Delivery times

[albert]

How long has it been taking for DCX to build your car? I placed my order 11-22-2006, and when I called 1-800-853-1403 eventually they told me that it was in D status, then later they gave me an "Estimated build date of 1-18-2007", but now they only say that it is in D status? :confused:

Does it take more time to get on the schedule because it is an R/T AWD?

What is everyone else experiancing for delivery times?

[Quiet Lunatic]

Albert, "D" means it's a firm schedule - dealer has allocation and all parts available.
"D-1" will be the next category. It means Gateline schedule - scheduled to be
built. It goes through E-JE and then when it hits JS - that means shipped to storage.
I think both our cars will stay in "D" until it gets closer to built date. The first date they gave me was 1/22/07 and the last time I talked with them, it was 1/31/07. Have they given you another estimated date?

[albert]

No, all they keep saing is d status.

[Quiet Lunatic]

I called today and they told me "D" status. I asked if they had a production date and she said it is 1/30/07. First time I called a few weeks ago they told me 1/22/07 and then another call it was 1/31/07. I believe they told you 1/18/07 at first, so I would think yours would be made before mine even though I ordered mine in August and you ordered yours in November. I wish they would get their act together.

[Quiet Lunatic]

Albert, my dealer called today and said it will be made on the 29th. It will soon be six months since we ordered. Have you heard anything else.

Carole

[albert]

Tthe called a couple of days ago and said "Ship date" of 1-31-2007. About 1/3 to 1/2 the time when I call the 800# they know the date and I ask for build date, but they give me the same date the dealership has for a ship date.

[albert]

What options did you order? se? r/t sunroof

[Quiet Lunatic]

We just came from the dealers and looked at his computer screen. They have the
shipping date of 1/29 the same as the production date. Your 1/30 is the same way.
We ordered the following:

2.0 liter engine w/CVT2
24D Package
Speed Control
Fog Lamps
Daytime running lights
17" machined aluminum wheels
Leather Interior Group = heated leather seats
Driver Convenience Group
Mopar Accessory - Exterior Effects Package - Real Spoiler
U-Connect

What all did you order?

I am just now getting excited. We saw two on the road today when we were having lunch. A steel blue and a yellow one. You can sure spot these cars. :pepper:

[albert]

R/T AWD, CVT2 with autostick, marine blue, Yes seats, ESP, convience group, security group.
No leather (except thr R/T model automatically puts leather on the steering wheel, which I like)
No sunroof.

The R/T comes with the following standard, which you added. (not to brag, just to inform of what I am getting)
Speed Control
Fog Lamps
17" machined aluminum wheels

I find it interesting your more common car is taking 6 months, and my less common R/T is due in a total of about 10 weeks.

[Quiet Lunatic]

Maybe it has something to do with living in a small town. They probably haven't
ordered as many Calibers as some dealerships. I am happy that you don't have to
wait as long. I don't know if the U-connect Bluetooth connection or leather seats
had anything to do with it. We saw the spoiler today that will be painted the color of
the car and installed after it gets here. I have only seen one other color of car spoiler. We have a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee that we are trading in. We were getting 18 mpg. I drive mostly in town. We elected to get the SXT 2.0, so hopefully, we will get close to 26 in town and 30 on the road. Let us know when yours arrive and send some pictures.

[Quiet Lunatic]

Forgot to mention that we are also ordering the step plates, back carpet, pedal plates, heavy duty mats and back splash.

[albert]

Forgot to mention that we are also ordering the step plates, back carpet, pedal plates, heavy duty mats and back splash.
I ordered the step plates, mud flaps, and high flow air filter from a dealer, going to install them myself. Ordered the premium floor mats with the car as well. I did also order the blue bezel for the center and the shifter. When you order Yes seats, they are grey only, and thus the sxt and higher no longer gets a center console color keyed to the car. They key the seats to the car, and the center bezel to the seates. When the seates are grey (Which happens with yes), then the center bezel is back to silver. I wanted blue, so I ordered the 2 bezel parts from the servce department. You can also get carbon fiber, but it is about 3 times as expensive as a standard color. I wanted blue not silver, so I will be replacing that as well.

From what I understand there is somethign to do with dealership allocation, this must happen before it goes to D status, mabe that slowed your order? Not sure. 6 months ago would put the car in the middle of a back log, but it shuold be caught up by now, especially if they are building both of our cars on almost the same day? It just dont make sence to me.

Professionally I work at an automotive manufacturing plant which builds cars. I work on the comptuers, and I am amazed how most thigns are not configured the way I would think they should be. To me, I think they should have a still digital web camera which takes a snap shot of the car when the last person scans a bar code with a laser scanner it could deduct all the parts of the car from inventory in realtime, snap a photo of the car, post it on a secured web site for the customer to see their car on the line, and have inventory current all in realtime. The camera would be configured to not show any confidential data, and it would be triggered by the person who scans the bar code to deduct the inventory, that way they would not have somoene leaning on the car when the photo is taken, or anything the customer would not like. Where I work inventory is on a mainframe and it takes 24 hours for people to get a report after they request it. The inventory is allways off, etc.

Would that be nice, you get an e-mail from the manufacture with a link that sends you to a photo of your new car? Mabe many people are not that excited to get their new car?

[albert]

Maybe it has something to do with living in a small town. They probably haven't
ordered as many Calibers as some dealerships. I am happy that you don't have to
wait as long. I don't know if the U-connect Bluetooth connection or leather seats
had anything to do with it. We saw the spoiler today that will be painted the color of
the car and installed after it gets here. I have only seen one other color of car spoiler. We have a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee that we are trading in. We were getting 18 mpg. I drive mostly in town. We elected to get the SXT 2.0, so hopefully, we will get close to 26 in town and 30 on the road. Let us know when yours arrive and send some pictures.

There is someone who has a black R/T just like the one that is about to be built for me, that works where I do, and parks it close to where I park. When I get mine, I will park one space away (They park back enough that there are 2-4 spaces between each car) and see if we can eventually meet. I feal like they are taunting me every day when I see their R/T and I know mine is not built yet, and they dont even know I have one on order.

[albert]

Maybe it has something to do with living in a small town. They probably haven't
ordered as many Calibers as some dealerships. I am happy that you don't have to
wait as long. I don't know if the U-connect Bluetooth connection or leather seats
had anything to do with it. We saw the spoiler today that will be painted the color of
the car and installed after it gets here. I have only seen one other color of car spoiler. We have a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee that we are trading in. We were getting 18 mpg. I drive mostly in town. We elected to get the SXT 2.0, so hopefully, we will get close to 26 in town and 30 on the road. Let us know when yours arrive and send some pictures.

Yes, gas milage, that is important. I drive 100% city milage, so I dont get good milage. My current car a Dodge Shadow ES V6 3.0L gets up to 20 miles per galon. Sometimes I get 18-19 mpg. I am hoping that the R/T is closer to the 26 than the 24. Motorweek took the Caliber for a drive and tested it. They took out the R/T and typically they drive it some city, some highway. Most cars, they get a little over the city miles. They averaged 26 mpg on their R/T, so I am hopefull that it will be better than 24

[Quiet Lunatic]

This is really strange. I called Dodge today and they said that my Caliber
was put into production on the 28th....that's a Sunday. Surely they aren't
working overtime to get these cars out. I believe you are correct about the
dealer allocation. I don't know exactly what that means. We are in a small
town and our dealer's lot is filled with trucks because that is what sells the
most around the hill country. Maybe they have to sell so many Calibers
before they can get more. They have had about 15 since we ordered ours.
I know they are upset with Chrysler because they feel when you have a sold
vehicle, it should be produced as soon as possible...not wait six months for
delivery. Dealer said it should be two weeks to play it safe. I am getting a
little tired of waiting. I know you are anxious to get yours too.

[Quiet Lunatic]

That's a great idea. At least you would know that it was built. This waiting is
for the birds.

[Quiet Lunatic]

Albert, I called again today and the woman told me that the caliber was
being tested and then it will go to the body ?? I asked her what that
meant and she said the body would be put on. I thought if they were testing
it wouldn't the body already been put on it. She said it probably would be a
a week or so and it will be ready for shipping. I guess I am just so tired of
waiting. At least the dealer will have to honor my Jeep trade-in. We have put
on an additional 5,000 miles since ordering.

[albert]

Get a status code. If it is D1, then it should be almost there. I got the same type of crazy answer. I work at an automative manufacturing plant. At one end a semi truck delivers rolls of steel, and at the other end the car is driven off the line and sent next door to be shipped. I dont know about Dodge but the following is basically what happens.
Rolls of steel is cut on a blanking press.
The flat blanks are sent to the press to become parts, which goes to a small storage area.
Those parts are taken to body shop where various robots put the parts together and weald the parts in a million places like crazy, sparks fly everywhere. The welds are sometimes 2-5 pieces of steel thick, and are about 2 inches appart.
This assembled body is shipped over to paint, where it gets cleaned, primered, painted, top coat, etc, many secret processes. Then it gets shipped to final assy.
In final assy, the engine is installed, everything else it put in, and then started. It then is fully tested and the front end is aligned and tested again. Then it is shipped.

Also, the car gets a VIN stamped in body shop, not sure when the white color people create the vin (Working in comptuers I can find that out).

So, that is it.
Stamping, body, paint, final assy, test, ship.
Not sure about Dodge, but that is how they are made where I work.

[albert]

Albert, I called again today and the woman told me that the caliber was
being tested and then it will go to the body ?? I asked her what that
meant and she said the body would be put on. I thought if they were testing
it wouldn't the body already been put on it. She said it probably would be a
a week or so and it will be ready for shipping. I guess I am just so tired of
waiting. At least the dealer will have to honor my Jeep trade-in. We have put
on an additional 5,000 miles since ordering.

Just a couple more days, it should be soon. Call the number again and ask for the current status code.

[Prop1]

Albert, I called again today and the woman told me that the caliber was
being tested and then it will go to the body ?? I asked her what that
meant and she said the body would be put on. I thought if they were testing
it wouldn't the body already been put on it. She said it probably would be a
a week or so and it will be ready for shipping. I guess I am just so tired of
waiting. At least the dealer will have to honor my Jeep trade-in. We have put
on an additional 5,000 miles since ordering.

Talk about pure BS! If you have ever toured a car assembly line you know what I'm talking about. What a laugh.:bsflag::jok:

[albert]

That's a great idea. At least you would know that it was built. This waiting is
for the birds.

What is your current build status today?

[albert]

The following is the status codes. What you want is to see an E, that should be frame, or possibly F for paint. I assume Frame would be what I call body ship.

BA new order that hasn't been checked
BX good order available for scheduling
BG on hold (parts issue)
D Firm schedule - dealer has allocation and all parts available
D1 Gateline schedule - scheduled to be built
E Frame
F Paint
G Trim
I Built not ok'd
J Built ok'd
JB Shipped to body vendor
JE Emission check
JS Shipped to storage
KZ Released by plant , invoiced
KZL Released - not shipped
KZM First rail departure
KZN First rail arrival
KZO Delayed/recieved
KZOA Plant holds
KZOB Zone/distribution holds
KZOC Carrier delays
KZOD Carrier holds
KZOE Mis-shipped vehicle
KZOF Show/test vehicle
KZOG Damaged vehicle
KZOH All other reasons
KZT Second rail departure
KZU Second rail arrival

[Quiet Lunatic]

Thanks for posting the schedule. That will help a lot of people waiting for their
car. I went by the dealer today and the car has been built and should be in KZM -
put on a rail car today....we will see. It was released by the plant. I went ahead and ordered all the accessories so they will be here when it arrives. They will take the new spoiler and have it painted and install it before I pick it up. Dealer said the arrival date they show is 2/15. It will go directly to Converse, TX, near San Antonio and wait for a truck pickup. What have you heard on yours and where are you
located? You might have told me, but I forgot. Thanks again for the list.

[albert]

I live in Indiana about 3 hours from the plant. I was told mine went to paint this morning.

[Prop1]

I don't know why they are playing these games. They make it sound like the cars are hand made over weeks. The time it takes to bring all the main parts together is only a matter of hours on a moving assembly line.:rolleyes:

[Quiet Lunatic]

Would you believe if I get my car by February 16th, it will have been 6 months? I kinda think I have waited longer than anyone for a caliber that was a sold order.

[bsoblack]

I live on Long Island NY and ordered a r/t awd with the options of Leather group, power sunroof, driver convenience group, UConnect bluetooth, luxuary mats on Dec 28. was told by salesman 6-8 weeks (put march 1st on paperwork). After reading some of these comments, I am quite concerned that there isn't a chance of it arriving by march 1st. Perhaps as indicated in earlier post, it may be a speedier process depending on what market you live in. Has anyone recently received their Caliber in the time frame given by the salesman??

[curtiplas]

They make the Manuals and Automatics at different times, if the CVTs you guys ordered fell under a time period when the Manual Transmissions are being made, then you car will take longer to be built.

-Curtiplas-

[AAFD]

All the Calibers (including the one I bought) were built for another person. I asked about that and the reply was they were tired of waiting so they bought dealer units.

KC

[Quiet Lunatic]

I don't blame them for selecting one at the dealers. I can't believe that I waited
six months for mine. I wanted the U-connect and heated leather seats and it
was hard to find one like that at a dealers. Everyone says it's worth the wait.
I sure hops so.

[Jakket]

You'll be lucky there in US. I ordered mine 25.11.06 and was told about 7 month
delivery time here in Finland (departure aprox. in may -07). Be patient!

[Quiet Lunatic]

Sorry, Jakket, that you have to wait so long. I thought my six months was long. My car is finally at the dealers and I am having a larger spoiler put on. I will pick it
up either later tomorrow or Friday. I understand that it is worth the wait. What color did you get?

[BlackCali]

7 months?!!! and i thought that mine 6 months of waiting was a record!!!!!!!

[Quiet Lunatic]

7 months?!!! and i thought that mine 6 months of waiting was a record!!!!!!!

I had to wait 6 months also. Ordered 8/16/06 - Picking it up tomorrow 2/16/07. Do
you have yours yet?

[BlackCali]

3 months to go.... patience is a vertue

[Quiet Lunatic]

3 months to go.... patience is a vertue

Hopefully, you will be surprised and get it sooner. Let's hope so.

[BlackCali]

well i dont think so because delivery times are very strickt... but thanks and I hope u will get yours soon

[Quiet Lunatic]

Yeahhhhh! We picked up our car about two hours ago. Still trying to figure out xome things. Need to go back to dealer and have U-connect programmed. The while spoiler looks good. There were two calibers that arrived at our dealership and neither one of them had a dust cover for the engine. I gues the factory left them off. The dealer gave us one off of a used caliber and will replace it with a new one when they get them in.

[Jakket]

Well, yesterday the dealer informed me, that my car should come in Finland in the end of may (i ordered Sxt.Here in FInland it includes boston acoustics with 7 speakers, Sport appearance interior,fog lights, that thing which keeps your speed stable-I don't remember name in english-(1.8 L engine) ABS brakes of course, light alloy rims etc.) By
the way, colour is sunburst orange.
:4-sunshine: