tags, it appears they're fine between states - found one comment thread that said only Massachusetts doesn't honor out-of-state dealer tags but the cops generally don't bother about them long as they're still valid.

Thought about seeing if I could get the permanent tag before going up but realized that might be premature - what if something happens to it and I don't take it?

Thinking about this reminds me I need to be sure to take a copy of my insurance verification along. Would be easy to forget about that, I better start a list of things to pack in my bag!

 

[CrewVanMan]

Main planning is to get the best advanced price on the flight from CT to KC. This works out better from the standpoint that once your Transit is built, it should be at Matt Ford within 10 days or less. I would work from the window sticker being released online (about 10 days before it is built) and then add 10 days to the date shown as the projected build date. You will get the final date through ETIS when it is finished. You might ask Ryan how many days after build date he got his current T-250 built 8/24/2015 (on online window sticker & verified date by ETIS) GKA04627 to use as a guideline. Booking a flight 20 to 30 days ahead of time could save you a lot of money and if you decide to stay on a day in KC, advance booking through LaQuinta or other hotels is a lot cheaper online.

 

[CrewVanMan]

First group of these ordered Transits now have VINs and coming up for build in March & April.

 

[perchancetodream]

I'll probably order a 2017.

There's a 2017 Order Guide out there somewhere?

 

[bicyclist]

There's a 2017 Order Guide out there somewhere?

Not yet, as far as I know. I've been looking at the 2016 guide.

 

[CrewVanMan]

There is a updated 2016 Order Guide that I have available if you send me a PM with your direct email address. The 2017 Order Guide should be out close to July, 2016. The last of the 2016 builds will go through the end of July, and the first 2017 models should be out in late August. That is what is known so far from a dealer source.

 

[fitek]

Re paper tags, I had two Sprinter vans driven out with paper tags from Indiana to California. No problems. The cop who pulled one of them over in AZ was even nice enough to write the ticket out to ME instead of the driver. Swell huh?

Why I had two Sprinters delivered when I ordered one, and what the heck they were doing on the Mexican border in AZ is a long story... as was getting that stupid ticket dismissed from afar... if I ever run into that delivery driver again I will break his legs...

 

[hood]

With the Transit having a lot of high tech electronic equipment, it has to go to the dealer to get all this checked out before releasing it to the customer. Some have the plastic wrapping that covers certain area of the vehicle and that has to be removed before delivery to the customer. Would be nice if you could get the special treatment just like they do at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY. GM has a program where you can pickup your ordered Corvette at the Corvette Museum, and/or view it as it is being built and then pickup at the museum. From the museum, you can drive it home, put it on a trailer going to your home, or have it go the regular delivery route from the museum to the ordering/directed Chevy dealership.

I am still wondering who the person was who ordered the Blue Corvette and ordered the RED interior. I took some pictures of it and sent it to a friend of mine who works at a Chevy dealer body shop and told him he would need to repaint this Corvette when it got to their dealership! HaHa!

 

[hood]

Wondering whether Matt Ford or other Kansas City dealers are still the best place to order a high-roof extended length Ford Transit Cargo Van with the shortest wait. My niece is going to college in Kansas City so my brother and sister-in-law in St Louis will be making many visits and could drive my new van back to St Louis. I am wondering whether deliveries to St Louis are quick enough that it makes little difference whether I order the van in St Louis or in Kansas City.

I owned a 2015 HR Ext Length Transit for a year or so until it got totaled after it rolled due to an inobservant driver hitting my back bumper which threw it into a spin. I was traveling at over 70mph and walked away without a scratch. Great van!

 

[Covid van de Mic]

Holy necro-bump Batman!

And there is even a gif for it.

 

[njvagabond]

Holy necro-bump Batman!